<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here are answers to common questions we receive. Q: Why does St. Ignatius have a SVDP ministry?A: Like many Catholic parishes, St. Ignatius supports the mission of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which is to serve our neighbors in need. Sponsoring this ministry blesses us parishioners with an...","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":1160,"parent":731,"menu_order":105,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2370","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sainti.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sainti.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sainti.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sainti.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sainti.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2370"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sainti.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2376,"href":"https:\/\/sainti.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2370\/revisions\/2376"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sainti.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sainti.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sainti.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Q: Why does St. Ignatius have a SVDP ministry?<\/strong>
A: Like many Catholic parishes, St. Ignatius supports the mission of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which is to serve our neighbors in need. Sponsoring this ministry blesses us parishioners with an opportunity to accept St. Vincent\u2019s ministry as our own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus told us how to treat our neighbor in Chapter 12 of the Gospel of Mark: \u201cOne of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, \u2018Which is the first of all the commandments?\u2019 Jesus replied, \u2018The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q: Who is in need?<\/strong>
A: People in need live within our Conference boundaries \u2013 generally within St. Ignatius parish boundaries. We call these people \u201cneighbors\u201d because they live among us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of our neighbors \u2013 we\u2019ll refer to as P. \u2013 had a long-overdue utility bill and her rent was increasing. She could no longer afford to live alone. She contacted our St. Ignatius Conference, and we provided a partial payment to keep utilities connected to give P. time to move in with a relative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q: How do you know who needs help?<\/strong>
A: Neighbors in need call the Parish Office at 513-661-6565 and are directed to press option 2 to leave a message for our Vincentians \u2013 volunteers from our parish. Sometimes we receive calls from people outside our Conference boundaries, and we refer them to a conference where they live. We also receive referrals from the SVDP Council in the West End. All conferences use the SVDP Council data base to ensure assistance is fairly disseminated and not concentrated among a few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q: How is the Society of St. Vincent de Paul different from a government agency?<\/strong>
A: There are many faceless government and other agencies that provide the basics to the needy at the federal, state and local levels. But we\u2019re different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vincentian volunteers meet our neighbors face to face and in their homes. We get to know them and understand their circumstances. Sometimes our neighbors need more than what money can buy: They need someone who cares, who listens, who loves and who prays with them. Our efforts demonstrate love in action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
D. and S. had been renting a room in a house that was then condemned. (We changed their names for privacy.) They had to move, and our Conference provided some financial assistance. After a long search for affordable housing, D. and S. shared their joy by inviting our Vincentians to see their new one-bedroom apartment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q: What is so special about the St. Vincent de Paul ministry?<\/strong>
A: Our worldwide mission exists as \u201cA network of neighbors, inspired by Gospel values, growing in holiness and building a more just world through personal relationships with and service to people in need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At St. Ignatius, we are a group of parishioners just like you who are doing our best to follow God\u2019s will for our lives and helping our neighbor as best we can. And this work definitely challenges us to do uncomfortable things because it\u2019s the right thing to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q: I appreciate the SVDP ministry, but I have no experience working with the poor. How could I be of any help?<\/strong>
A: We have faith there are more parishioners who would be great for this ministry because they are generous in heart and spirit!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most Vincentian volunteers have no such experience before they join the SVDP ministry. However, we believe, as St. Vincent did, \u201cWe must love our neighbor as being made in the image of God and as an object of His love.\u201d So, we seek the help of the Holy Spirit to guide our interactions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Q: What do volunteers \u201cget\u201d from participation in SVDP?<\/strong>
A: You might be surprised to learn how much a home visit means to a struggling neighbor, how much it helps them to see beyond the immediate crisis and figure out for themselves what to do next. In return, we are blessed with these experiences and their heart-felt gratitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another important part of our ministry is group prayer and fellowship. Praying together and supporting each other strengthen us and encourage us to better serve our neighbors. As St. Vincent himself said, \u201cIf God is the center of your life, no words are necessary. Your mere presence will touch hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q: Our parish is always generous, right?<\/strong>
A: Absolutely! St. Ignatius parishioners consistently contribute to help our SVDP ministry for unmet physical and spiritual needs in our community. Through God\u2019s grace and with your monetary and prayerful support, our ministry always seems to have just what we need to help our neighbors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now God may be calling parishioners \u2013 maybe even you! \u2013 to be part of this ministry. As St. Vincent said, \u201cPut your trust in Him and following His example, always act humbly, graciously, and in good faith.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q: Where do St. Ignatius SVDP donations go?<\/strong>
A: Your donation stays with St. Ignatius Conference. We use these funds to help cover food, rent and utilities for people in need who live within our Conference boundaries. We provide a grocery gift card, a SVDP thrift store voucher or a check made payable to a landlord, property management company or utility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, a neighbor had been unable to work for months. We\u2019ll call her K. to protect her privacy. Her live-in partner had been withdrawing money from savings and refinancing cars to pay all their bills as K. pursued disability pay. Our St. Ignatius Conference was able to fulfill K.\u2019s request to cover half a month\u2019s rent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Occasionally, when we have a surplus of funds, we help neighboring parish conferences with small contributions to meet a specific need. Some of these conferences are frequently overwhelmed with requests, and we feel blessed we can help at times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q: How much can a person or household receive?<\/strong>
A: There are limits to what each person or household can receive within a year. We follow SVDP Cincinnati Council and our St. Ignatius Conference guidelines to make sure we can help as many people as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Usually, neighbors ask only for what they actually need at the time. Here\u2019s a typical situation: There was a woman we\u2019ll call K., whose medical condition had made it impossible to work the job she is trained for. She was struggling to make ends meet with temporary work, so our St. Ignatius Conference made a partial payment to keep utilities connected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q: How much money does the St. Ignatius Conference have on hand?<\/strong>
A: We make do with what we receive. We do not conduct fund-raisers to accumulate a lot of money. In fact, we rely on our donors\u2019 prayerful consideration of what they can offer to help. We have found God provides for what our neighbors need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q: What if people need non-monetary help?<\/strong>
A: It\u2019s a good thing that St. Ignatius Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a ministry, not a social service agency. Instead of a hand-out, we see the face of Christ in each of our neighbors. We listen. We get to know each neighbor and strive to understand their circumstances. We seek the help of the Holy Spirit to guide our response and share our faith. We pray with and for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being present does wonders for our neighbors. (And here\u2019s a secret: It does wonders for our Vincentians, too!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q: Why doesn\u2019t the St. Ignatius Conference have a food pantry or soup kitchen?<\/strong>
A: While some SVDP conferences offer groceries or meals to the needy, St. Ignatius has found thoughtful distribution of our funds is what our neighbors request and need most. Besides, supporting a food pantry or soup kitchen would take even more volunteer help and more parish facilities than we now have. We do share information about nearby resources as appropriate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q: How is the Archdiocese\u2019s Beacons of Light initiative impacting other parishes\u2019 SVDP conferences?<\/strong>
A: Conferences within parish families will have to decide how to collaborate to serve the needs within their boundaries. St. Ignatius is blessed to have a well-established conference at this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q: How can I help?<\/strong>
A: Our St. Ignatius Conference is a ministry for immediate, unmet physical and spiritual needs in our community. You can:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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