Community Brunch
St. Vincent de Paul Community Brunch:
Please join us in the Parish Center after the 10am Mass on Sunday April 12.
Curious about what happens or why we host this event?
In our outreach with the St. Vincent de Paul Society, when we've spoken with our homeless friends about their needs, what came across so often was not the things we all can think of – food, shelter, clothing – but the opportunity to talk, to be heard, to be visible.
“No work of charity is foreign to the Society. It includes any form of help that alleviates suffering or deprivation and promotes human dignity ...”
The Rule of the Society of St Vincent de Paul
There are many other places here in St Charles who provide meals to the homeless. Food is important, and we wanted to do that, also, but at our meal we invite not only the homeless, but all of you, and really, anybody who wants to come. There is no charge for the meal, because we want to treat everybody the same, rather than have separate lines for the rich and the poor. We sit at long tables so we can all sit together with people we don’t know. We serve the food to each person restaurant-style, so they can sit and relax and talk.
At the very first meal we served, one of our guests told us, “The food is good, but what I really appreciate is the conversation.” Many others have said similar things to us every month.
A Guest at the Community meal
Just as importantly, the members of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, and the many other parishioners who help out every month setting up, serving, cooking, and cleaning up, feel rewarded every bit as much by the friendships they’ve made. Every month I see at least one of our neighbors in one-on-one conversation with one of our wonderful priests, and what a gift that is for our friends!
Although there is no charge for anybody to come and eat, we do have a donation box out, and like the loaves and fishes, our trust in Providence is rewarded every month through the generosity of the parishioners who attend.
Most days, our homeless neighbors are invisible. People pass them by, looking the other way. But here at St Peter, we look them straight in the eye, knowing that we are seeing Our Savior exactly where He told us He would be. We invite them to join us at our table and in our community – a community of faith.
The Society thanks all of the parishioners who help out with the meal every month, and whether or not you have time to work at the meal, we hope you will join us, and join our neighbors for food, conversation, and community on the second Sunday of each month.
To Volunteer Call SVdP at 314-330-4702.