On Saturday night, Young Vinnies school leaders and other members celebrated a very special Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Young Vinnies leaders across Auckland and even some from Hamilton were commissioned as official representatives of their schools for 2017. Not only that, the Mass was also very special because this year marks the 150th year since the St. Vincent De Paul organization was established.
Celebrated by Bishop Owen Dolan, the theme of the Mass was ‘Rise Up’. This theme is very significant as it relates to the duties these leaders have courageously taken up, which is to rise up to help the lowly of our society through service in our local communities.
Zone by zone, the school leaders were presented their badges by each of the Auckland Area Council St Vincent De Paul (SVDP) Presidents and by the New Zealand National Council SVDP President, Terry Comber. These badges hold a very significant meaning, as the three sets of hands depicted on them represent the pierced hand of Christ that blesses, the hand of love that offers, and the hand of suffering that receives. This encompasses the leaders’ duties to serve, as they must act upon God’s love to serve those in need.
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’(Matthew 25:40)
The profound importance of this leadership role definitely gave a new-found drive to the SVDP leaders of our school to act upon their duties of service. Now, Can Drives and volunteering at the Flat Bush St.Vincent De Paul Op Shop are being organized, while other acts of service are being planned and are soon to follow.
Angelika Bilbao
