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Serving the young and homeless of Burlington

Posted on by Cori Urban

A cooperative effort between a church and a youth services agency — both devoted to relieving the sufferings of the poor — again this year will make a warming shelter for homeless youth available in Burlington.

The Cathedral of St. Joseph Parish is collaborating for the second year with Spectrum Youth and Family Services for its winter warming shelter until March 31.

The shelter — in the parish hall section of the cathedral — opens at 6 p.m. every day and closes at 8 a.m. except on Sundays when it closes at 7 a.m.

The warming shelter provides a safe place for youth to stay and receive support from the staff in whatever way they need. Residents will also have the option of being connected to a case manager for added support and housing navigation.

“Service connection is a huge piece of the warming shelter and will include connecting youth to Spectrum’s numerous other programs as well as other programs in the community,” said Mark Redmond, Spectrum’s executive director.

“The need for this was identified due to our other housing programs being full and our waitlist becoming lengthy.”

Redmond said some youth did not want to access the adult warming shelter due to the age gap and not feeling safe around the adult population.

“The parish was extremely flexible in making the church available,” he said. “They offer up a generous amount of space and access to Spectrum and were eager to do so. When we first approached them, they jumped at the idea of helping out in any way possible, so it has been a natural fit to partner with them.”

Father Lance Harlow, cathedral rector, said the parish is able to provide the space for the youth, and Spectrum is able to provide the staffing, “so it is a co-operative effort between our two institutions both devoted to relieving the sufferings of the poor.”

The Youth Warming Shelter had a successful first year, operating from Nov. 6, 2017, to March 31. Over that period, Spectrum housed 33 youth and averaged about 70 percent occupancy. Of those 33 youth, 11 of them were not known to Spectrum before the shelter opened.

“I’m really grateful for the warming shelter because it’s a safe place to stay when I have nowhere else to go,” said one youth who stayed in the shelter last year.

The parish offers support in setting the shelter up, property management, gathering meal and clothing donations from parishioners and making sure that all needs are met. “Father Harlow routinely checks in with staff and youth to ensure that everything is going well and to offer support,” Redmond said.

—Originally published in the Winter 2018 issue of Vermont Catholic magazine.

 

 

Serving dinner with a side of respect, camaraderie

Posted on by Cori Urban

Mike St. Pierre sat down at the large dining room table covered in a green tablecloth set for a dozen, adding food to his plate as it was passed. “The (dinner) plates are too small,” he said with a laugh.

That’s because he really liked the meal — hamburgers and hot dogs cooked on the grill and served with homemade beans, potato salad, fruit salad and all the fixings.

It was a Tuesday dinner at the men’s Dismas House in Rutland, a supportive community for former prisoners transitioning from incarceration. Its mission is to reconcile former prisoners with society and society with former prisoners.

Volunteers make and serve dinners there Monday through Friday, and on this night the meal was provided by Katrina and Larry Corbett, parishioners of Christ the King Church in Rutland, and prepared and served by the couple and Sister of St. Joseph Shirley Davis of Rutland, a former teacher, principal and assistant Catholic school superintendent.

Before the blessing of the meal, those at the table — including residents, a staff member, the volunteers and a guest — took turns offering gratitude for such things as Dismas House, the meal, family and second chances.

“For people who might not have had the same life experiences or opportunities as we have, this (meal) demonstrates what a family eating at a table is,” Katrina Corbett said. “It’s a simple way people connect and communicate and show appreciation.”

Resident Tim Blanchard said the volunteer cooks are “good for our morale,” and the social interaction with them at the table makes the transitional living situation “feel like home.” He likes the fellowship, meeting new people and the variety of healthy meals provided.

John Vincenzi, another resident, looks forward to the meals and getting to know people from all walks of life when they come to provide them. “It’s humbling to have people come and talk and give us nourishment” both for body and mind, he said as he and other residents cleaned up after the dinner.

There are now seven residents at the men’s Dismas House in Rutland.

Geraldine Burke, an assistant director of Rutland Dismas, said the volunteers that provide the meals and eat with residents “are the secret sauce to Dismas” because they provide a connection to the community.

There’s camaraderie among the volunteers and the residents. When Katrina Corbett learned that Blanchard had just turned 40, she drew a laugh from the others at the table when she exclaimed, “I have pocketbooks older than you!”

Sister Davis grew up in a farm family of 10 children; she knows what it’s like to have a family meal, and she knows it’s important for the residents to experience that. Though some may be more reserved than others, the residents know they can sit at the table and be shown respect and have an enjoyable time.

Many residents have never sat at a family dinner table, Burke said. But “once they see it in action,” they feel more comfortable, Sister Davis added.

She and Corbett are in charge of the dinner at Dismas [either the men’s or the women’s house in Rutland] every month or two as needed.

“It’s an opportunity for them to feel uplifted and valued,” Corbett said.

She enjoys cooking, and family and friends enjoy the delicious meals she makes. “On the most basic level, food is what brings community together,” said the emergency aid coordinator for Vermont Catholic Charities Inc. in southern Vermont. “This [Dismas dinner] is a good example of fellowship with food. … Food takes the edge off everything. Sharing a meal is very nurturing. … It’s an opportunity for [everyone at the table] to feel uplifted and valued.”

—Originally published in the Summer 2023 issue of Vermont Catholic magazine.

 

Service trip to Peru

Posted on by Cori Urban

During the February school vacation, 16 students from Rice Memorial High School in South Burlington traveled to Lima, Peru, with chaperones and parents to volunteer at a home for abandoned and at-risk boys and at a home for children who need medical attention.

“I learned how rewarding giving back to others can truly be,” said sophomore Hannah Cawley.

They did manual labor and spent time with the children.

“This trip helped me put into practice the Catholic values I’ve been taught at Rice because we prayed and went to Mass nearly every day,” said Gavin Roberge, a sophomore. “I think this trip really changed perspective for me. I’m more grateful for the things I have in my life after seeing the things that the children we worked with in Peru experience and how they keep a positive attitude on life and everything around them. It is truly inspirational. This trip has made me want to reach out and help more people like this.

Elisabetta Anelli, director of campus ministry at Rice, was one of the chaperones. “The purpose of the trip was part pilgrimage — we saw the homes/tombs of St. Rose of Lima and St. Martin de Porres and had Mass and Adoration — part cultural immersion — interacting and getting to know local youth, experiencing the food, language and faith — and part service,” she explained.

Rice parent Pamela King grew up in Peru and suggested the service trip there. “With Pamela’s connections and familiarity with Lima, it seemed like a good place to start,” Anelli said.

The Rice group connected with the children’s homes, and King — one of the chaperones — also connected the group with a local Catholic youth group who spent a day with the Rice contingent teaching them songs, playing games, performing dances and sharing their faith.

At the boys home the Vermonters did household chores, gardened, cleared brush and tilled soil. At the other home, they had “baby hour,” time to hold and play with the babies for a few hours, took the older children to the park and did a variety of household chores and cleaning. A few of the students painted a mural of The Little Mermaid in the courtyard.

“We did not go to Peru to help people because they need our help but to meet others who became our friends and our family,” Anelli said. “Sure, our life circumstances may be different, but really there is nothing that makes any of us different from any of them. Because of our shared faith, in a very real way, we are not only the same, but we are family.”

Said Cawley: “It was amazing to see youth just as excited about the faith as we were. We were so humbled as a group to learn that these teens were so excited to let us learn about their culture and faith.”

Sophomore Finnian Rugg said, “The world is a lot bigger than we think, [but] no matter where you go you can always connect with someone.”

“I learned that there is so many things that are not as important as we think they are and that we can perfectly live without them. And you don’t need [much] stuff to be happy,” said sophomore Blanca Viadero Diez.

Anelli was proud of the students throughout the course of this trip. “They were open to the whole experience — from the food (a lot of chicken and rice), the heat, the new language and the work,” she said. “A sister at the boys home told us that she was impressed with our group because it was clear that they came not just to do the fun stuff, but to work and to be equals with our hosts.”

 

 

Service is a calling for all, not a select few, pope says

Posted on by Catholic News Service

Following Christ’s example of love and service to those in need is not a task reserved to a select few but a calling for all Christians, Pope Francis said.

Jesus’ image of entering the kingdom of heaven through a “narrow gate” does not mean that “only a few are destined to go through it” but instead means living “one’s life in love, in service, and in giving oneself as he did,” the pope said Aug. 21 during his Sunday Angelus address.

“To enter the plan God proposes for our life requires that we restrict the space of selfishness, reduce the presumption of self-sufficiency, lower the heights of pride and arrogance, and that we overcome laziness, in order to traverse the risk of love, even when it involves the cross,” he said.

After praying the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis said he was following news of the continued repression against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua “with concern and sorrow.”

On Aug. 19, Nicaraguan police burst into Matagalpa diocesan headquarters and removed Bishop Rolando Álvarez and nearly a dozen others who had been under house arrest for more than two weeks.

Although the pope did not specifically mention Bishop Álvarez’s arrest, he prayed for peace in the country through Mary’s intercession.

“I would like to express my conviction and my hope that, through an open and sincere dialogue, the basis for a respectful and peaceful co-existence might still be found. Let us ask the Lord, through the intercession of the ‘Purísima’ (‘Mary Most Pure’), to inspire everyone’s heart with this concrete will,” he said.

As he has nearly every week, he also prayed for the people of Ukraine.

Addressing an estimated 12,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the pope reflected on St. Luke’s Gospel, in which Jesus responds to a question about those who will be saved by calling on his followers to “strive to enter through the narrow gate.”

The image of a narrow gate, the pope said, “could scare us, as if salvation is destined for only a few elect, or perfect people.”

However, he added, the belief that only a chosen few people would “contradict” Jesus’ teaching that all are welcome “at the table in the kingdom of God.”

“This door is narrow, but is open to everyone,” he said. “Do not forget this. The door is open to everyone.”

Nevertheless, Jesus’ use of the image of the narrow gate was his way of telling Christians that “to enter into God’s life, into salvation, we need to pass through Him, not through another one, through Him; to welcome Him and His word.”

He also called on Christians to reflect on “those daily acts of love that we struggle to carry on with” and to reflect on those who dedicate their lives and sacrifice themselves to help those in need, including parents, as well as those who serve the elderly and the poor.”

“Let’s think of those who keep on working committedly, putting up with discomfort and, perhaps, with misunderstanding; let’s think of those who suffer because of their faith, but who continue to pray and love; let’s think of those who, rather than following their own instincts, respond to evil with good, finding the strength to forgive and the courage to begin again,” he said.

Pope Francis encouraged Christians to follow the example of those who choose “the narrow door of Jesus” and not “the wide door of their own convenience.”

“Brothers and sisters, which side do we want to be on?” the pope asked. “Do we prefer the easy way of thinking only about ourselves, or do we choose the narrow door of the Gospel that puts our selfishness into crisis, but which makes us able to welcome the true life that comes from God and makes us happy? Which side are we on?”

— Junno Arocho Esteves

Serve Our Neighbors

Posted on by Mary Regina Morrell

For one vibrant faith community, raking leaves is both an act of Christian service and a spiritual exercise.

Within the Essex Catholic Community, comprised of the parishes of Holy Family-St. Lawrence in Essex Junction and St. Pius X in Essex Center, the bi-annual community service program, Serve Our Neighbors, brings volunteers and neighbors together in service and spiritual growth.

The most recent event took place Oct. 27 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; it drew some 180 volunteers for a day of prayer, service for families and individuals in need, reflection and fellowship.

Types of service ordinarily include yard work, minor home repairs, hospitality visits and garage clean-outs. Teams for Saturday’s outreach, the second largest in the event’s history, completed 19 different projects.

John McMahon, parish director of faith formation and program coordinator, explained that Serve Our Neighbors was begun about nine years ago, the “brainchild of three women from our parish: Julie Macy, Elizabeth Mahoney and Marybeth Redmond.” The three had participated in JustFaith, a Catholic social teaching prayer and study group.

“The program encouraged participants to work for justice by building relationships with those who are marginalized. Since we began these events, we have come to realize that doing such work with such a mindset also builds relationships within our own parish community and strengthens our local community as well,” noted McMahon.

Edmundite Father Charles Ranges, pastor, who was on site for the projects, stressed the importance and intentionality of the prayer element of the program in “providing an experience of doing service in the name of Jesus.”

It is also a meaningful experience for families, he said, as the children learn that “being a Christian means service to others.”

For Leopold Beauregard, 87 and a lifetime, once-active parishioner of St. Lawrence, the volunteers and the work they do is “very much appreciated. There’s not much I can do anymore.” Noting that he’s been the recipient of service since the program started, he acknowledged that his need for help increases each year. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to thank them for what they’ve done for me,” he said.

McMahon stressed that the multi-faceted program requires a dedicated team of 20 people to recruit volunteers several weeks in advance; to identify and prioritize needy individuals and families, whether they are parishioners or not; create a list of services to meet their unique needs; develop a logistical plan for the day, including maps for each team to get to their assigned location; arrange for on-site childcare for children under five; prepare an opening prayer session, set up for morning refreshments in the Holy Family Parish hall and organize the closing barbecue.

For more information about Serve Our Neighbors Day, contact McMahon at 802-878-5331, ext. 202 or john.mcmahon@essexcatholic.org.

 

Serve Our Neighbor Day

Posted on by Submitted Article

The Essex Catholic Community had a successful “Serve Our Neighbor Day” Oct. 29. Under the direction of John McMahon, the faith formation director, and with the help of his teams, more than 20 lawn and house clean-up projects were completely by more than 80 volunteers.  Wearing blue T-shirts to identifying themselves as a part of this parish project, they went out to help others in need in the name of Jesus. The day began with prayer and ended with a festive barbeque.