ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY, CHRISTCHURCH

New Zealand Tablet, 5 September 1912, Page 35

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY, CHRISTCHURCH

The annual collection in aid of the funds of the Cathedral Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Christchurch, was made at all the Masses and Vespers in the Cathedral on Sunday,- August 25. The following eloquent appeal was made at the 9.30 and 11 o’clock Masses by the Very Rev. Father Price, D.C.. Adm.: He that oppresses the poor, upbraideth , his Maker.; but he that hath pity on the poor, honoreth Him (Prov. xiv., 31). When the Incarnate Charity was asked to define the pith and substance of that law which God had given- as a preparation and a training within a narrow sphere for that full and perfect law which was to spread throughout the whole human race, He at once replied that the -first, the primary, the . allconstraining law was that of charity—' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, thy whole mind, with all thy strength.’ And immediately the Incarnate Wisdom went on to say, lest there should be in that harmony between God and the individual ■ any disunity or discord— our fellow-beings should be left in an abnormal positionHe went on to say : The second commandment is like unto the first—Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. He takes this mutual kindness and charity as the very badge of fellowship, with Himself, By this let all men know that you are My disciples, that you love one another:’ It has pleased God, in the order of His providence, to distribute His gifts more abundantly here, less abundantly t among His creatures. On some He bestows personal gifts of body, mind, and disposition with a bountiful hand; to others He gives them but sparingly. Similarly the goods of fortune are given to some in profusion, while others are left with scarcely the mean’s of subsistence. We may not presume to challenge this deliberate purpose of God, nor attempt to explain adequately why He deals thus with His creatures. It is enough for us to know that He acts thus because He wills it; that His will is ever holy, just, and loving; and that His mercies are over all His works. Yet one thing we are quite sure of : He never intended the goods of fortune to be enjoyed exclusively by the possessors of them, any more than that the higher personal gifts should be employed-solely for the pleasure and profit of those He has endowed with them. And He -most certainly requires that those who. are in want should be assisted by those who live in opulence; that those who have enough and to spare should take compassion on their less favored brethren and share their superabundant wealth with them. For it is only by so doing that they can deserve to be recognised as sons by Him Who is .the all-merciful Father of rich and poor alike and make good their claim to a place in His everlasting kingdom. , b , The pool you have always with you,’ said our Saviour on a solemn occasion, and His words went home with force to the hearts of his hearers, the Apostles, to whom, being themselves but poor fishermen, their truth was already known. It seems that as the shadow of the Cross loomed on His path, He looked into the far distant ages, when His Name should be proclaimed throughout the earth, exhorted men to the practice of Christian charity, and gave to the poor an assurance that they would not be left to the coldness and neglect of the world. The Apostles knew much of poverty, but never had they witnessed such an example of it as they saw in their Master, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who had not a home nor a place whereon to lay His Head. But Pie loved the poor, and was poor Himself, Therefore, when He spoke these words, there dawned for the poor a new era. State charity is supposed to be doing great things in relieving the wants of the poor, but such charity, being devoid of the example and atmosphere of the Gospel, is co]d, unmeaning, and ' unsympathetic. Looking, as it does, with horror and dismay upon the poor, what alleviation can it bring to their sufferings? True charity will be found, not in the paid servants of the State, but amongst the disciples

of the Master, Who is continually speaking to their hearts and pleading with them for His poor. Many there are who have known better days,' but who have come to poverty though illness and ;misfortunes,,: and are ashamed to make their condition known. Nothing can be done for them by .State-aid, H which does .-notexercise the delicacy, . necessary in dealing with the poor —a delicacy which can only be expected from those who act, not from human motives, but because they are inspired by Him Who loved the poor., Christian charity pan only be exercised by those hearts which have been touched by the . Divine Master. Such are the Brothers of St.- Vincent de Paul. This society of Christian charity had its birth in Paris in 1833. It had a very humble,, beginning, as almost every undertaking in the- history of the Church has had, but it soon made amazing progress, and to-day it has penetrated and taken root in almost every kingdom and province in Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and beneath this Southern Cross. The principal work of the society is to visit the poor in their homes, to provide them with sufficient nourishment, to supply them with religious books, to prepare them for the last •- Sacraments, and remain with them until death—to give them a decent burial and accompany their remains to the grave. In short, they perform for. : them all the .corporal and spiritual works of mercy. . There is scarcely any form of charity which the . society excludes from its operations ; it embraces in the arms of its benevolence almost every form of. human misery and suffering, whether of the natural or supernatural order. There is no charitable work to which the Brothers are unable' or unwilling to put their hands. They find shelter for the destitute, provide them with food „and clothing. They find situations for those out of employment. They are • zealous in snatching Catholic children from Protestant proselytising institutions they never fail to bring their influence to bear upon Catholic parents when they neglect their duty by sending their children to nonCatholic schools, thus endangering their faith. Again, those who are living lives of indifference, if not in public habits of sin and scandal, the drunkard, the neglecter of Holy Mass, and the services of the Church are often persuaded by a kind word of sympathy or advice from a Brother of St. Vincent de Paul to forsake their sad lives, and return to the practice of their religion and their duty to God. I know of no lay association so well adapted to cope with the evils that threaten society or afflict our poorer co-religionists at the present day. .1 know of no organisation, philanthropic or religious, so admirably ■ suited to administer comfort or relief to the aged and the poor in their spiritual and temporal necessities. I know of no work to which laymen and Catholics can consecrate themselves with greater advantage to others, with greater merit to themselves, or better to ensure their own sanctification and perfection, than by enrolling themselves as members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. In short, no wotk to which laymen can devote themselves which is so st-like in its aims, in its example, and in its spirit. There are three classes of persons which our Lord, while on earth, cherished with sympathy and lovethe poor, the little {children, and the sinnerand the Society of St. Vincent de Paul brings its members in closest relations with each of these, to succor, console, and to guide them, arid thus associate themselves with Christ by continuing His work. Now, the special objects for which your charity is asked this morning are the poor and helpless who are assisted by this society. You will perhaps ask: Is the work of the society amongst us necessary ? Have we the kind of. poor here in need of our help? I do not mean by the poor those who are situated in ordinary poverty—those who have to work hard all the week and who have difficulty in making both ends meet. I speak of the poor who suffer from poverty which means frequent want of the necessaries of life; which means misery, temptation, and oftentimes sin •that poverty which tempts men to become thieves ’and women something worse. Surely-in this city of Christchurch there is not such poverty. Thank God, there is not much of it, but still it exists. And are there no honest 1 workmen, who, through no fault of their own, are in poverty ? Are there no honest widows

of workmen, who with their families are from time to time in- real want There are two stages of poverty. Sometimes it is temporary, sometimes, persistent. The temporary poverty is often concealed, by those who are perhaps thrown out of, work by sickness or slackness, being ashamed to let their neighbors know; and very often this temporary poverty, through the bashfulness or timidity of those who suffer from it, tends to become persistent. The persistent poverty, the helpless poverty, the state of those who are livingsvith.the wolf not outside the door, but inside, that poverty is apt to become wearisome, and people are very much inclined to leave them quietly alone and to pass them by. Not so the Brothers of St. Vincent de Paul. They go among the poor, not as patronisers, but as brothers and fellowmen, to help them round a corner. They go to the working man in his distress and help him until he can resume his work again. They go to the widow and help her to keep her home and family together. There is no good work which the society is unable or unwilling to take up. But this great work of charity depends upon the alms of the faithful. What you give to-day will not go to the undeserving, to be squandered in vice, but will be devoted to cheering up many a desolate home, feeding the hungry, and clothing the naked. Be generous then, and look upon the St. Vincent de Paul Society as acting in your place. You cannot perhaps do what they are doing, but you can lend a hand in this great work of mercy. By so doing, God, when He comes to judge at the particular judgment, will say, we shall hear it from His lips, that we succoured Him in His necessities as.often as we gave to the St. Vincent do Paul Society. •-

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