Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in a sermon from 1968:

"Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won’t have any money to leave behind. I won’t have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. And that’s all I want to say."

We're proud to share that Pat Macy of our parish is this year's Drum Major for Justice to be presented at the Mass for Peace & Justice commemorating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Mass will take place at Holy Cross Catholic Church on Saturday, January 15 at 11 a.m. We hope to see you there to make a joyful noise for Pat. 

As we begin a new year of ministry to our neighbors, we thank you for your generous contributions that make it all possible. Our dispatchers receive hundreds of calls each month and the stories we hear are amazing.

We recently helped a starving artist – literally!  This young man called us for help with rent, utilities, food cards and bus passes.  He told us that he is an artist, working two jobs, and sometimes has no food to eat. He needed a lot of help – had lost his roommate and gotten behind on his rent. He had scheduled his first art show for January, hoping to bring in some extra money. Thankfully, his landlord was willing to work with him and was very grateful for our help with his rent. Since he has no car, he had no way to get to the food banks, so we provided bus passes and food cards for him. He was also behind on his utilities and we were able to help with those, too. Your funding made all this possible. He was so very grateful.

We hope that our stories about our neighbors give you insight into our ministry, which is so very necessary in these difficult times. COVID really made a negative impact on so many people’s lives, causing them to lose jobs, homes and so much more.  We are grateful that our ministry is there to support them and give them hope.

Thank you again for your generosity and if you would like to volunteer, we would love to have you!  In addition to helping our neighbors in need with rent, utilities, medicine, food cards and bus passes, we also volunteer at the St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) food bank on Fridays to bag vegetables and on Saturdays to hand out food to those in need.
 

Those who are gracious to the poor lend to the Lord, and the Lord will fully repay them.
~ Proverbs 19:17

Want to learn more about the good work of our SVdP Society? Contact Huddie Murray at HWMSwim@gmail.com.

Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, with children in an undated photo

On the 25th Anniversary of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin’s passing on November 14, 1996, we remember his Principles of Dialogue. We invite you to explore them in full and consider them in context with Pope Francis’ invitation to Synodality. They offer us a thoughtful guide to the listening central to the Synod on Synodality.

1. We should recognize that no single group or viewpoint in the church has a complete monopoly on the truth. While the bishops united with the Pope have been specially endowed by God with the power to preserve the true faith, they too exercise their office by taking counsel with one another and with the experience of the whole church, past and present. Solutions to the church’s problems will almost inevitably emerge from a variety of sources.

2. We should not envision ourselves or any one part of the church a saving remnant. No group within the church should judge itself alone to be possessed of enlightenment or spurn the Catholic community, its leaders, or its institutions as unfaithful.

3. We should test all proposals for their pastoral realism and potential impact on individuals as well as for their theological truth. Pastoral effectiveness is a responsibility of leadership.

4. We should presume that those with whom we differ are acting in good faith. They deserve civility, charity, and a good-faith effort to understand their concerns. We should not substitute labels, abstractions, or blanketing terms–“radical feminism,” “the hierarchy,” “the Vatican”–for living, complicated realities.

5. We should put the best possible construction on differing positions, addressing their strongest points rather than seizing upon the most vulnerable aspects in order to discredit them. We should detect the valid insights and legitimate worries that may underlie even questionable arguments.

6. We should be cautious in ascribing motives. We should not impugn another’s love of the church and loyalty to it. We should not rush to interpret disagreements as conflicts of starkly opposing principles rather than as differences in degree or in prudential pastoral judgments about the relevant facts.

7. We should bring the church to engage the realities of contemporary culture, not by simple defiance or by naive acquiescence, but acknowledging, in the fashion of Gaudium et Spes, both our culture’s valid achievements and real dangers.

Intimate relationships matter. They help provide the connections every person needs to thrive. But when abuse enters the relationship, it’s not always clear what’s happening or what to do. As of 2021, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men will experience domestic violence in their lifetimes. And the widespread lifestyle changes brought on by COVID-19 have increased the stress that contributes to violence and decreased the interactions that can interrupt abuse. It doesn’t have to be this way—and we can all help make Central Texas safe for partners and families.

What you can do today:

• Learn what safe relationships look like and the warning signs of violence

• Prepare to engage with safety planning and upstander training

• Support safety with your time, money, and donated items

We invite you to join us during Domestic Violence Awareness Month and all year round by learning, preparing, and showing up for safe relationships. Connect with SAFE and learn more at our ~

Domestic Violence Plaza

One of the unique qualities of the St. Vincent de Paul Society is that we are encouraged to be “creative to infinity” with our assistance to neighbors. Most of our help takes the form of rent, utilities or food assistance and bus passes. Sometimes, though, we have been asked for other help, in order to assist a neighbor in clearing a particular hurdle. We have paid tuition, mortgage payments, car repair bills, etc., all because of YOUR generosity!

Once in a while, we are stumped about how to help… If YOU know of resources that would enable us to help even more effectively, please do share them by emailing

Huddie

Thanks! We appreciate your support so much!