A Conversation with Miriam Johnson and Anne Finley of the St. Vincent de Paul Society

Welcome to the second episode of the Christ by the Sea Catholic Collaborative Podcast, a podcast for the parishes of St. Anthony of Padua in Cohasset and St. Mary of the Assumption in Hull. Remember, you can follow our podcast on Spotify and on Apple Podcasts to help get the word out. And now, with our second episode, here's Fr. Scott.

Welcome to this episode of the podcast for St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Cohasset, Massachusetts, and St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Hull, Massachusetts. Together these parishes make up the Christ by the Sea Catholic Collaborative. My name is Fr. Scott Uvrard, and I am the pastor of these parishes.

Today I'm joined by Mariam Johnson and Anne Finley. For a conversation about the work of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Miriam and Ann are members of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Hull and members of the Hull Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Miriam, welcome. Would you please tell us about how you came to be involved in the local conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and how long you've been a member?

Thank you, Father. I became involved with St. Vincent, because I was looking for a way to serve my community, to serve the un, you know, the underserved, and because I worked full time and had a long commute and was raising children, I, I found it really difficult to find something that I could do.

However, one Sunday, St. Vincent de Paul members spoke from the podium at mass and I got some information and I joined. That was about, I'm going to say, 10 to 15 years ago and I found it to fit very nicely. We meet primarily on weekends and we do some of our volunteer work on weekends, and that made it very easy for me to do.

Thank you. So you've been a member for 10 to 15 years. It's a lot of experience in the St. Vincent de Paul Society. How about for you, Anne? How did you become involved with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and how long have you been a member? Hmm. Thank you, Father Scott. Oddly enough, a very similar story.

I've only been involved with the past year, past year and a half or so in a post COVID protocol kind of world. I was seeking to get more involved in my community specifically my faith community. So I found myself involved in things at church and one thing led to another. I do work for our town and I do have an opportunity to see folks who need assistance.

So a lot of the things in my world kind of collided and a member of St. Vincent DePaul approached me and asked me if I consider attending a meeting. And I did. And I liked it very much. I liked the act, the idea of putting action to prayer. So not only the, the prayer aspect and the fellowship aspect of St Vincent DePaul, but they were actually able to. help folks on a day to day basis. So again, only there for a year and a half, but I can already see how much the organization does to help in the community. And it feels really good to actually do something and be proactive. So it's been a wonderful opportunity and thanks for having me here today.

Thank you, Anne. What you said reminds me of some of the origins of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul with Frederick Ozanam and five other college students in France, in Paris. And how Frederick Ozanam was challenged one day about putting his faith into action. And really what started with these six university students and an older mentor has now grown to include over 800, 000 members throughout the world, including the two of you, Miriam and Anne.

Many people probably associate the St. Vincent de Paul Society with the clothing collection bins that they see in their church parking lot, or perhaps even the large trucks that go around collecting all the clothing donations. And this certainly is a part of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, but it's only a small part.

Miriam, could you tell me about, the work of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, especially at the local level, at the conference in Hull? Absolutely. So, we have what we call caseworkers assigned each month. We go out in pairs. We have a dedicated phone number so that when people are in need, and most of the time the need is financial and they contact us through this number or people give them this number and they call and the caseworkers go to their home to meet them.

And to get an idea of what their situation is, what their needs are, and then we go about either providing them with financial needs, if that's what it is sometimes they need clothing or household goods that the collection trucks and the store in Stoughton can help them with. Of course, we pray for them. There are times that their needs are more complex and we can refer them to another agency or another group that is better able to handle that. But primarily the caseworkers will get to know really their situation, what their obvious needs are, and maybe even some of the unspoken needs. I had a case once where they were looking to pay a particular bill, but in addition to that, they had children that needed to go to summer camp, and they weren't talking about that, but we were able to assist in that process financially as well.

So, we get assigned to a month or we volunteer for a month to be case managers or caseworkers and we go out and see the people and do the best we can to help them. And that primarily is the regular. Opportunities to help. We also do things around holidays. We deliver meals at Christmas.

We deliver stockings to the elderly in our housing projects here in hall and and just try to help people get through. Life's challenges. I like what you said because it's addressing the material needs that people may have, but I also heard you say that you pray with them and there are other needs that the society can help meet, even though we probably, myself included, first think of the material needs that the Society of St. Vincent de Paul provides for people. So thank you for that. Maybe one of the best well known prayers in the world beyond the Lord's Prayer, of course, would be the prayer of Saint Francis. And in that prayer, there is a line, it is in giving that we receive. And I'm interested to know a little bit about that. Is there something that, you, Anne, and you, Miriam, receive from being a part of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and assisting others. For you, Anne, I know you've been a member for a shorter time, but do you have a sense already that in giving of yourself that you do receive something back?

Yes, father. I'm actually, just the timing for this podcast that I'm just coming off of my monthly assignment, I was assigned May with my fellow caseworker. And, I have to tell you, it has been, quite, quite a month. Not only was it emotional, it was, I was able to look inside and be so grateful for the things that I have and be grateful for the opportunities that I've been given, but grateful for the opportunity to be a member of St. Vincent DePaul and be welcome into our, we call them neighbors and we are welcome into these neighbor's homes. And, they are in, in, they're struggling. They have reached out to us. And, by sitting with them, by praying, we start off our conversation with a prayer and we sit down and we, we assess a situation, we ask them questions, and, you know, usually three heads are better than one. And we, we put our collective thoughts together and we develop a plan. And just the benefits that have come back to me, I mean, it just, again, I'm so grateful to be in a community. Where this is a blessing to be in a community where we have these kind of resources that we can help our, our neighbors. And I'm glad to call them neighbors, because they are the people that I see every day in the grocery store and to know that they're struggling yet they continue to pray. And, you know, we hope to provide some kind of temporary assistance to help them as they continue on their path. So for me, it has been a very emotional month, a month where I've been very grateful for the things that I have, but mostly grateful to be a part of a community where we we embrace this kind of collective effort to help folks, because you never know when in the future you might need need a need a hand.

So it's been wonderful for me and and also an opportunity to work with my partner and to get to be a a better part of the fellowship of of St. Vincent de Paul. It's been very, it's been an emotional month, and I'm looking forward to continuing my work. Thank you, Anne. How about for you, Miriam? I know you've been a member of the Society for a long time, in giving of yourself, through membership in the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. In doing that, do you receive something back?

Yes, Father. And honestly, I've received many gifts, many Anne has mentioned. When I first started, I really, because I had helped some family members that were in need for a long time, I really felt I had a handle on the struggles and the, and the challenges of people, and I have to say that one of the things that I've received is an education and, and an eye opening of some of the crosses, some of the challenges, some of the, the situations that my neighbors are dealing with, heartbreaking, and they look from the outside. There are times I can't imagine living their lives with the challenges that they have in my life. Hasn't been perfect. So it was really an education for me. And as an indicated the biggest gifts I've received. His gratitude, gratitude for all the blessings in my life. And I had that gratitude before I met any of these cases and these neighbors, but, seeing how some folks are trying to live a good life just makes me even more grateful. I think the other gift, over the years is that I have met many, many other parishioners. That I've seen all along in church, but never really knew them. And, you know, as, as a member of our society here in Hull, I've gotten to know many of these people much more intimately, and have developed friendships, and that's a gift as well. So I feel very, very blessed by this service. Thank you so much, Miriam. It truly is in giving that we receive. And as I mentioned earlier, we are in the middle of expanding our conference for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Hull to include the parish in Cohasset. And so if you live in either Hull or Cohasset and are in need, or if you know someone in need, we encourage you to ask them to reach out to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. And Anne, do you have a phone number that those in need or those who know someone in need could contact?

I do. There's a direct phone number that is staffed by our members and that the telephone number is area code 508 510 7765. And I'll just repeat that again. 508 510 7765. There is a voicemail and, if you leave a message a member of St. Vincent DePaul will return your call promptly. Thank you so much.

For those who are listening, that phone number will be included in the notes for this episode. Also, if you're living in Hull, and especially now in Cohasset, as we expand the conference to include Cohasset, and you're interested in what you've heard today and want to be supportive of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, I offer three suggestions to you. First and foremost, to pray. Pray for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and pray for all of those who are in need. The second way in which you can be supportive is through your donations. We currently have a series of collection boxes in the gathering space of the church in Hull, and we will soon have St. Vincent de Paul collection boxes at the St. Anthony of Padua Church in Cohasset. In addition, each parish has or will have an annual collection to be in support of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. The third way I'd suggest that you can be supportive of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is by considering whether or not God is calling you to join the Society as a member and to give to others of yourself. And if anyone's interested in doing that what should they do, Anne? Well, it'd be great to reach out to our president Laurie Manger, her, I have her email address. L M A G N E R 1 4 at gmail. com again, lmanger14 at gmail. com. Reach out to her and she'll have a conversation with you about St. Vincent de Paul. And I could just say from my personal experience I do have a busy life, but being able to put this in has just been, a monumentally impactful to my life. And it just takes a few hours a week. And just by giving a little bit of time myself, I've been able to just get so much in return.

So I'm just so grateful for the opportunity. And Thank you. And for those who are listening, we will include Lori's email address in the notes for this episode. of the podcast. As I mentioned earlier, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul was founded by six college students, including Blessed Frederick Ozanam, along with an older mentor.

Today, from those humble beginnings, more than 800, 000 members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul are serving those in need in their own local communities in 152 countries. If you'd like more information, please visit svdpusa. org for more information. And that email address, I'm sorry, that web address will be in the notes for today's episode.

Blessed Frederick Ozanam, founder of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, once said, let us do all the good we can and trust to God the rest. St. Vincent de Paul, pray for us. Blessed Frederick Ozanam. Pray for us. Thank you, Miriam and Anne. We're so delighted to have you on the podcast today to talk about the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, especially at the local level in Hull, and now expanding to include Cohasset. Thank you, Father, for the opportunity. Thank you, Father. Loving and serving the poor has been part of the tradition of the Catholic Church since its founding. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that the Eucharist commits us to the poor.

This means that we have a responsibility to care for those in need. Whether it's donating our time, talents or resources, we can make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate. Doing so is an essential part of our faith and shows God's love in action. It's hard to believe that it's already June. And as Catholics, it's a very special month. On our liturgical calendar, we have some beautiful feast days. Trinity Sunday. Corpus Christi Sunday. And of course, the entire month of June is dedicated to the sacred heart of Jesus. But I want to talk about one solemnity in particular, and that's Corpus Christi Sunday.

The official name on the church calendar is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. Now that phrase, Corpus Christi, is Latin. It literally means body of Christ. Now, there's a fascinating history to how the Church came to commemorate this day, and that story takes us all the way back to the 13th century, to the Belgian city of Liege. And there, there was a Norbertine nun. Her name was Sister Juliana. Now she's Saint Juliana. And she was privileged to have an apparition multiple times, and what she saw in this vision was the moon, radiant, very beautiful. But after she had seen it a number of times, she noticed on the face of the moon there was a dark spot, there was a blemish that, that wasn't brilliant, and she had no idea why and she thought to herself, well, what does this mean? And so she prayed about it. She asked a number of people about it. Nobody could give her an answer. Well, she continued to pray. And one day, God revealed to her that the bright, brilliant light of the moon was a representation of the church. And that the dark spot was that something was lacking.

What was lacking was a feast in honor of the most blessed sacrament. And so Sister Juliana finds out she was meant to be the one The Lord wanted to use to promote a feast, a separate feast, in honor of the Most Holy Eucharist. So, word got to her local bishop there, and they began to celebrate an annual feast, the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ in the year 1246.

Now, this was just in, in the diocese where she lived. Now, it so happened that the Archdeacon of the Diocese of Liège eventually became Pope, Pope Urban IV, and he was familiar with this practice in his home diocese. And so, in 1264, he introduced the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ to the Universal Church.

And it became placed on the calendar of the worldwide Catholic Church. And he enlisted the help of a very famous theologian, a Dominican priest by the name of Thomas Aquinas, to write the text for the Mass, for the Liturgy of the Hours, and to compose some hymns. Some of them very famous to us. The O Salutaris, the last two verses of a much larger hymn we're very familiar with.

We sing that at every benediction. And that was composed by the great St. Thomas Aquinas. So there's this fascinating history of how the church came to celebrate Corpus Christi Sunday. And as the Church teaches us, the Eucharist is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. St. Juliana of Liege was a woman of strength and inner conviction, and her experiences led to the inception of the Feast of Corpus Christi in the Universal Catholic Church when Pope Urban IV Instituted the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ as a universal feast in 1264, he wrote, Although the Eucharist is celebrated solemnly every day, we deem it fitting that at least once a year it be celebrated with greater honor and a solemn commemoration. St. Juliana of Lige was canonized in the year 1869, and her feast day is April 6th.

Thanks for listening to today's episode of the Christ by the Sea Catholic Collaborative Podcast for the parishes of St. Anthony in Cohasset and St. Mary of the Assumption in Hull. Help us spread the word. Be sure to follow us on Apple Podcast and Spotify. Thanks for listening.

This has been a production of the Parish Podcast Project.