Vinnies – Saviour of the lost and forsaken

A Christmas reflections by Fr Troy Bobbin, Spiritual Advisor to the National Council.

Vincentians, you are the visual image of an invisible God. You are the saviour to the lost and forsaken, just as Jesus became flesh and lives among us and is saviour of us all.

The Gospel reading we will hear at Christmas services this year will be from the Gospel of John: ‘The word of God became flesh and dwelt among us.’

For those we have served and cared for this year in many different ways, they see you as their saviour. I know you may be embarrassed by that, but for the lost and forsaken you are.

At Christmas, we see God at work; we see God breaking into a much-troubled world to reach out to those who have been left behind to struggle on their own. God has chosen each of us who believe in him to be part of his plan to bring light and hope back to a people who have been forgotten and left on the side of the road to fend for themselves.

As Spiritual Advisor to the National Council I am in a privileged position. I get to talk to many people we care for and serve throughout the year through the many different services we provide them, and the one constant remark I hear is ‘Those Vinnies members have been my saviour’.

It is in the way you carry out the work you do as Vincentians that people see someone cares for them and is concerned for their welfare. That is why God reached down and broke into our world and gave each of us the opportunity to reach out as he has done for all.

May each of you and your families, together with our Vincentian brothers and sisters and those we serve, be blessed with that creative hand that has reached down to enlighten and care for us all.

Merry Christmas.