Oblates of St. Francis de Sales

FAQs

What is DeSales Service Works?
DeSales Service Works, DSW, is a ministry of the Oblates that invites people to join us in service, prayer, community, and Salesian spirit. This ministry is particularly focused on sharing Salesian spirituality with the people of Camden through direct personal service and the advancement of peace and justice.

The Two DeSales Service Works Opportunities:

1. Salesian Service Retreats offer people of all ages the opportunity to get away, reflect, pray and serve people in need. All retreat themes are rooted in the core teaching of St. Francis de Sales and involve direct service, facilitated reflection, presentations on Catholic social teaching, prayer and opportunity to celebrate Eucharist. These retreats are ideal for teens, adults, school groups, parish groups. They can be designed various lengths of time: a school day, an over-night, an evening, a weekend, a spring break, a week in the summer—to name some examples.
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2. DSW Volunteer Year provides the opportunity for people, usually recent graduates, to give a year of service before beginning their careers. They take advantage of the relative freedom of that point in their lives to offer a year to serve people in serious need, live in community, pray and to give focused attention to their spiritual lives. Volunteers have the choice of a variety of service opportunities in Camden. They live a community life at the DSW house and strive to live out the “little virtues” promoted by St. Francis de Sales.
Click here for more details.

Who are the Oblates? The Oblates of St. Francis de Sales are a group of brothers and priests who do all sorts of ministry. No matter what our type of service, our unique gift to the Church, and to the communities in which we serve, is sharing the spirituality of Francis de Sales.

What does Salesian spirituality offer the world?
Francis lived in a time of conflict. Force, authority, and polarized arguments were the tools most often used in these conflicts. Francis was one voice who taught the power of humility, gentleness, patience and reason even during the most difficult times. He brought a solid optimism to face the negativity and fear of his time. His insights and virtues still have power today.

Say more about St. Francis.
Most people hear “St. Francis” and think immediately of the more famous St. Francis of Assisi. That is OK because St. Francis of Assisi is an inspiring, Christ-like saint, and our Francis was actually named after him.

St. Francis de Sales was the bishop of Geneva, Switzerland, in the early 1600s, a time when no Catholics were welcome in that city. Geneva was run by fundamentalist Calvinist Christians, so Francis served his people from a city in Catholic territory. He did the typical work of a talented and energetic pastor but also wrote regularly for people from all sorts of backgrounds who sought him out for guidance. His collected writings fill 26 volumes: letters, homilies, books and speeches. They still give readers an impression of a man who deeply knew God’s love for us and responded to the invitation to give our lives to God in absolute trust.

What are some key elements of Salesian Spirituality?
Christianity has many “schools” of spirituality that make our religion concrete. Each is rooted in Jesus and the Gospel, but each holds a different focus. Most are associated with a charismatic person who articulated and popularized the spirituality. Francis de Sales lived in a time where a negative fundamentalism had a big influence in religious thinking both for Protestants and Catholics. It was a time of reform that often didn’t leave much room for tolerance of human weakness or complexity.

*Salesian Optimism
Francis took a positive approach to all of life based on faith that God is good and that his creation is good as well. He was not naïve about the human tendency to be selfish and to cut corners, but he believed that we are called to be our best selves and that God, who calls us, wants us to progress, and to be happy. DeSales taught that God is not a harsh and picky judge on the watch for our every misstep. Thus, he encourages us with his most famous quote: “Be who you are, and be that well.”

*Little Virtues
Francis observed that the opportunity to do “great & heroic things” does not come along very often, but the chance to do ordinary things with love comes along all the time. He teaches the value of what he calls the “little virtues”. Gentleness, honest humility, patience, kindness, respect, thoughtfulness, and generosity are small things, but they have significant power to touch hearts and to make a real difference.

*Holiness and a spiritual life are for everyone. Taking our faith seriously is not something only for nuns, priests or full-time ministers. Francis de Sales encourages each of us to see that we can live a holy life wherever God has placed us at the moment. Christianity doesn’t take us away from our normal activities or make us odd. It is not just decoration on our lives, but it makes a qualitative difference.

*Live Jesus! This is Francis’ other famous motto. It reminds us that we all carry the image of Christ in our world. He encourages us to spend time with the Lord, to get to know him so we can become more like him: more our best self. Francis encourages meditation on the life of the Lord---especially reflecting on gospels scenes---to connect to Jesus, to learn from him, and to grow in affection for him and his wise teaching.

What is the connection between Salesian Spirituality and DSW?
It is easy to think that our world is too busy, too secular and too rough for the power of the “little virtues” and for the positive attitude of DeSales. The Oblates firmly believe that this world is exactly the place for Christianity. We believe the rough city of Camden is one place where we need to share Salesian spirituality. We have witnessed the life-changing impact of engaging in direct, face-to-face service with others. We have seen the results of treating people with the gentleness, honest humility, patience, kindness, thoughtfulness, and generosity that Francis taught. DSW is a concrete way to manifest these teachings and make deliberate contribution to today’s world, one person at a time.

How did DSW get to Camden?
Camden, NJ, has been listed among the poorest of US cities for 40 years. It is a modest sized city across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. Like many US cities, industry and jobs left, property values dropped, buildings aged, and drugs entered the picture. Perhaps the surest indicator that Camden is at a low point is that an almost universal goal that residents aspire to is to “get out” of Camden. Despite all this, the city continues to be an entryway for new immigrants trying to make a home in the US.

Perhaps ironically, but definitely thankfully, there are many service groups here who are committed to this community---to help people advance ---or at least to cope and to survive. The Oblates’ DeSales Service Works program has joined this effort to bring the clear power of Salesian spirituality and an organized outreach program to the good work going on here.

Describe the DSW Volunteer House?
The volunteer house is a large, well-maintained house. It originally was two large row houses that are now connected by a “bridge” over the narrow alley that used to separate the two buildings.
Click here for our photo gallery.

Is it safe to come to Camden to volunteer?
The simplest answer is “yes”. People know who we are and respect our work here. In addition, our immediate block is home to five other service agencies. So we are in a very positive environment. Naturally it is important to be prudent when you visit any urban area.

What service opportunities are there for DSW volunteers?
Camden is a very poor city with so much need and there is a wide range of opportunities to address the needs aand to help people in concert with efforts of other service groups.

On the same block as the DSW House, there are five ministries: a medical center, a legal help center, a family center that particularly aids families who have been victims of violent crime, an amazing computer/web training center and a small Catholic grade school. No too far away there is a great soup kitchen/homeless outreach, a homeless shelter, an urban gardening project, a nursing home, a clothing center and various parish outreach efforts. Year-long Volunteers and participants in Salesian service retreats have the opportunity to work with these ministries and to learn about them, their people, and their work.

Health Insurance
DSW is part of a network of service groups called Catholic Network of Volunteer Service, CNVS, that has contracted with Willis of Seattle for health insurance for volunteers during their time of service. The service placement and DSW are responsible for the premiums. www.cnvs.org

CNVS’s Healthcare Insurance Plan has been in existence since August of 2007. It provides healthcare insurance coverage for volunteers of Catholic Network of Volunteer Service member groups.

Domestic and International Coverage MultiPlan Preferred Hospitals and Physicians Provide Cost Savings and Claim Submission Experienced Volunteer Plan Customer Service/Claims Processing Unit at Summit America 24 Hour Online Access to Claim Status Information Travel Assistance and Medical Evacuation Benefits through On Call International

Low $100 Service Year Deductible Preventive Care Benefits (Deductible Waived) Prescription Drug Coverage $1,000 Out-of-Pocket Maximum Hospital Benefits covered to the $50,000 per cause maximum

No Daily Room & Board Limits
No Annual Ancillary Hospital Charge Limits
Non-PPO Charges Subject to UCR Limits

$10,000 AD&D Benefit Included Please contact Chris Rooney or another member of the benefits team at Willis of Seattle (1-800-456-1415) for more information.

College Loan Deferments Volunteers contact their loaning institutions to apply for a loan deferment for repayment and interest on the loan. Most often the volunteer will have to request a formal letter from the DSW director, stating that they have in fact been accepted to the program and will be participating in a yearlong volunteer program. The letter is then sent to the lender and the loans are deferred for the year. Contact your individual lender to inquire about specific requirements for deferment.

AmeriCorps CNVS connects member groups to funding available to volunteers via AmeriCorps www.cnvs.org/americorps/
Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards are education vouchers given to AmeriCorps Members who successfully complete a required term of service for the program in which they are participating. An education award can be used in the following ways:
To repay qualified existing or future student loans.
To pay all or part of the cost of attending a qualified institution of higher education (including certain vocational programs).
To pay expenses incurred while participating in an approved school-to-work program.
Catholic Network of Volunteer Service AmeriCorps Education Award Program members earn an education award of $4,725 (2009) after successfully completing 1700 service hours. www.americorps.gov

Expenses during the Service Year & Stipend Part of the DeSales Service Works experience involves living as a deliberate community in the context of a poor immigrant neighborhood. We strive to live simply, so salaries and stipends from various service placements are pooled to provide room and board for the volunteers. Each community member receives a modest stipend.
(look for more on these topics soon---McCue)

Credit for Grad School Several universities give admission considerations to applicants who have done service. A good number offer matching funds for AmeriCorps Segal Education Awards www.americorps.gov/for_individuals//benefits/ed_award_match.asp
(Look for more on this soon---McCue)