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Phoenix’s Society of St. Vincent de Paul updated its blog this weekend with some worthwhile reading. If you’re not yet a subscriber to Helping the Poor.org, here are some highlights:

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  Get behind-the-scenes info and event recaps on the agency's blog, HelpingThePoor.org

  Saturday marked the third annual Friends of the Poor Walk. It was held at the Watkins facility and nationwide with funds benefiting the local St. Vincent de Paul.  Walkers raised more than $1.2 million at 158 event locations last year. Check out the photo of a walker using a walker as he approaches the finish line. Now that’s dedication to helping the homeless and working poor.

• Tonight, Phoenix’s St. Vincent de Paul will join parishes worldwide in honoring the 350th feast day of St. Vincent de Paul, the “Father of the Poor.” It’s serving cake and ice cream at all five of its charity dining rooms for the occasion and handing out gifts. What’s interesting to me in this blogpost is the following excerpt from de Paul’s biography:

Since childhood, de Paul sought to become a priest since it was a viable option to prosperity for people who do not have many opportunities for advancement.

I suppose the vocation still is a viable option for the poor, but priests aren’t called to prosper, monetarily. de Paul felt the same way after being ordained in 1600 and working as a tutor for a prestiguoius family for a bit. He found his most effective priestly role while leading a poor, rural parish northwest of Paris, according to the Helping the Poor blogpost:

It was there that he encountered the poor and marginalized of society. He lost his desire for prosperity and dedicated his life to serving the poor. De Paul founded the Congregation of the Mission and the Daughters of Charity, both societies to this day are dedicated to alleviating the sufferings of the poor.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul was founded in 1833.