It’s appropriate to say that Sept. 27, 2010, marked the 350th anniversary of the death of St. Vincent de Paul, the founder of the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians).

However, when Msgr. Hugh Ronan spoke of the milestone during a Mass he celebrated in St. Vincent de Paul Church, Yardville, that evening for members of the Mercer Council District of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, he preferred to remember the date as being the “350th anniversary of St. Vincent de Paul entering into glory into heaven.”

Msgr. Ronan, who is pastor emeritus of Incarnation-St. James Parish, Ewing, and the Mercer district’s spiritual director since the 1980s, reflected on the life of Vincent de Paul, his desire to help the poor, and how his work continues to be carried out in parishes throughout the world.

“We are continuing that charity, that work of love,” Msgr. Ronan said. “St. Vincent de Paul reminds us that if someone comes knocking on our door, if someone comes and seeks our help, then we need to move because Christ loved the poor” and as followers of Christ, it is our duty to assist the poor.

Eileen Streight, president of the Mercer Council District, explained that the district is comprised of the following Mercer County parishes with St. Vincent de Paul Conferences: St. Vincent de Paul, Yardville; St. Raphael-Holy Angels and Our Lady of Sorrows-St. Anthony, Hamilton; Incarnation-St. James, Ewing; Our Lady of the Angels, Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption and Blessed Sacrament-Our Lady of the Divine Shepherd, Trenton; St. Ann, Lawrenceville, and St. Paul, Princeton.

In all, there are 126 members from within the conferences who belong to the district, Streight said. She then told of how from September 2008 to September 2009, the district members assisted 1,559 people by distributing $117,879 in funds and giving 9,202 hours of service by helping people with utility and rent expenses, providing them with food/food cards and referring people to outreach agencies.

Reflecting on the Mass for the feast of St. Vincent de Paul, Streight said that it was a time for conference members “to come together, celebrate our ministry, pray, and renew our vocation as Vincentians.”

“As Vincentians, we are called to see the face of God in everyone we serve, and in turn, the people we serve, should see the face of Jesus in us,” said Streight, who is also the outgoing president of the conference in St. Raphael-Holy Angels Parish. “It’s a hard ministry and it’s only nourished through prayer and through receiving the Eucharist.”

Members from other parish conferences offered similar sentiments on their experiences of ministering to those less fortunate.

Having a father who is a deacon assigned to St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, and a mother who is an active parishioner, was the motivating force for Daisy Beauchamps to get involved in the cathedral’s St. Vincent de Paul Conference six years ago.

“I felt called to do something to help the poor and my community,” Beauchamps said, referencing the inner city’s significant number of poor residents and immigrant population.

She then went on to describe how she and fellow conference members make home visits to assess a family’s needs and what they do to help meet those needs.

Following the memorial Mass, Phyllis Dillon, president of the conference in St. Vincent de Paul Parish, noted how in the past three weeks, the members assisted four families with rent, two of which are in need of continual assistance. There are five children in one family, she noted, and the father is unemployed.

The conference provides food cards to families, with the hope that the money they would have used for food could be put toward other household expenses, she said.

Dillon glowed when she talked about how much she loves working with the conference in St. Vincent de Paul Parish. What makes the ministry especially meaningful for Dillon, who has been president since 2003, is that she is following in the footsteps of her late husband, Robert, who was also an active conference member and served as its president.

“It’s gratifying to know that I’m helping to do God’s work,” she said, “and that’s the biggest and best part of the job.”