Awakening to God’s Providence

By: James Davis
Diocesan Council of Austin Spiritual Advisor

The trials and tribulations of our Thrift Store transition from a trendy spot on South Congress to the Braker Lane location at the Vincentian Family Center (VFC), are well known to the Vincentians of Central Texas.  Co-location with the VFC has been a real challenge to the business model that worked so well in SOCO, and the Diocesan Council has been working with a variety of Vincentians throughout the Diocese to reimagine a successful model for this special work.   As the Spiritual Advisor for the Diocesan Council, my focus is to support a Vincentian spirituality of discernment and leadership within the group in the context of pressure and conflict among well-meaning and good-hearted Vincentians.  I think I took my eyes off the prize.

 As the neighbor services part of the center has evolved into a robust ministry of care and compassion and service to our neighbors in need including the homeless “next door”,  the wait lines for our pantry wrap around the building.  Michael and his volunteers provide vital services and respite for the poor and marginalized and of course the new populations of neighbors in need during the pandemic. I realize I have walked through the door and through the crowds to go to meetings thinking of how I am going to bring a spirit of strength and hope during a tough meeting and I have been missing the unfolding of our core work.

 A group of us has been working on Saturdays to prepare for the reopening of the Thrift Store, and for the last two Saturdays we have been open from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.  We gathered for prayer at 10 a.m. and then set out on our assigned tasks whether continuing to sort and categorize and tag and move merchandise to the floor or welcoming customers and assisting them to find what they are seeking. I noticed the intentionality of Vincentians who activate an environment of welcoming and serving with compassionate hearts.   Working alongside other Vincentians filled with a sense of mission and friendship and engaged with the very people we seek to serve, opened my eyes wide to the way God’s love flows through us.  Each encounter with a person or a family in need was filled with grace, and brought me great joy, more than I deserve, the way I so often feel after a home visit.   I realized that some of the people were the very same folks I saw in the pantry line and I began feeling like there was divine coherency is God’s Providence.  I was able to see a community of neighbors with needs for food and clothing and housewares and toys and linens and bus passes and furniture and a computer lab and we were here to provide it with a Vincentian spirit of compassion and Hope.  The “scales fell from my eyes” and I knew, “This is our ministry, this is our Mission”.