President's Letter, January 2025

My Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ and our patrons, Saints Vincent de Paul, Louise de Marillac, and Elizabeth Ann Seton, Happy New Year! I hope everyone is enjoying a happy, healthy, blessed holiday season. I wish you a year of immeasurable blessings and joy.

In my search for inspirational words to share with you, I happened upon A Christmas Greeting from Fr. Greg Gay from the VinFormation website. I think it’s a nice segway from Christmas to the new year.

“My Christmas message to all the Vincentian Family is based on the gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Advent in which we heard how Joseph’s dream for living a normal life together with his wife-to-be, Mary, was interrupted and he was invited to participate in an even bigger dream, the dream of God becoming man.

The dream of Christmas is the dream of a little child, born into the world, born as a poor person, who begins a process of transforming the world in and through, and above all, the gift of love. That dream gets spelled out, not only in the course of Jesus’ life, as recorded for us in the gospels, but at the same time it continues to be concretized throughout the world in the lives and commitments of many men and women who dream that another world is possible.

In this day and age, we need to dream bigger dreams, dreams that include the well-being of the entire world, not only just our little piece of it. If it is true that we live in a global village, it is even truer that we have the responsibility of working toward a greater solidarity, where there is a recognition of the equality of all men and women in that village. That is the true message of Christmas and, if and when it becomes so, the consequence will be true peace to all men and women on earth. My brothers and sisters of the Vincentian Family, we are all invited to go beyond our own personal dreams and participate fully in the dream of Christmas, which is the dream of a better world for all God’s children. The challenge before each and every one of us is to continue to make the dream come true as many others who have gone before us have done with the gift of their lives and the gift of their love, especially for those privileged ones of Jesus, the poor.

Part of my own dream for [the new year] is the hope that something new continues to be born: a Vincentian Family, dedicated, as Family, to pray with the Lord Jesus, whom we have come to know and love in a deeper way in the person of the poor, the poor to whom we reach out in a personal way with love and compassion, a compassion that gets translated into solidarity.”

Annual Dues – The dues are the same as last year-Active Members-$20, Honorary-$4, and Associates-$15. If, for some reason, you have NOT sent in your updated membership list & dues, please contact Ann Hayes, Financial Secretary, as soon as possible.

The Spiritual Society of the Unclaimed Dead – If you are interested in receiving a decedent’s name, please contact Janet Stahlman via our office, 412- 456-6924. Currently, there are approximately 200 names that are in need of someone to pray for them.

Twinning Project – This project is being started to help other LOC organizations in our Diocese. Please contact our office if you think your group can benefit from financial help for any project. We have several LOC groups who are willing and able to offer financial assistance. All requests will be kept confidential.

Social Media – Don’t forget to check out our Facebook page. Sherrie Dunlap Gallagher, social media chair, updates the page regularly. Please let her know of any activities you are currently doing that she can highlight on our FB page. She can be contacted at sherrie.e.dunlap@gmail.com.

Junior Ladies of Charity (JLOC) – The junior ladies are the future of our organization. We are blessed to have 5 parishes currently that have a JLOC group. For more information on JLOC, please contact Mary Diaddigo Rex or Hailey Innocenzo Dube’ or call the LOC office at 412-456-6924.

501(C)(3) – Below is the updated distribution information for the quarterly submission of Treasurer Reports and Bank Statements. The December 2024, January & February 2025 information is due by 3/15/2025. Updated sales tax exemption forms are available by contacting Judy Weismann at weismann2@comcast.net.

**NOTE: If there are any new Treasurers who need assistance in what and how to report the quarterly submission to Judy, Kathy or Barb, please contact our office at 412-456-6924. The December 2024, January & February 2025 information is due by 3/15/2025. Updated sales tax exemption forms are available by contacting Judy Weismann at weismann2@comcast.net.

DeMarillac Newsletter – The Fall/Winter edition of the DeMarillac Newsletter was mailed/emailed recently. Please remember to send your articles for publication in the Newsletter. Please email them to Peggy Keene, pkeene9@outlook.com or mail them to our office at the address at the top of this letter.

Nursing Home Network – Please remember that if you have someone that is going to a nursing home outside of your area to contact Cindy Smith so that she can reach out to the local Ladies of Charity to visit. Please call the office at 412-456-6924.

January 2025 Rosary Intention
On this birth of a new year, let us pray for a world renewed in the peace of God through the intercession of Mary, the Mother of God.

Prayer to the Vincentian Family

Lord Jesus, you who willed to become poor, gives us eyes and a heart directed to the poor. Help us to recognize you in them in their thirst, their hunger, their loneliness, their misfortune. Enkindle within our Vincentian Family unity, simplicity, humility, and the fire of love that burned in St. Vincent DePaul. Strengthen us so that faithful to the practice of these virtues, we may contemplate you and serve you in the person of the poor and may one day be united with you and them in your kingdom. Amen.

Mark your Calendars

• May 18, 2025 – Investiture (2:30 PM Mass @ St. Paul Cathedral)
• August 16, 2025 – Annual Meeting at Sts. Martha & Mary Parish (St. Richard Church, Dickey Road)
• September 11-13, 2025 – National Assembly in Bethesda, Maryland

Miscellaneous Information

• Pittsburgh Website: locpittsburgh.org
• LCUSA Website: aic.ladiesofcharity.us
• Vincentian Family:  http://famvin.org
• FACEBOOK:  Ladies of Charity USA, Association of Ladies of Charity Diocese of Pittsburgh

If you have questions or suggestions, please call and leave a message with the LOC office at 412-456-6924.

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In the Vincentian Spirit,
Karen Tomaszewski, President
Association of the Ladies of Charity, Diocese of Pittsburgh