Reading from the Letter of Paul to the Corinthians:
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.
The Society of St. Vincent De Paul was founded in 1833 by Frederic Ozanam, a 20 year-old student of the Sorbonne University in Paris.
In answer to a taunt for Christians to ‘practice what they preach’, Frederic Ozanam and a group of fellow students started to seek out and visit the poor of Paris in their homes. These students often took bread and clothes to the poor, but always took them their friendship and their concern. This small group took as their patron the French priest, St. Vincent De Paul, who alerted the work to social problems. Similar groups began in Paris, then in the rest of France and eventually spread throughout the Christian world. Their object was to visit, for the love of God, those in need.
The mission of the Society of St. Vincent De Paul is ‘Independence and Empowerment for individuals who are homeless, unemployed and underemployed.’
For more information on the St. Vincent De Paul Dayton District, please visit their website: https://stvincentdayton.org
If you are in need or simply wish to serve in the St. Augustine Conference, please contact the parish rectory at (937) 855-2289.