St. Vincent de Paul

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. On this day we are reminded of our baptismal call to be the presence of Christ in the world. One of the ways we at St. Thomas Aquinas do that is through the Ministry of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

The Society is named for the French priest Vincent de Paul who spent his life serving the poor. Members of the ministry are called Vincentians.

Many of us know of St. Vincent de Paul through calls to fill our food pantry or to give to the collection which is held on the first Sunday of every month. Beyond that few of us know what this ministry is all about, so I recently spoke with Mike McLoughlin, a member of the ministry (Vincentian), and the spiritual adviser for our conference.

Tell me about the ministry of St. Vincent de Paul.

Mike: The Society of St. Vincent de Paul was founded in 1833 and operates in 132 countries. We operate on a parish by parish basis, serving those in need around the parish. Persons who are in need get our contact information and we have intake workers who will determine: number one, do they live in our area? And number two, do they qualify for assistance?  Once that person can be considered for assistance, their contact information is given to a caseworker. Ideally that caseworker would visit that person at their home or their apartment. We strive to be a face to face ministry.

What prompted you to get involved in the ministry?

Mike: A lot of folks are surprised to learn that the primary purpose of the ministry and of being a Vincentian is to grow yourself spiritually. A lot of folks say, “It’s to help those in need,” and yes it is, so that certainly appealed to me. I write checks to all different sorts of Catholic agencies. There is someone in Nicaragua that we are helping but I’ve never met any of them. In this ministry I get to see the people that I’m helping. I get to talk to them and they get to talk to me. That was and still is appealing.

What kind of assistance is offered by St. Vincent de Paul?

Mike: We are here to provide temporary assistance to get people over a hump.

Oftentimes, the assistance is financial where someone is looking for rent or help with a utility bill or an unexpected car repair, or perhaps there is a medical bill that they’re dealing with. We have our food pantry and we give out dry goods to folks who need a food supplement. We also offer assistance at Thanksgiving and at Christmastime through “The Giving Tree.”. I’ve even helped people move furniture. We will consider every type of ask that comes our way. Sometimes we don’t have the resources, but we can direct people to others who do.

What surprises you the most about being a Vincentian?

Mike: We live in a pretty affluent area and people don’t realize that we live among poverty. Now it might not be a poverty that you see in other parts of town or other parts of the world, but there are people that are struggling. We have homeless people in Alpharetta and in Roswell, and people just don’t recognize that.

What are the greatest needs?

Mike: We can’t operate without funds and the parish has been very generous. The second biggest need is volunteers. We are desperate for caseworkers. Sometimes people shy away from that because they just don’t know what to expect. You just need to have a desire to grow your faith and to serve those in need. When we talk to people in need, we make it clear to them that it’s not Mike helping them out. It’s our parishioners who are prayerfully considering their donations. It’s the Holy Spirit who has brought this to them. 

More than 2,500 hundred people in North Fulton were assisted last year through the generosity of the parish and the work of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. The Vincentians will recommit themselves to another year of service during the 10:30 Mass this weekend.

For more information about the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, contact Mike McLoughlin, mmcloug@yahoo.com.