From the Desk of the Pastor             Sept. 18, 2025

Dear Friends in Christ,

THIS SUNDAY IS THE FEAST DAY OF SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL 

This is a great opportunity to highlight one of the most important ministries of our parishes, the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

The work of the St. Vincent de Paul society is grounded in the life and charism of St. Vincent. Born into a peasant family in the 1580’s, St. Vincent de Paul became known for his love of the poor and his charity.  He founded a missionary order of priests, an order of religious women devoted to the care of the poor and sick, and lay organizations to help those in need. With God’s grace, St. Vincent became an ‘apostle’ of charity. He founded the St. Vincent de Paul Society to help people in need in concrete ways.

St. Vincent’s outlook on the world and his wisdom inspires the work of the society and is relevant to us all. St. Vincent wrote:

“We must love our neighbor as being made in the image of God and as an object of His love.”

 “Make it a practice to judge persons and things in the most favorable light at all times and under all circumstances.”’

“Charity is the cement which binds communities to God and persons to one another . . .”

I think much of this wisdom can be of help to us today. We need more charity and love, to each other, those in need, but especially to those who differ with us. Truly, “Charity is the cement which binds communities to God and persons to one another”. 

Let us all seek to be instruments of God’s mercy and love as was St. Vincent de Paul.  

PLEASE SUPPORT THE WORK OF THE ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY IN OUR PARISHES

I write all this as way of invitation….to generously support the work of St. Vincent de Paul financially and to consider volunteering as a Vincentian.

We are very blessed with our own St. Vincent de Paul Societies in our parishes.  There is one Conference at St. Jude to serve Redmond, and one at Holy Innocents to serve the territory of St. Anthony and Holy Innocents. They use the funds we donate as parishioners to provide direct, concrete, assistance to families in our parish and local community. They depend on our generosity and on volunteer members to meet with families in need.  The needs these days are particularly great. 

I want to ask you to prayerfully to consider two things: 

1. I invite you to pray about making a monthly donation to SVDP to help the needy in our area. You can make your pledge online in the giving portal of our website. It goes to direct assistance of those in need. 

2. Pray about becoming a Vincentian. Perhaps the Lord is calling you to this ministry. You will be doing the Lord’s work, really helping people and I have no doubt you will be transformed by the experience.

Members of St. Vincent de Paul (known as “Vincentians”) are men and women who strive to grow spiritually by offering person-to-person service to neighbors in need. Vincentians understand that service to a neighbor in need is an encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ, and are aware that poverty, suffering, and loneliness are present for so many in our community.

For more information about volunteering for this wonderful organization, please contact:

Holy Innocents and St. Anthony: Connie@conniedunn.com

Finally, I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to all our Vincentians for the great work they do in our name helping those in need. May God surround you all will with an abundance of his Joy, Peace and Love!

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr.  Johnson