Be Vincentian!
If God is the center of your life, no
words are necessary. Your mere presence will touch
hearts. -- St. Vincent de Paul
As we enter the second decade of the 21st century our world
needs new images of leadership, new role models. The task of the
Vincentian University is to make tomorrow’s leaders more fully
human. We look to St. Vincent as a role model of leadership for our
times. He lived simply, held God at the center of his life
and used his talents to offer material and spiritual care to people
who were poor in his community and in the world. Vincent reached
out to change the systemic causes of poverty as well as alleviate
individual suffering. Vincent’s life centered on God and on his
neighbor, particularly his neighbors who were the least, lost, and
left out of the society of the 17th Century.
To be Vincentian, one must know Vincent from an intellectual
perspective, accept his way in our hearts and live the core values
of truth, love, respect, excellence, opportunity and
service. In our University, Vincent will have many
faces and the holiness of the followers of Vincent will be revealed
by our interiority and our actions. As Vincent put God at the
Center, so we must put God and the service of others at the
center of our lives. What’s in your center?
January 23-29, 2011
17th Annual Founder’s Week
This year marks the 17th annual observance of Founder’s Week.
The University dedicates this week to deepening our knowledge and
understanding of the Vincentian heritage of St. John’s
University. The week was chosen because it includes the
anniversary of the founding of the Congregation of the Mission, by
St. Vincent de Paul, on January 25, the Feast of the Conversion of
St Paul. On this date in 1617, Vincent preached a sermon on
general confession at the Church of Folleville, France.
This date is held by the Vincentian priests who sponsor St. John’s
University as the date when Vincent de Paul conceived of the notion
of creating a congregation of priests who would serve the spiritual
and material needs of people who are poor and preached the first
sermon of the mission.
Vincentian Chair of Social Justice
Lecture
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Very Reverend David M. O’Connell, C.M., J.C.D., Co adjudicator
Bishop, Diocese of Trenton