April 2017 Vol. 3 Issue 69

The Top Hat The Vincentian Voice of

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul Archdiocesan Council of New Orleans

THE TOP HAT….

Is a publication for the Society of St. Vincent

de Paul and it’s designed to inform its communities of past,

present and future services and events.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a

Catholic lay organization that offers

service to the needy in the

tradition of its founder, Blessed Frederic

Ozanam and its patron, St. Vincent de Paul.

Inside this issue:

Officers Training

recap

2

Vincentian Meditation

3

SVdp Young Adults Continuing the

mission of Blessed Frederic’

4

Young Vincentians

Lenten Retreat

5

Central Office News & Notes

6

SVdP Celebrates the Lenten Season

The Society of St.Vincent De Paul Christ the King Conference in Terrytown, held it's annual Wine and Cheese Basket Raffle as a fundraiser during the Lenten Season. A table was set up for the 6 Fridays that the fish fry's were

hosted by Knights of Columbus Holy Name Society and Men's Club. A winner was drawn at the conclusion of the last fish fry, and we're pleased to announce that Jen

Guthrie is this year's winner!

More Lenten news on pg. 5

How can YOU invest in the future of New Orleans?

One day to give as ONE on May 2! Chose to donate to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul New Orleans!

Help us continue to help others!

https://www.givenola.org/the-society-of-st-vincent-de-paul

Page 2

From the President

A special Thank You to everyone who attended our Officers Training on March 29, 2017. We had over 50 Vincentians in attendance, comprised of Archdiocesan Board Members, Conference Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Secretaries and Treasurers. Our guest speaker, Bill Migley SE Regional Vice President, reviewed the roles and responsibilities of each officer in the society. From the Board, the District and

Conference level. It was very informative and several people offered that they learned a great deal from the presentation. During the presentation, the payment and formula for paying dues was discussed. There will be a formal letter getting sent to everyone with clarification on the Solidarity Dues. This

letter will include a full explanation and example of how and what you should pay. A very special THANKS to our host, Corpus Christi-Epiphany for their hospitality, providing dinner and

the use of the facilities. A job well done by all those involved in the planning of this event. We have a

GREAT TEAM of Vincentians in our archdiocese, keep up the great works!

Together In Christ, Alan Demma

Our local Archdiocesan Council Society of St. Vincent de Paul was chosen to participate in a live webinar at Loyola University, available nationwide. This is a result of our participation in the GO! Conference this January which was sponsored

by the Archdiocese of New Orleans Office of Religious Education. Your TEAM, comprised of Michael Champagne (Communications Chairman), Sister Teresa Daly (Formation), and

Alan Demma (Board President) have been working on a presentation to inform the viewers about our GREAT SOCIETY!

The webinar is available for anyone nationwide to login, view us live and ask questions from the three of us about our mission. We ask you to join us by gathering your conference members and watching us live. Please help spread the word by

asking your Pastors to include this information in your Parish bulletin. Most importantly, participate with us! WEBINAR INFORMATION: DATE: Thursday, April 27th

TIME: 8:00 PM WEBSITE: http://gps.loyno.edu/lim/webinars

(Follow instructions provided to join the webinar live.) The TEAM is very excited about this opportunity and hope you share in our excitement!

What Would Jesus Do?

Many years ago, this term was in vogue, especially among kids. However, the practical applications of it is essential to our Vincentian vocation and ministry. St. Vincent always would ask himself “What must be done?” and in that process he would seek to discern the will of God and then act to carry out what was needed.

For Vincent, discerning without following through with action would not build God’s kingdom. But acting without seeking God’s will first, would open up to all sorts of misdirected, prideful and even harmful results.

St. Vincent felt that a sure way for a Christian to grow rapidly in holiness was through conscientious efforts to carry our God’s will in all circumstances.

Related to this, St. Vincent was convinces that God was guiding everything. He trusted in the “Providence of God.”-That God would provide and move things along for the best. He visualized God’s Providence as

something like a runner who sets the pace in a race. If you run too far behind Providence (by not trusting) you stumble and get exhausted because you are not tapping into all the car and the grace the Father is giving. If you run ahead of Providence, trusting more in yourself than in God, you wander off in the wrong direction along the

path that could run counter to God’s will.

For us in today’s world of self-reliance and independence, trusting in the Providence of God’s may be a hard thing to do. We may fret over not having not enough resources to help the poor and to this St. Vincent would

say:

“Don’t not worry yourself overmuch. Have the confidence in God that he will look after us, since we know for certain that as long as we are grounded in his love and trust, we will never lack what we need even when

everything we possess seems headed for disaster.”

St. Vincent was convinced that God was leading everything. He could both lean back on the guidance in retrospect and see where God had acted in the past, and let it lead him forward in confidence that God would be

working through him in the future. He trusted implicitly in receiving the grace of God to do the will of God.

Thus, as Vincentians carrying out our vocation and mission to humbly and lovingly serve God though our love for each other and work for the poor:

Let us first simply ask, “What would Jesus do?’

Let us then humbly pray for God’s grace to discern His will.

And then let us formulate a plan of action with total trust in the providence of God to carry out His will.

Page 3

Vincentian Meditation

A group of 5 Young Adults went to the Ozanam Inn Saturday, April 1, from 5:30-7 pm. None of us knew what to expect, as we had never been to Ozanam before, but we all had a common goal- to get together as a group, and serve the poor.

We arrived at 5:30 and met with some of the volunteers and employees, who were all very accommodating, and grateful we were there to help. We helped set up, and prepared to hand out the water, sandwiches, and pastries. While we were setting up, we talked with one of the volunteers, who lives at the Inn on the 2nd floor. We found out that a lot of the volunteers and workers live at Ozanam, on the second and third floors. Also, each person who comes to Ozanam can get 3 meals a day, every day of the year. But if they want to stay overnight, they can only stay for 10 nights a year. So, they must pick only 10 nights out of 365… We all wondered, where do these people stay for the other 355 nights of the year?

Before we knew it, 6:00 rolled around, and it was time to start serving. In the next 15 minutes, 34 people came through to get food and drink. It was an emotional moment in many ways. It was humbling, to see so many people so thankful to get a couple of sandwiches (with literally one slice of meat and no condiments), a couple of pastries, and a bottle of water. Many of them said “God bless,” and just seemed humble. We were surprised at how thankful and polite they were. To us, just seeing the different faces of people less fortunate than us... it was a humbling and emotional experience. God has truly blessed us, and it made us more aware of being thankful for all the little things that so many people do not have.

We all felt like we were just scraping the surface of what we want to do. We all were expecting and wanting to do more to serve and to help. Next time, we want to serve and cook for the big meal- the 2 pm meal- and we have this scheduled for the next available date- August 6th. We want to get much more involved and really get immersed in service to the poor. This event felt like just a little taste of what we want to do.

Greg Joubert/Spokesman SVdP Young Adults

Page 4

Society Young Adults Carrying on the Mission of Serving the Poor

Reminder: Office Hours!

Remaining spring dates for Office Days at the Pharmacy are:

May 3rd May 8th May 17th May 22nd May 31st

To schedule a meeting with Deacon Rudy and/or Council Pres. Alan Demma, contact them at

650-1779 or 352-0533

YOUNG VINCENTIANS LENTEN RETREAT

It was April 12, 2017, the Wednesday of Holy Week and the day each year when we gather the Young Vincentians of St. Francis Xavier School for their annual retreat.

This was a very good and well received retreat. Our topic was the Spiritual Works of Mercy and the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.

Mr. Adoue (The faculty Moderator) and Sister Teresa both spoke to the students about the Spiritual Works of Mercy. The students put their artistic talents to work as they prepared posters depicting one of the Spiritual Works of Mercy.

Our young Vincentians did participate in the “Washing of the Feet Mass.” Many of them took the parts of the Apostles.

We prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary as we walked to different places on the Parish grounds. Thanks to Fran Linares; Lorraine Bisso and Cuqui Moore, members of the adult SVDP Conference at St. Francis, who shared their reflections on the mysteries of the rosary. Thanks also to Barb Martin , Principal of the school who also shared her

reflection on the Sorrowful Mysteries.

We were very fortunate to have Sister Keri Burke, a Marionite Sister of the Holy Cross, share with us. Keri was able to have the group share the many service activities they participate in. She then stopped for a moment and assured them that EVERYDAY IS A DAY OF SERVUCE. The folks who helped her to find her way to the school auditorium that morning, the person who held the door for her were performing acts of service. She encouraged us to continue our Service projects but to also be aware of the many small acts of service we perform each and every day for truly: EVERY DAY IS A DAY

IF SERVICE.

Our day was concluded with the Stations of the Cross presented by the Primary Grade children. We did have an Examination of Conscience and burning of the things that have been sinful for us.

All departed with a desire to live EVERYDAY AS A DAY OF SERVICE.

Submitted by Sr. Teresa Daly, DOC

Page 5

From the Formation Director

Society of St. Vincent de Paul

Archdiocesan Council of New Orleans

1995 Gentilly Blvd.

New Orleans, LA 70119

Phone: 504-940-5031 Fax: 504-940-5031

e-mail: svdp@bellsouth.net

website: svdpneworleans.org

Top Hat

Newsle�er Staff:

Deacon Rudolph Rayfield

Executive Director

Alan Demma President

Kelly Parker Publications

Help Us Help Others!!

For dona�on info, call

Page 6

Non-Profit

U.S. Postage

PAID

Permit No. 679

AND NOTES...

SAVE the DATE!

The Annual

Jazzin’ on the River Fundraising Gala will be held

on July 8, 2017

Sister Frances Duos, CSJ collected clothes, food, and Easter baskets for four

single moms and their children. The students and teachers of the Adult Learning Center participated in the collection. The contributions brought many smiles to

these families at Easter.

-Ozanam Sunday Celebrated-

Frederic Ozanam was born on April 23, 1813 in Milan, Italy. On April 23, 1833

Frederic and six companions founded the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Also, St.

Vincent de Paul was born on April 24, 1581. To commemorate these events, the

U.S. Society of St. Vincent de Paul celebrates the last Sunday of April as Ozanam

Sunday.