Download 2012 Midyear Assembly Network of Charity by Shelia

A Meditation on the
Network of Charity and Justice
Prelude
 In the midst of our active service it is
well to take a few minutes to re-connect
with our roots and our foundations.
 We invite you to prayerfully review this
meditation on the Network of Charity
and Justice.
Bring the globe of the world forward in
your mind…
Picture a dove, the Holy Spirit,
hovering over the globe…
And see the Holy Spirit inspire
Frédéric Ozanam to envision a
network of charity and justice to encircle
the globe…
See that network as a mesh of gold around
the globe…
Finest gold because the network is sacred
and beautiful in the eyes of God
It is part of the Divine Plan for creation…
 Look more closely at the golden mesh
 See that some parts are strong and thick,
others are fragile.
The strong, thick mesh is the countries where
the Society is strong and well-resourced…
Others are more fragile…
…some very fragile indeed.
These are the countries where the Society
struggles to meet the sometimes overwhelming
needs of poverty…
There are jagged holes that represent those
places in our world where those in need struggle
without our help and support…
…They are the parts of the mesh ―
the network ― that need to be constructed…
Through the center of the mesh there is a
golden chain. ..
It encircles the globe but it needs to be greatly
strengthened since it must hold the
mesh together…
CGI is the golden chain…
CGI
From the Holy Spirit,
through the inspiration of
Frédéric Ozanam, the CGI
received the awesome
responsibility to bind the
world together in the
network of charity and
justice. The CGI, however,
runs through each country
on the globe and it is
strengthened or weakened
by the resources or the need
through which it passes.
Every National Council throughout the world is
bound together in the network of charity by
the CGI…
Each of us supports CGI and, thus, the
network of charity, as we are able…
 See yourself as a link in this Vincentian
chain of charity and justice. On each side of
you stand your conference members. The
chain is only as strong as your spirituality,
friendship and service make it.
 See your conference as a link in the chain.
On each side of you stand the other
conferences in your Council. The chain is
only as strong as the resources of each
conference - spirituality, friendship and
service – and financial.
 See your Council as a link in the chain. On
each side of your Council stand the other
Councils that make up our National
Council. The chain is only as strong as the
resources and the spirituality, friendship
and service of each link.
 Finally, consider all the Councils bound together into
the Golden Chain that is CGI. CGI is only as strong as
its National Councils - your financial support, your
spirituality, your friendship and your service are the
strength and vitality of the Golden Chain that is CGI
In this way, we enable Frédéric’s vision to
live and grow today…
A Network of charity and
justice to encircle the world
The Society of St. Vincent dePaul
Whether the network grows stronger and
stronger, or collapses to dust, is up to each
of us as members of the Society, as
conferences and as councils…
“Charity must never look to
the past, but always to the
future, because the number
of its past work is still very
small, and the present and future miseries
that it must alleviate are infinite.”
~ Frédéric Ozanam