Celebrate St. Vincent de Paul Heritage Week!

September 22, 2023September 29, 2023 afraser5 Mission and Ministry, Mission Weekly

Resources, News, Events and Happenings related to the integration of DePaul’s Vincentian mission into the ongoing life and work of the university community.

Vinny Fest 2023

Don’t Miss Vinny Fest 2023!

Join in the fun at Vinny Fest – a DePaul tradition – on either Tuesday, September 26 from 2-4PM in the DePaul Center Concourse or Friday, September 29 from 2-4PM in the LPC Quad. See the Vinny Fest Promo Video!

Mission-Related Events and Happenings This Week

Celebrate St Vincent de Paul Heritage Week in the Loop and Lincoln Park!

St. Vincent de Paul Heritage Luncheon

Wednesday, September 27, Noon – 1:00pm, Loop Campus – DePaul Center

Join the DePaul community for the heritage luncheon focusing on “A Welcoming City, A Welcoming Mission: DePaul University, Chicago Migration, and the Vincentian Mission.” Zoom participation is available as a hybrid option. RSVP Here

St Vincent de Paul Heritage Breakfast

Friday, September 29 | 9:00am – 11:00 am | Lincoln Park Student Center 120 A & B

Come celebrate our shared Vincentian heritage with delicious food and great community at the annual St. Vincent de Paul Prayer Breakfast! This year, Dr. Sulin Ba, the Dean of the Driehaus College of Business, will be the keynote speaker. Dr. Ba will share how she integrates the mission in her professional and personal life. Please join us! RSVP here

Apply for Service Immersions by September 30th

Apply for Winter Break 2023 Service Immersions. Deadline: September 30. Participants will travel to St. Louis, Denver or El Salvador to learn about social justice issues and engage in community service. Scholarships are available! Click here to learn more and apply.

Mission Monday

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Vincent de Paul from whom we derive our name, vision, mission, and identity. Read More

St. Vincent’s Extraordinary Pragmatism

September 22, 2023October 23, 2023 afraser5 DePaul University, Mission Monday, Pragmatism, Vincent de Paul, Vincentian Heritage depaul university, feast day, vincent de paul, vincentian heritage

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Vincent de Paul from whom we derive our name, vision, mission, and identity.

St. Vincent was a visionary. He understood the realities of his time and saw new possibilities for his world within the massive socio-economic and religious chaos of 17th century French society. As he searched for meaning and direction in his own life, he found purpose and direction that always guided his vision and extraordinary pragmatism.

The practical ways of St. Vincent de Paul focused entirely on societal and church transformation by establishing communities dedicated to serving and healing those most in need. The work of St. Vincent de Paul, of some 400 years ago, focused on a new, transformed society, and this should resonate with us today, as we try to respond to our current and chaotic times.

Designing DePaul, our opportunity to shape our own society, allows us to be in touch with the inner soul of DePaul University. During this time of institutional conversation, we acknowledge the values in which we are founded and our collective dreams. We commit to being an educational institution that contributes to social mobility, breaking the cycle of poverty, designing for equity, responding to the challenges of artificial intelligence and technological development, caring for and protecting our planet, and educating leaders capable of generating a societal model where hate and violence have no place.

As you carry out your work, research, and studies this year, please consider the following four elements, which summarize the essence of St. Vincent de Paul as we embrace his heritage today:

Focus on a mission-centered horizon. This necessitates understanding your unique contributions to DePaul, firmly grasping the realities of the current situation and institutional needs, and yet also dreaming of what could be and leveraging ethical imagination to move beyond the world we know to what it could become.
Create people-centered approaches to all you do as we drive forward the initiatives within Designing DePaul. The wellbeing, the joy, and the fulfillment of individuals in a healthy environment will organically lead to a vibrant organization and better outcomes for those we serve.
Amplify a sense of co-responsibility, solidarity, and collaboration at all levels as the goals of St. Vincent de Paul. Our individual work and studies are all a part of an institutional fabric. They are interconnected in explicit and implicit ways because we all serve the same purpose, the same common good, and the same mission.
Develop strategies that are implementation-oriented, that respond effectively to real issues based on lived experience, and that systemically address solutions following the model of St. Vincent and the very spirit of our students. At DePaul our students demand that we not only ask the Vincentian question of “what must be done?” but that we also develop our response by understanding the current situation and data-based needs, by adopting a willingness to innovate and break out of old ways of thinking, and by changing our assumptions as we get new information.

And as we say, “Happy Feast Day,” let us also embrace the spirit of St. Vincent in everything we do, and also say to each other, “DePaul – be pragmatic, in a Vincentian way.”

Robert L. Manuel
President

Fr. Guillermo (Memo) Campuzano, C.M.
Vice President for Mission and Ministry

Vinny Fest 2023

September 22, 2023 afraser5 Mission and Ministry, Vincentian Heritage

We are so excited to celebrate Vinny Fest 2023! Vinny Fest is a DePaul tradition to honor and celebrate St. Vincent de Paul’s legacy with fun, games, photos with Vincent, t-shirts, free food, and more! This year we are excited to also celebrate with the Loop Mini Vinny Fest on Tuesday, September 26 from 2-4PM in the DePaul Center Concourse. We can’t wait to celebrate with you on Friday, September 29 from 2-4PM on the LPC Quad! See the Vinny Fest Promo Video Below:

Join a Vincentian Heritage Week Event!

September 15, 2023 afraser5 Mission and Ministry, Mission Weekly

Resources, News, Events and Happenings related to the integration of DePaul’s Vincentian mission into the ongoing life and work of the university community.

Mission Monday

Entering into the Heart of Another

What might Vincent de Paul – and our volleyball team – teach us about how to make DePaul a more caring community?? …read more

Mission-Related Events and Happenings This Week

Celebrate St Vincent de Paul Heritage Week in the Loop and Lincoln Park!

St. Vincent de Paul Heritage Luncheon

Wednesday, September 27, Noon – 1:00pm, Loop Campus – DePaul Center

St Vincent de Paul Heritage Breakfast

Friday, September 29 | 9:00am – 11:00 am | Lincoln Park Student Center 120 A & B

Apply for Service Immersions by September 30th

Bereavement Notice

Remembering: Connor Creadon

Connor Creadon, the brother of Kaitlin Creadon, faculty in the College of Computing and Digital Media, passed away on July 3, 2023, at the age of 30.

DePaul University Bereavement Notices will now be found here.

Entering into the Heart of Another

September 15, 2023October 23, 2023 afraser5 Community, Mission Monday, Reflection, Relationships, Vincentian values Community, relationships, vincentian values

“Another effect of charity is to rejoice with those who rejoice. It causes us to enter into their joy.” – Vincent de Paul [1]

Recently, I spent time in the bleachers of Sullivan Athletic Center, cheering on our women’s volleyball team as they faced the Huskies of Northern Illinois. Though I don’t really understand the finer points of the game, I love the intensity, pace, and athletic prowess that are fundamental to volleyball. And, I have tremendous admiration for the competitiveness and teamwork that are so critical to any sport at the elite collegiate level.

There is something else I love about volleyball: the behavior of the players on the court after each point. In those moments, if DePaul wins the rally with a spike or block or great serve, the players quickly gather in something resembling a group hug, rejoicing with the one who made the winning play and celebrating the moment before resuming the set. If DePaul loses the point, the response is very similar— a brief group huddle that is not celebratory but instead seems to communicate support to the player who may have missed a shot and also helps the team refocus for the next point. In both scenarios, despite the different outcomes, players are empathizing with one another. In those few moments, they are strengthening their bonds as teammates and pushing themselves to work together to win the next point and, ultimately, the match.

This simple demonstration of unity and devotion by our volleyball players seems to resonate with the quote that inspired today’s reflection. In the conference from which this quote is taken, Vincent de Paul is addressing members of the still-developing Congregation of the Mission (the Vincentian priests). He is urging them, for the sake of their mission’s ultimate success and sustainability, to ground their communities in virtue, particularly the virtue of charity (or what we might call today love). Vincent believed that the presence of a generous amount of charity within a community would lead to its members being able to “enter in” to the hearts of one another, to rejoice with those members who rejoice and grieve with those who are saddened. In other words, charity would create a community where there is genuine empathy, ever-present support, and abundant compassion among its members for one another.

When I have the privilege of visiting with university colleagues and learning what they value most about being at DePaul, their answers are almost always animated by their gratitude for our community. They speak of the affection they feel for treasured coworkers who are also good friends, the admiration they have for talented colleagues who diligently work on behalf of students, the enjoyment they take at campus-wide events that unite us in celebration, ritual or, simply, fun. On a large-scale and in small, personal ways—and even on a volleyball court—evidence abounds that DePaul, at its best, is a living example of the community grounded in love that Vincent de Paul set out to establish.

But, being a place where the lived norms are empathy, support, and compassion is not easy to achieve or maintain, nor does it automatically result from having a Vincentian identity. To be a community of charity needs to be made a priority both institutionally and individually. Then, it must be backed up by commitment, hard work, humility, equity, shared goals, cordial relationships, placing the good of the whole over that of the individual, and so forth. Although the challenges are real, DePaul has a history of being this type of loving community and a mission that supports this going forward.

Reflection Questions:

Are there people you know at DePaul who have recently accomplished something of note or celebrated a joyful experience? Or, alternatively, suffered a loss or are going through a particular struggle? Consider reaching out to these people to offer congratulations and celebration or support and sympathy.
Where have you witnessed examples – either large or small – of empathy, support or compassion that help to make DePaul a more caring community? How might you be called to contribute to or build upon these examples?

Reflection by: Tom Judge, Assistant Director and Chaplain, Faculty and Staff Engagement, Division of Mission and Ministry

[1] Conference 207, “Charity (Common Rules, Chap. II, Art. 12),” May 30, 1659, CCD, 12:222. Available online at https://via.library.depaul.edu/vincentian_ebooks/36/.

Bereavement Notice – Connor Creadon

September 13, 2023 afraser5 Bereavement Notices

Connor Creadon, the brother of Kaitlin Creadon, faculty in the College of Computing and Digital Media, passed away on July 3, 2023, at the age of 30. He is survived by his parents, sister, and daughter Jaidyn.

Connor loved spending time with his beloved daughter Jaidyn. He also had a special bond with his best friend and favorite four-legged companion, Stormy. Connor had a special talent to effortlessly connect with others, and his contagious sense of humor, clever jokes, and fun storytelling will be sadly missed. He had a passion for fast cars and fast boats. Some of his favorite family times were spent in the Northwoods of Wisconsin wakeboarding, skiing, kayaking, and other water activities.

Services were held in July. Online condolences may be submitted at https://libertyvillefuneralhome.com/tribute/details/1061/Connor-Creadon/obituary.html

Celebrating Jewish High Holidays

September 8, 2023 afraser5 Mission and Ministry, Mission Weekly

Resources, News, Events and Happenings related to the integration of DePaul’s Vincentian mission into the ongoing life and work of the university community.

DePaul Celebrates Jewish High Holidays

Beginning later this week on September 15, we join in solidarity with the Jewish members of our DePaul University community as they celebrate Rosh Hashanah and the annual beginning of the Jewish New Year. Click here for more information

Mission Monday

Seeing the Dignity of Every Person

Irish poet and spiritual writer John O’Donohue suggests that “if our style of looking becomes beautiful, then beauty will become visible and shine forth for us.” How can how we see affect what we see when we look at others in the DePaul community and beyond? …read more

Mission-Related Events and Happenings This Week

St. Vincent de Paul Heritage Week 2023

The Division of Mission and Ministry invites you to an array of exciting events to honor St. Vincent de Paul’s Heritage Week during 9/24-9/29. Please join us as we celebrate St Vincent’s living legacy in Lincoln Park or the Loop by participating in one or more of these signature events. Learn More Here

Apply for Service Immersions by September 30th

Bereavement Notice

Remembering: Barbara J. O’Brien

Sadly, we have learned of the death of Barbara J. O’Brien (nee Sullivan), mother of Kate O’Brien of Athletic Academic Advising. Barb passed away at the age of 80 on August 24, 2023.

DePaul University Bereavement Notices will now be found here.

DePaul Celebrates Jewish High Holidays!

September 8, 2023September 14, 2023 afraser5 Mission and Ministry

This year DePaul is working closely with its Jewish partners to bring High Holidays to campus.

On Saturday, September 16, Metro Chicago Hillel Rabbi Nicole Berne will lead a Rosh Hashanah service at 10 am in the Lincoln Park Student Center 120 B. No tickets are necessary and all students, faculty, staff, and community members are welcome.

Lincoln Park Chabad will lead the DePaul community in a Shofar Blowing Service in the Quad on Sunday, September 17 at 5:00 pm (note: new time). Rabbi Mendy Benhiyoun will lead this service and then process with students, faculty, staff, and community members to Lake Michigan for a 5:30 pm Tash Lich Prayer. Once again, all are welcome, and no tickets are necessary.

Finally, Yom Kippur will be celebrated with Lincoln Park Chabad on Sept. 24-25. Details on the services, tickets (free for students), and reservations can be found at www.jewishlincolnpark.com/highholidays.

Seeing the Dignity of Every Person

September 8, 2023October 23, 2023 afraser5 Community, DePaul University, Dignity, Mission Monday, Reflection, Spirituality depaul university, Dignity

“Please continue to serve … with gentleness, respect, and cordiality, always seeing God in them.” — Louise De Marillac[1]

One of the things I got to do over the summer was offer a few words of welcome and a prayer for incoming students at the Premiere DePaul orientation. I once heard a colleague observe that just as youth is wasted on the young, orientation is wasted on the new people. Without enough context to know what is important and hit with so much information in a short amount of time, it is not always clear how much information is retained. Having said this, I think orientations are wonderful. Being a part of them always awakens the hopefulness in me. While I may not remember the information from my orientation (to be fair it was over 30 years ago now) I still remember moments and emotions from it.

Perhaps that is why Premiere hits me differently. There are times when the thousands of students are numbers to be managed, event attendees to plan for, or, as the first day of class, when they are minds to be engaged. When I look out at Premiere at these students and their families, I just see hundreds of hearts: nervous, excited, playing it cool, bored, unsure, lost, confident, or triumphant. Like young plants, they seem so fragile yet so full of potential. It really calls out my desire to nurture, support, and protect them. I’m ready to be amazed by who they will become.

We are very familiar with the expression that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.^[2] One contention here is that beauty is a subjective perception more than an objective reality. Our understanding of this can vary from simply acknowledging that people will differ on what they find beautiful to a suggestion that how we look will affect what we see. Irish poet and spiritual writer John O’Donohue suggests that “if our style of looking becomes beautiful, then beauty will become visible and shine forth for us.”^[3]

O’Donohue goes on to say that beauty in fact is “present secretly already in everything” but one needs to beautify one’s gaze to see it. O’Donohue expands on this concept in his work Anam Cara, where he argues that our “style of vision” affects everything we see. To the fearful eye, everything is threatening, to the greedy eye everything can be possessed, to the resentful eye everything is begrudged and so on.

When we talk to students about our Vincentian mission and the legacy of Vincent and Louise, we focus on their honoring of human dignity. There are many profound implications to recognizing human dignity in all those whom we encounter. For Vincent and Louise there was no more profound way to express this in their Catholic Christian conviction that they saw the Divine in those whom they encountered. That was the style of vision they brought to their mission. This is captured in the advice in Louise’s letter to Sister Jeanne-Francois, who in difficult, lonely circumstances was serving the sick poor and orphans left as a consequence of civil war in seventeenth-century France. For some of us, this incarnational theology remains resonant today.

For others, we may find very different ways of capturing the dignity of every member of our community, as I did when I saw the students and families in front of me at Premiere as “hearts” and remembered how I felt when I was in the place they are now. Whatever ways in which you are moved to this recognition, my advice is to make it concrete as opposed to abstract. As we shape the vision with which we see each other, we will surely transform the ways in which we act toward one another and bring forth the beauty that is present all around us.

Reflection Questions:

How do I make the dignity of others in the DePaul community concrete for me?
How do the ways I see things affect what I see around me?
What are practices that shape my style of vision?

Reflection by: Abdul-Malik Ryan, Assistant Director, Religious Diversity and Pastoral Care

[1] Letter 361, “To My Very Dear Sister Jeanne-Francoise,” (June 1653), Spiritual Writings, 421. Available online at https://via.library.depaul.edu/ldm/.

^[2] This wording comes from the 1878 novel Molly Bawn by Margaret Hungerford, but phrases with similar meanings go back very far and can be found in the writings of many including Shakespeare and David Hume.

^[3] Beauty: The Invisible Embrace (New York: Harper Collins, 2004), 19.

Bereavement Notice – Barbara J. O’Brien

August 29, 2023 afraser5 Bereavement Notices

Sadly, we have learned of the death of Barbara J. O’Brien (nee Sullivan), mother of Kate O’Brien of Athletic Academic Advising. Barb passed away at the age of 80 on August 24, 2023.

Barb graduated from St. Scholastica High School and went on to earn a degree in elementary education from DePaul University (where her father graduated from in 1938 and both of her children earned master’s degrees). She started her career as a teacher at St. Henry’s in Chicago and then moved to St. James in Arlington Heights where she taught 1st grade for 27.5 years.

She is survived by her husband Jim, two children Kate (Dave) and Kevin (Kim) of Rolling Meadows, two grandchildren, and many extended family and friends.

Barb was best known for going anywhere, anytime to watch her grandchildren in their activities, was a frequent fan at DePaul Athletics competitions, and loved outings with her retiree and birthday friends.

Services were held on August 27 and 28. Online condolences may be submitted at https://www.glueckertfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Barbara-Jo-Obrien?obId=28797690#/obituaryInfo

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations are appreciated in Barb’s name to the 100 Club of Illinois (100clubil.org/donate-now/) or DePaul Athletics Dream Big Fund (give.depaul.edu/obrienmemorial).