1. A Meditation on the Network of Charity and Justice

2. Prelude
In the midst of our active service it is well to take a few minutes to re-connect with our roots and our foundations.
We invite you to prayerfully review this meditation on the Network of Charity and Justice.

3. Bring the globe of the world forward in your mind…

4. Picture a dove, the Holy Spirit, hovering over the globe…

5. And see the Holy Spirit inspire Frédéric Ozanam to envision a network of charity and justice to encircle the globe…

6. See that network as a mesh of gold around the globe… Finest gold because the network is sacred and beautiful in the eyes of God

7. It is part of the Divine Plan for creation…

8. Look more closely at the golden mesh
See that some parts are strong and thick, others are fragile.

9. The strong, thick mesh is the countries where the Society is strong and well-resourced…

10. Others are more fragile…
…some very fragile indeed.

11. These are the countries where the Society struggles to meet the sometimes overwhelming needs of poverty…

12. There are jagged holes that represent those places in our world where those in need struggle without our help and support…

13. …They are the parts of the mesh ― the network ― that need to be constructed…

14. Through the center of the mesh there is a golden chain. ..

15. It encircles the globe but it needs to be greatly strengthened since it must hold the mesh together…

16. CGI is the golden chain…

17. CGI
From the Holy Spirit, through the inspiration of Frédéric Ozanam, the CGI received the awesome responsibility to bind the world together in the network of charity and justice. The CGI, however, runs through each country on the globe and it is strengthened or weakened by the resources or the need through which it passes.

18. Every National Council throughout the world is bound together in the network of charity by the CGI…

19. Each of us supports CGI and, thus, the network of charity, as we are able…

20. See yourself as a link in this Vincentian chain of charity and justice
See yourself as a link in this Vincentian chain of charity and justice. On each side of you stand your conference members. The chain is only as strong as your spirituality, friendship and service make it.

21. See your conference as a link in the chain
See your conference as a link in the chain. On each side of you stand the other conferences in your Council. The chain is only as strong as the resources of each conference - spirituality, friendship and service – and financial.

22. See your Council as a link in the chain
See your Council as a link in the chain. On each side of your Council stand the other Councils that make up our National Council. The chain is only as strong as the resources and the spirituality, friendship and service of each link.

23. Finally, consider all the Councils bound together into the Golden Chain that is CGI. CGI is only as strong as its National Councils - your financial support, your spirituality, your friendship and your service are the strength and vitality of the Golden Chain that is CGI

24. In this way, we enable Frédéric’s vision to live and grow today…
A Network of charity and justice to encircle the world
The Society of St. Vincent dePaul

25. Whether the network grows stronger and stronger, or collapses to dust, is up to each of us as members of the Society, as conferences and as councils…
“Charity must never look to the past, but always to the future, because the number of its past work is still very small, and the present and future miseries that it must alleviate are infinite.” ~ Frédéric Ozanam