THE VINCENTIAN NEWS

SOCIETY OF ST. VINCENT de PAUL WESTERN REGION NEWSLETTER

ALASKA ARIZONA CALIFORNIA HAWAII IDAHO MONTANA NEVADA OREGON UTAH

WASHINGTON
January 2010	Why the Annual SVdePaul “Friends of the Poor Walk” Matters
	Three Views by Three of Our Most Committed
	San Francisco Walkers
	[Article 1:] Joe Andres, Conference Member, St. Kevin’s Conference

Among the Vincentians walking their way around Lake Merced September 26 was René Rodigou. As the sun burned away the morning fog, warming the path around the lake, we met Rene. At 88, he was recovering from a spinal fracture, so his pace was not as brisk as some along the route. But his wit was quick, and long walking staff in hand, he chose to participate because it helped him empathize with the material difficulties the homeless and poor must overcome.

Rene shared memories of decades of Vincentian service at Holy Name of Jesus Church in San Francisco’s Sunset district. The Holy Name’s conference has actively served food, collected and distributed clothing, volunteered at shelters for many years, and Rene felt privileged to be part of that service tradition.

Along the walk, Rene met a friend, San Francisco Fire Department Chief Joanne Hayes-White. Rene’s interest in the SFFD includes sharing a patent for a special wrench that secures fire hoses to brass standpipes in San Francisco’s financial district. He never mentioned this, but Patent # 3006227 is right there on the U.S. Patent Office website. Rene has undoubtedly achieved many things in his long life. He is a man of purpose. But it was service that enlivened his conversation.

As Rene completed the 4.5-mile trek around the lake, his spirit of life-long commitment to service remained, a moving reminder and example of the cumulative benefit Vincentian service brings to the poor and to the San Francisco community.

[Article 2:] Caitlin Murphy, Vincentian Volunteers, Teacher & Counselor Why do we walk? Why get up Saturday at 6 a.m. to walk around a lake? The short answer: because we must. The slightly longer answer? Because we need to walk with the poor. I am not the only one who feels this way. On September 26, over two hundred of us walked with and as friends, sponsored by hundreds more and supported by countless others.

I walked with friends—with those complete strangers who have become my community and my most valued support here in my new home, San Francisco. We walked not only with the poor, but with each other, still learning and sharing about how we ended up here, about our families and friends and the people that helped walk us to this place.

And so we walked as friends. And so I walked, and walk, as a friend of the poor. It’s actually been a strange designation for me to make at the shelter—“No, I’m not a social worker…or a doctor…or a nun. I’m a volunteer.” A friend. Not a case manager, or a chaplain. A friend. Walking. Walking with, accompanying people on their individual journeys. Letting them join me on mine.

Our walk that misty morning began with a Mass, celebrated outdoors, with the sparest of decoration but the most beautiful of surroundings. In peace, we hugged these strangers we would soon be walking with. In peace we left, to go and to serve, to walk.

[Article 3:] Father John Talesfore, Pastor, St. Mary’s Cathedral

It is curious that our “Friends of the Poor Walk” is often misrepresented as the “Walk for the Poor.” While one might ask what’s in a name, it’s critical that we remember and reflect on the fact that we call ourselves friends of the poor.

What an ideal for our Christian discipleship! Remember that it was Christ who first said to us, poor as we are, “I no longer call you servants…I call you friends.” From the riches of that friendship alone can we reach out, not as social workers or benefactors, but as friends who understand the life changing effects of friendship in Christ.

As we Vincentians respond to the material needs of the hungry and the homeless, let us never forget the loneliness and isolation that poverty inflicts and be renewed in the core spirit of our Society which is person to person.

While it may seem odd for a priest to end such a reflection by quoting a secular philosopher, I cannot resist the words of Albert Camus, who wrote:

“Don't walk behind me; I may not lead.

Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow.

Just walk beside me and be my friend.”

Only as friends can we truly help, and thus it was as friends that we walked.

A young girl tries on a new jacket at the St. Vincent de Paul coat giveaway.

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