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This week we celebrate the foundation of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Today’s featured resources are: a downloadable presentation: “SVDP– Who We Are and What We Do” and a fun game “Jeopardy: SVDP Edition”. Enjoy! More to come throughout the week.

A lot was happening at this time in 1625. April 17 is the foundation date of the first establishment of the Congregation of the Mission, Bons Enfants, Paris. See the new presentation here.

Two “printables”: a Home Visit Family Prayer Card: Print this Word doc; (double-sided printing) produces 8 cards per sheet. Suggestion: Give one card to the family and invite them to say a prayer of their own, or to join you in that prayer. Add your own SVDP Conference contact information on the front side where the text is in red. The other document produces a page that can be folded into a booklet that the home visitors can use. Click here to download these prayers.

Could you explain Systemic Change in 10 steps? Let this presentation make the process simple for you. Let us know what you think… if you are beginning to put systemic change into action, please tell us— share that you’re doing it, any strategies you are using, and in what context. Let us know on our Facebook page or in the comments below, as a way of encouraging others to use similar creativity in their own projects.

She took charge of a new hospital and organized its services. She opened a school. She ran a shelter for young abandoned girls. She was considered a pioneer in the field of social work. Are we talking about some influential leader of the 20th century? No– she was a Daughter of Charity, Blessed Marguerite Rutan, living in the late 1700s in France. Tragically, at the time of the French Revolution she and her sisters were unjustly accused of robbery; she was informed on, thrown into jail, sentenced to death by the revolutionary court (the 9th of April 1794) and executed on that same day. Learn more in this video.

In this new presentation, Frederic Ozanam defends the tradition of almsgiving in the face of criticism from the Socialists of his day.

Here we offer a presentation based on the Holy Father’s message for 2015 World Youth Day, which was held on Palm Sunday at the diocesan level. The message’s theme is the Sixth Beatitude: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). This year’s World Youth Day begins the final stage of preparations for the great gathering of young people from around the world in Krakow in 2016. Related links: Facebook pages Kraków Famvin 2016, World Youth Day 2016. Website: krakow2016.com.

Bl. Miriam Teresa Demjanovich, SC was born this day in 1901. This narrated slideshow of her life comes to us from the YouTube Channel of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth.

It’s not too late to get in the Lenten spirit. Promise yourself to spend some quiet time with Vincentian Lenten resources from Famvin such as our series on the Virtue of Mortification, Vincentian quotes, Vincentian Stations of the Cross, and more. Use hashtag #VFLent2015 to share your own Vincentian Lenten resources.

Next in our series for the Vincentian Year of New Evangelization, this presentation is based on the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ writings on the ties between the New Evangelization and Social Justice.