.

SCRIPTURE
- Isaiah 61:1       
"...He has sent me..."

REFLECTION
- Fr. Ron

MUSIC
- "Where Charity and Love Prevail" by Denise LaGiglia & Jerry Galipeau
- "Here I Am Lord" by The Worship Zone

NOTES
-

PRAYER OF LETTING GO
To You do I belong, O God,
into Your hands I surrender my life.
Pour out Your Spirit upon me
that I may love You perfectly,
and serve You faithfully
until my soul rests in You.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:29

Hello, and welcome to Vincentian Spirit Week as we prepare to celebrate the feast of our patron, Saint Vincent de Paul, this coming Sunday. Father Ron will share a bit more about the week later on, but as we begin, I invite you to take a slow, deep breath and invite God into this moment of prayer. Let us pray. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.

SPEAKER_03 1:19

Have mercy on me, O gracious God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant kindness. Forgive me where my thoughts and deeds have hurt others.

SPEAKER_04 1:41

Teach me that I may know my weaknesses, the shortcomings that bind me, the unsolving ways that separate me from recognizing your life in me.

SPEAKER_03 2:02

You have placed your truth in my innermost being. Therefore, teach me the wisdom of the heart. Forgive all that binds me in fear, that I might radiate love.

SPEAKER_04 2:26

Cleanse me that your light might shine in me, O God. Fill me with gladness. Help me to transform weakness into strength. Look not on my past mistakes, but on the aspiration of my heart.

SPEAKER_03 2:50

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me, and fold me in the arms of love, and fill me with your Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_04 3:10

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall sing your praise.

SPEAKER_03 3:21

O blessed and compassionate friend, melt our hearts of stone. Break through the fears that lead us into darkness, and guide our steps towards the way of peace.

SPEAKER_04 3:42

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_03 3:48

As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever.

unknown 3:53

Amen.

SPEAKER_03 4:15

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me, He has sent me to bring good news to the afflicted, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives. The word of the Lord. Saint Vincent de Paul loved these words from the prophet Isaiah. They became more than just a favorite passage of Scripture, they became the pattern of his life. Vincent. He heard them in a personal call from God to bring good news, bind up the broken hearts, set people free, draw near to those the world too easily forget. That was Saint Vincent de Paul. And he answered that call so faithfully that his compassion awakened compassion in countless others who wanted to do the same. His love for Christ took flesh and love for the poor, and the church would come to honor him as the patron saint of charity in the Catholic Church. So, friends, as we approach his feast day next Sunday, the God Minute, we're going to spend this week introducing you to the Vincentian family, communities founded by Saint Vincent or inspired by his Spirit. So we're going to hear from members of the Ladies of Charity, the first group Saint Vincent founded before anyone else. We'll hear from the Congregation of the Mission. That's me. Okay, the Daughters of Charity, the Association of the Miraculous Metal, and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. So each community expresses that Vincentian charism in a different way. So we've invited a member of each one of these groups to join us and to share why they said yes, you know, what their vocation means to them and how it blesses their life. Their stories will be very different, no doubt, but beneath them all is the same prayer, the same one we heard in our scripture. Send me, Lord, let me proclaim the good news, let me comfort, feed, accompany, and love those who are struggling to get by. Saint Vincent often reminded his followers that this kind of charitable work was nothing new or unique. It was simply the work of Jesus. To serve the poor is to walk in his footsteps and allow his love to become visible through our hands, our voices, you know, our lives. That's the incarnation of God today. So, friends, that's what we got looking forward this coming week. Together, these people, these groups, the Vincentian Spirit, that's about transforming lives. And they're doing it in such unique ways: one meal, one pair of socks, one bus ticket, one prayer, one sofa at a time. And perhaps that is the invitation for each of us this week. To listen for the place where God is asking you to help, and then to respond, as did Isaiah and Saint Vincent and so many others. Send me, Lord, send me.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

Hold them quietly in your heart now. With confidence, we pray.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

SPEAKER_00 9:59

Amen. Let us pray. Spirit of the Lord, stir within us a love that cannot remain still. Saint Vincent saw you in the faces of the poor and followed where your compassion led. Teach us to see with that same tenderness. Let your compassion take flesh in our lives, in the quiet ways we serve, and the love we are willing to give. And when you whisper, whom shall I send? May we have the courage to say, Here I am, Lord, send me. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

SPEAKER_02 10:55

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

To you do I belong, O God. Into your hands I surrender my life. Pour out your spirit upon me, that I may love you perfectly and serve you faithfully until my soul rests in you.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

Thank you, Father Ron. And with that, Vincentian Spirit Week is underway. I have a feeling Saint Vincent would love the way his little spark of compassion has become a fire that still burns all over the world. We're excited to spend this week discovering it together. And may God bless us as we do in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_02 11:45

Amen.