Ozanam Sunday – The last Sunday in April, this celebration is particular to the Society of St Vincent de Paul, commemorating the Society’s founding on April 23, 1833, Ozanam’s birth, also on April 23, and Vincent’s birth on April 24.

Conferences often host special events that serve as a time for renewal of the Vincentian mission, focusing on spiritual growth and charity work within the community. 

It is only right, with all the powers of our heart and mind, to praise You Father and Your Only-Begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Dear Father, by Your wondrous condescension of Loving-Kindness toward us, Your servants, You gave up Your Son. Dear Jesus You paid the debt of Adam for us to the Eternal Father by Your Blood poured forth in Loving-Kindness. You cleared away the darkness of sin by Your magnificent and radiant Resurrection. You broke the bonds of death and rose from the grave as a Conqueror. You reconciled Heaven and earth. Our life had no hope of Eternal Happiness before You redeemed us. Your Resurrection has washed away our sins, restored our innocence and brought us joy. How inestimable is the tenderness of Your Love!

Saint Gregory’s Easter Prayer

For priests in crisis.

Let us pray for priests going through moments of crisis in their vocation, that they may find the accompaniment they need and that communities may support them with understanding and prayer. 

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The world has changed drastically since the 19th century, when Frédéric Ozanam, inspired by the legacy of St. Vincent de Paul, founded the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SSVP). Yet the essence of service to the poor remains the same: a call to charity, moved by Gospel love for one’s neighbor. The forms of poverty, however, have become more complex, harder to recognize, and often invisible to those who live in comfort. Faced with these “new poverties,” how can we continue to serve in the spirit of St. Vincent de Paul, remembering also the words of Jesus in Matthew 25: “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me”?

New Forms of Poverty: Complexity and Invisibility

Material poverty is still present and challenging, but today we are constantly confronted with subtler forms of suffering. The loneliness of forgotten elderly people, the social isolation caused by technology, the emotional neglect of youth and children, and the psychological instability born from an increasingly competitive and unequal world are clear examples of the new poverties emerging in our society.

These realities require an attentive and compassionate gaze, one that looks beyond material deprivation and perceives the emotional, cultural, and spiritual wounds that cause as much pain as the lack of food or shelter. As Pope Francis teaches in Evangelii Gaudium, “the poor have much to teach us. Besides participating in the sensus fidei, through their own sufferings they know the suffering Christ, they allow themselves to be evangelized by him and they evangelize us all.”

St. Vincent de Paul, with his keen awareness of the needs of his time, was never intimidated by challenges. He understood that true charity requires more than good intentions—it demands planning, coordination, and foresight to meet the real needs of others. Inspired by his intelligent and creative charity, we are called to act boldly in a world in constant change.

Food and clothing drives remain essential, but they are not enough to address the new forms of poverty. We must also think about psychological support, technological inclusion, education in human values, emotional care, and the building of relationships grounded in human dignity. To achieve this, we must step out of our comfort zones and seek concrete solutions that reach society’s most invisible wounds. 

Frédéric Ozanam: Social Commitment and Active Faith

Inspired by St. Vincent de Paul, Frédéric Ozanam lived his faith with creativity and conviction, believing that service to the poor was the most dignified way to bring about the Kingdom of God on earth. He was convinced that defending human dignity and promoting social justice were inseparable from authentic Christian witness.

This same commitment remains a call for the SSVP today: to look upon new forms of poverty with the “eyes of the heart,” remembering that those who suffer most bear the face of Christ. Ozanam invites us to take a prophetic and visionary stance toward the inequalities of our time, recognizing that it is not enough to give what we do not need; we must, as he said following St. Vincent de Paul, recognize that “the poor are our teachers.”

Following Jesus in Matthew 25: A Call to Transformation

In Matthew 25, Jesus makes it clear that the Christian’s responsibility is to act. He identifies himself directly with those who are hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, or imprisoned. Today, in addition to these traditional forms of suffering, we are called to recognize Christ in those facing overwhelming anxiety, emotional exhaustion, racial discrimination, migration crises, and digital exclusion.

Pope Francis, in his encyclical Fratelli Tutti, insists that love cannot remain theoretical. It must take form through concrete, compassionate, and sensitive action. Building the Kingdom of God means living a charity that goes beyond appearances, one that sees the person in their entirety — their pain, struggles, and hopes.

The Praxis of Love: Collective Responsibility and Transformative Action

The call to serve the poor today is not merely an individual invitation but a collective responsibility. The Vincentian Family must join forces to create networks of support that respond to new needs. These times require:

• Active empathy and deep listening: understanding each person’s real needs, free of prejudice.
• Actions that unite faith and science: building partnerships with professionals from various fields to offer holistic support.
• Promotion of autonomy: helping the most vulnerable become protagonists of their own story.

By responding with creativity, intelligence, and solidarity, we witness that Christ’s love is alive and transformative. As followers of St. Vincent and Frédéric Ozanam, our enduring challenge is to find Christ in the poor, serving them with hearts renewed by faith and charity.

May we never lack the courage to face the new forms of poverty of our time, confident that by loving and serving the least among us, we are building the Kingdom of God here and now.

Conclusion

True charity is neither static nor complacent. It is creative, bold, and dynamic — just as St. Vincent de Paul and Frédéric Ozanam taught us. Confronted with new forms of poverty, we are called to renew our Christian commitment, following Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25, engaging with today’s sociological and anthropological challenges, and heeding Pope Francis’s constant call to build a more just and fraternal society.

Together, let us embrace our Christian responsibility and make the Kingdom of God a living reality, here and now.

Article by Fr. Edson Friedrichsen, CM.

In February the Risen Savior Prince of Peace Conference welcomed 5 new members.  Please welcome them and pray for the success of their ministry.

Did you know that the La Joya Conference distributes healthy and fresh groceries every third Tuesday at the Sabinal Community Center from 9am-12pm to residents of Sabinal, Abeytas, Bernardo, La Joya, Las Nutrias, and Veguita, New Mexico? The distribution serves 80 households each month.

The Queen of Heaven Conference (assisting in Albuquerque) recently held a very special ceremony to honor Vincentians in their group who have served for 25 or more years. Congratulations to all of the awardees, who stand as examples of lives of service and faith! 

Have you signed up for the All-Conference Meeting coming up on April 25, 2026 in Belen, NM? We have some great speakers and breakout panels lined up and would love to see you there! Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, the event (including lunch) is free. Sign up below:

Q&A Section

Question: Will any of your conference members be attending the Mountain Region meeting in Phoenix in May?

Answer:  This is a fairly inexpensive meeting as one can drive, think carpool, and the registration is quite reasonable. Please consider if your conference can provide assistance for a member to attend. 

Don't forget about two grant opportunities plus deadlines for Conferences:

The Catholic Foundation: The deadline for Large Grant Letters of Interest is past, but there is still time to apply for a Small Grant (deadline is April 20). 

Walmart Spark Good: Easy application for funds for your Conference (eviction prevention, utility assistance, or food). Please submit a project description with max of 500 characters (not words, as incorrectly stated in a previous communication) and address of the local Walmart in your Conference service area to Linda Strasburg and Jared. Jared will submit these applications through the Walmart portal. Deadline for the current grant cycle is April 15. 

As a reminder, all SVdP grant applications must be approved by our Council President (Linda Strasburg) before submitting.

2026 Mountain Region Meeting

Hotel information: 

Tempe Mission Palms

60 East 5th Street

Tempe, AZ 85281 

The Conference Guest Room rate is $199 per night

(Rate includes the $20 destination fee)

This rate expires May 7, 2026

One of the marks of our organization--and one of the things that drew me to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul--is a focus on the whole person. We visit the homes of those we support to meet them in the mess and glory of their everyday lives. Our neighbors are complex people who are balancing the responsibilities of work, education, family, and life in general, just like us. In short, we visit to meet them where they are--literally and figuratively. While our support looks like combatting poverty and hunger, we know that it extends to the whole person--emotional, psychological, social, spiritual, and physical. We visit as friends to neighbors. We visit to meet Christ in the smile, in the tears, in the handshakes and hugs of our neighbors. We meet Christ in getting to know the struggles (and the joys) of our neighbors. And to do this, we communicate. We ask questions. We share resources. We offer comforting words and prayer. To quote the article shared above, we serve with "empathy and deep listening."

Because our work places such great value on communication, and because we are in diverse communities with neighbors from various cultural and linguistic backgrounds, I am thrilled to announce the rollout of a new resource to our network: over-the-phone language interpretation. 

We are partnering with a company called Propio Language Services to have instant access to interpreters for hundreds of languages. The service is simple. We have a unique phone number for our organization (pictured above). You simply call, choose the language you need, and you will be connected with a professional interpreter who has mastery of that language. You then turn your attention back to the neighbor, speaking with them directly and leaving pauses for interpretation.

Our Clearinghouse Helpline has already begun using this important service for language needs that are not covered by our volunteer workers (i.e. all languages that aren't English or Spanish). We simply initiate a three-way call with the interpretation line and the neighbor who has called. 

In line with the mission and nature of our work, I would encourage you as Vincentians to consider using this language line when you need to communicate effectively with a neighbor who speaks another language (of which you do not have mastery). Language barriers are real. And interpretation helps us to build bridges. Yes, it does come with a financial cost. But it also comes with a payoff--Vincentian care that connects.

If, for example, you are visiting a neighbor who is a mono-lingual Arabic speaker, and your Conference does not have any Vincentians that speak Arabic, this could be a great resource to help you get to know the neighbor, assess need, and communicate effectively what your support will look like. 

Coming from a direct-service background, I would discourage engaging the children of the families you may be visiting for interpretation duties, especially when the themes of conversation are heavy and more suitable for private conversation amongst adults. 

Our Council has pre-paid for 1,000 minutes of interpretation. When you call, you will be asked for your name and Conference name. We found a plan that currently costs $0.50 a minute--which is a 1/4 to 1/8 of what many professional services charge. For at least this first round of usage, this service is free-of-cost to you. If we are able to effectively implement more regular interpretation across our SVdP Council network, we will likely move towards a billing option where Conferences pay for what they use. 

In the spirit of deep listening and effective care, I encourage you to give this service a go next time you get a call from a neighbor you would not have been able to communicate with otherwise. In doing so, may you both receive and bestow the blessing of effective understanding and connection.

If your District Council or Conference has special event dates, please send them to me so we can include them on our calendar.

Thank you for your service and care as a Vincentian. If you need any support or have any questions, please reach out by replying to this email or giving us a call.