Working, Praying, and Living in the Spirit of Vincent DePaul

JUNE 2006

Each year, the volunteers begin the year with the writing of their covenant, which describes how they will live in community, in service, and in prayer. At the close of the year, the volunteers create a departing covenant. Each volunteer writes one of the most important things he or she will take into the world. These “I” statements are then written as “We” statements. Below is the departing covenant of the 2005-2006 Gateway Vincentian Volunteers, composed at their final retreat in May.

Departing Covenant

As we leave our year of service, we intend that the spirit of the GVV community will live on in us. We pray that by the way we live the Vincentian charism, our community will grow in others. To grow the GVV community:

  • We will be open to God’s call to see the face of Christ in others, especially the poor and marginalized.
  • We will be a voice for those who are not heard.
  • We will embrace our brokenness and limitations and seek out positive and proactive ways to live and serve.
  • We will, even in the most ordinary settings, continue to uphold the Vincentian charism, recognizing and responding to Christ in the people we meet, humbly serving and receiving, all with great joy.
  • We will remember that conversations are more beneficial to the listener than to the speaker.
  • We will let the Eucharist be a constant reminder that we are the body of Christ—Catholic and       non-Catholic, rich and poor—all people.

 

THANK YOU VINNIE FOR LIFE DONORS!

At the end of January, the Gateway Vincentian Volunteers Program began a Matching Gifts Appeal. A very generous group of donors, the Gatekeepers, offered to match all donations received through the end of March 2006, up to a total of $5000.00. Below are the names of the donors who made contributions after March 21 but before the appeal deadline at the end of March (names of donors who made matching gifts contributions before March 21 were published in our April newsletter). We thank you for your generosity!

  • Gwendolyn Alvarez
  • Jeremy Dixon (GVV 2003-04)
  • Mr. and Mrs. Robert Maciej
  • Mr. and Mrs. Robert Meyer
  • Kellie Willis (GVV 2002-03)

Tributes in honor of:

  • Robert Flick from Mary Flick

Tributes in memory of:

  • My dad, Joseph Vasa from Sr. Joanne Vasa, D.C.

Below are the names of donors who made contributions after our April newsletter mailing. With grateful hearts, we thank you for your generosity. We also thank those donors who have asked to remain anonymous.

  • Rev. Louis Brusatti, C.M.
  • Rev. Lawrence P. Christensen, C.M.
  • Rev. Gus Darling, C.M.
  • Paul Heidemann
  • Br. Paul Joseph, C.M.
  • Robert and Emily LaBarge
  • Charles and Michele Lassiter
  • Kevin McDonough
  • Rev. Henry Piacitelli, C.M.
  • Rev. Edward Sullivan, C.M.
  • Bill and Mary Lou Schicker
  • Gerald and Joan Wentzel
  • Mrs. Grace Whalen

Tributes in honor of:

  • Sr. Kathy Overmann, D.C. from Steven Fowler
  • Fr. Jim Cormack, C.M., for his 30 years of service from Sue Tumminia and family

Tributes in memory of:

  • John and Marie Harrity from Rev. Patrick Harrity, C.M.
  • Jim Yates from Ken Doyle
  • The Berra and Cucco Family from Mr. and Mrs. Larry Berra

We apologize if we have inadvertently omitted the names of any donors. If we have made an error, please let us know so that we may correct it in our next newsletter!

And another GREAT BIG THANKS to ….
Br. Dave Berning, C.M., and Dick and Pat Poehling for donating a large portion of the proceeds from their Good Friday Fish Fry to the Gateway Vincentian Volunteers Program! Thank you for your generous support of the GVV program!

GVV Golf Tournament
THANK YOUs!

The Third Annual GVV No Frills Golf Tournament was a success! We thank all those who played, worked, and donated their time and prizes. We especially thank Fr. Dave Nations, C.M.; Fr. Tom Esselman, C.M.; Fr. Ed Murphy, C.M.; Fr. Jerry Morales, C.M.; Board Member Sr. Kathy Overman, D.C.; Board Member John Capellupo; Board Member Tricia Thiel and her parents, Bill and Mary Lou Schicker; Harry Wilson; Louis Enriquez; the GVVs of 2005-2006; and GVVA Rachael Edelen.

Below are the names of the very special people who sponsored tee boxes and golf carts, made contributions to offset our costs, and donated wonderful prizes. Thank you all for supporting the Gateway Vincentian Volunteers Program!

  • Don Bippen
  • Tom and Patti Dinkins
  • Jack and Carolyn Fogarty
  • Br. Dave Goodman, C.M.
  • Paul Heutel
  • Ralph and Joan Hoffmann
  • Ted Jacoby
  • Helmut and Mary Rose Kramer
  • Robert and Emily LaBarge
  • Dr. and Mrs. William Moorkamp
  • Frank and Pat Rebholz
  • Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Swope
  • Diesel Fuel Injection Service, Inc.—John Wosman
  • El Maguey Mexican Restaurant in Wildwood—Francisco Limón
  • Home Loan Experts—Jose Ponce
  • McMahon Ford—Tricia Thiel, Bill and Mary Lou Schicker
  • Pretech KC, Kansas—Bill Bundschuh
  • Realty Executives—Marilyn Abkemeier
  • Richardo’s Italian Café in Lafayette Square—Michelle Adams
  • Schroeder and Associates, P.C.—Stephen Schroeder
  • The City Home Team @ Remax Gold—Jose Ponce
  • Winkelmann Sons Drug—Kathy Winkelmann

If we have inadvertently omitted your name from our donor list, please accept our sincere apology AND let us know so that we can correct the error!

Arriving in St. Louis with Cape in Hand
by Suzette Smith

Hey kid, wanna save the world? Sign me up, buddy.

Coming into this year, man, was I eager. I had a pretty long list of expectations and goals for myself and what I wanted to bring to my work sites. I had a goal to become more selfless. I was going to read a small mountain of spiritual literature. I was going to get really fit. My prayer life was going to rock out like never before. The non-profits of St. Louis would all hit new design plateaus—the list goes on for a while. I was also really pumped about the whole Vincentian “seeing the face of Christ in the poor” thing. Pssh—piece of cake.

I had hoped for the very best. Looking back, I have no doubt that is what happened, but, geez, did it come in a different form. It was like walking into a pet store with the intention of buying a monkey, and coming out with a hummingbird feeder.

Reality set in when my expectation of working with the homeless was not an option and I was placed in East St. Louis at the Family Center and at Marian Middle School in St. Louis. Outwardly, my body was saying, “No sweat.” Internally, I was shouting, “WHAT? I’m gonna be working with middle schoolers? I’m no teacher. I have horrible grammar. I hate math, and I’m supposed to tutor kiddos in these subjects?”

So I did, and a bit more. To my discomfort, my relief, and my surprise, it wasn’t about the poster I could design, or how many times I cleaned up, or how well I could teach contour line drawing. It was about my ability to love and receive love. It was about the relationships we form by serving each other. It was about seeing Christ in all people. It was realizing, “Man, I’ve got a long way to go.”

Some of my most favorite times this year have been hanging out with a lady named Allison, and my two bosses from the Family Center Sr. Carol and Sr. Mary Ann. The Sisters introduced me to this fiery old lady with tons of wit and loads of one- liners just waiting to be released, all disguised under hundreds of wrinkles and short gray hair. She used to live down the street from the Family Center, but her house has been torn down now, and she resides in the next town over at a nursing home in Bellville. Allison is the type of person to lift the spirits of everyone around her. Once when we went out and grabbed some lunch, Allison entered the restaurant shouting with a grin, “Hellooo everybody!” I loved that moment. If only we could all approach each other with such love and enthusiasm. During the holidays, we went out to this place to check out their Christmas display. All afternoon we had dusted off the ol’ Christmas carols and let them fill the air. There were parts that we couldn’t remember, and we all fell into quiet, melodic hums, but Allison would loudly and unapologetically continue on LALAing until she got to more familiar lyrics. When we were on our way to see the decorations, she abruptly stopped walking just to put down her walker and sing, “LA-LALALA-LALA.” I can’t help but admire such a free spirit. I could go on and on with stories about Allison.

In the eyes of the world, these brief moments may seem pretty ordinary, short, possibly under-whelming, but they will be hard for me to forget. When it’s all laid out, these were moments when I was a witness to and part of humans truly seeing the greatness and beauty of one another—two Dominicans, an old lady, and a naïve twenty-something looking at each other through eyes of love and compassion. How freakin’ great!

In my search for the monumental ways to serve and know God, I have encountered Him time and time again in these ordinary moments, small glimpses of God that inspire and encourage us to continue loving and serving. Our year here has been blessed with loads of these moments, and we are blessed to be able to acknowledge how amazing they are.

It is hard for my roommates and I to think that this year has almost ended. We are so grateful to the Vincentians, Jim and Geri, and all of the others that make this program possible for the opportunity to live a year focused on service to poor.

There is a restlessness that has been planted in us this year, a desire to serve, a desire to continue growing in our spirituality through this service to others, especially the poor, and letting these experiences change our hearts.

The call to love and serve is universal and empowers everyone who is open to it. Those glimpses of God are everywhere. They will continue to inspire, continue to change the hearts of many, and will come together to improve the state of our earth. How are we going to feed our missionary hearts? How are we going to serve the missionary heart in others? After this year, I’m confident that I am not meant to save the world. We are.

Meet Me in St. Louie
by Nelson Perez

Nelson is from Tampa, Florida. He has spent the year working at Guardian Angel Settlement Association, an agency that provides many forms of assistance to people living in poverty.

I remember when I arrived in Saint Louis back in August. I was like, holy schnieky, I am here. It seemed insane to me that I had actually landed in St. Louis, MO. I mean three weeks earlier if you would have asked me if I would be living in Missouri, I would have said, “Heck, no!” But there I was in the heartland of America.

It had been just over two weeks since I had stumbled onto the GVV program. I read a few things on a Web site and made a call. It was already past the deadline to register for the year when I called. That was Ok though. I really wasn’t looking at volunteering right at that moment. So I figured I would see what the program was about for the next year. Next thing you know I am sitting at my desk at work and saying, “Yes, I can be there in two weeks.” Then I had to explain to everyone I knew that I would be taking a year to go live with some Vincentian priests and work with the poor in misery….er, Missouri.

This was a tough sell to anyone that knew me. I actually had friends that came to the conclusion I was going to be on some reality TV show and I just couldn’t tell them the truth. It says a lot about where I was at that time that it was more believable that I would expose every facet of my life to the world on a TV show, than give up a year of my life to help others. But the call to service was there and it was real.

Life for me in St. Louis has been quite an experience. It is extraordinary how much you learn about yourself, by getting away from yourself. I wanted to help out those who didn’t have the same breaks I had my whole life. I felt like I owed it to God—to thank him for the blessings I had taken for granted and abused for so many years. What a great feeling. This is mostly because I am selfish by nature. I feel most people probably are. You do not run across many people that are more concerned about strangers than they are about themselves. I guess that is why so few people get to prefix their names with Saint. Who knew that the most rewarding time of my life would be the least self-serving time?

I know you hear all the time that the best gift is giving. Blah, blah, blah. I never really bought into that too much. But it is definitely true. I have never felt so rewarded and fulfilled as I have since I started this program. Sure the pay is lousy and you have to compromise sometimes living in a community. That is a very small price to pay for everything you receive—to truly be able to say you made a difference in the world. That you made someone’s life better for no other reason than because you wanted their life to be better is a great feeling. Nothing beats it.

I am not sure where I go from here. The program is almost over and I am scared. Ok, maybe scared is a bit much. But I am concerned about what happens next. What do I do? It is easy to be aware of the needs of others when your own needs are being met. I mean why shouldn’t I care about my neighbor when there is nothing to worry about in my house? But after the program ends there will be other plates on the table. I will be back to working for a paycheck and going to school. I will have to start paying bills and will not be surrounded by a community to remind me of what we are here for, and that is to help our neighbor.

It is so easy to see only the problems in front of your face, especially in a society that is always having to do something. I pray that I never lose the need to serve. I hope that the fire instilled in me over this past year always burns and that I never forget the joy that helping has brought me. I want to thank the Gateway Vincentian Volunteers program for the opportunity and privilege to better myself, by serving those I would have never known in my life before I started this program. Thank you.

NEWS FROM FORMER VOLUNTEERS

Jennifer (GVV 2003-04) and John Courtney are the proud and happy parents of a beautiful baby girl, Katelyn Marie Courtney, born May 10. Congratulations, Jennifer and John!

Steve Wiederkehr (GVV 2000-01) and Sarah Lenhart (GVV 2001-02) have announced their engagement. Congratulations, Sarah and Steve!

Jeremy Dixon (GVV 2003-04) has begun his novitiate with the Midwest Province of the Congregation of the Mission. Throughout this year Jeremy will be visiting and working with various Vincentian apostolates, including St. Catherine Laboure Parish in St. Louis.

On June 13, Christy Leming (GVV 2003-04) is traveling to Ethiopia, where she will spend five weeks teaching English as a Second Language to students at an elementary school run by the Daughters of Charity. Christy will also work with native Ethiopian teachers at the school, instructing them on more innovative teaching techniques. After her time as a Vincentian Lay Missionary in Ethiopa, Christy will be moving to Chicago, where she will begin a Master’s program at DePaul University.

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Gateway Vincentian Volunteers
2912 Arsenal Street
St. Louis, MO 63118
(314) - 771-1474
Toll free: (888)-771-7220
Fax: (314) - 771-2410
email: gatevol@aol.com