2018_02-02-eEdition

PAGE 2 THE CATHOLIC WEEK FEBRUARY 2, 2018 The Catholic Week FEBRUARY 2, 2018 Volume 84, Number 03 Official Publication of the Archdiocese of Mobile Published since 1934 The Catholic Week (USPS 094-660) is published bi-weekly by the Archdiocese of Mobile 356 Government Street Mobile, AL 36602 Periodical Postage Paid at Mobile, Alabama —POSTMASTER— Send address changes to: The Catholic Week, PO Box 349, Mobile, AL 36601 Mobile P.S. Form 3541-N —PUBLISHER— Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi —EDITOR— Robert W. Herbst 251-434-1544 rherbst@mobarch.org —PRODUCTION— Pamela C. Wheeler 251-434-1545 tcw@mobarch.org —ADVERTISING— Mary Ann Stevens 251-434-1543 mstevens@mobarch.org —OFFICE HOURS— 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday – Friday —PHONE NUMBERS— 251-432-3529 FAX: 251-434-1547 —OFFICE ADDRESS— 356 Government Street Mobile, Alabama —MAILING ADDRESS— PO Box 349 • Mobile AL 36601 —WEBSITE— www.mobarch.org/catholicweek —ONLINE EDITION— www.mobarch.org —SUBSCRIPTIONS— Laura C. Ball 251-434-1535 lball@mobarch.org $22 out-of-parish, and $24 out-of- state. Address all subscription cor- respondence to The Catholic Week , PO Box 349, Mobile AL 36601. When changing address, renewing or inquiring about a subscription, customer should include a recent address label with old address and new address and allow four weeks for address change to take effect. DEADLINES for FEBRUARY 16, 2018 News copy and photos: FEBRUARY 6, NOON Advertising Camera-ready Ads: FEBRUARY 6, NOON Children and Adolescent Protection Program training throughout the archdiocese is offered monthly for personnel and volunteers in the Mobile District and the Baldwin/Escambia and Montgomery Deaneries. Teacher/catechist certification curriculum will be taught at August and September sessions. Baldwin/Escambia Deanery St. Lawrence Parish—7 p.m. ( 2 nd Tuesday of most months) February 20* ( 3 rd Tuesday due to Mardi Gras ), March 13, April 10 Mobile Deanery St. Dominic Parish—7 p.m. ( 4 th Wednesday of most months) February 28, March 28, April 25, May 23, June 27 Montgomery Deanery Montgomery Catholic High—6:30 p.m. ( 4 th Wednesday of most months) February 28, March 28, April 25, May 23, June 24 PLEASE NOTE THE START TIME HAS CHANGED Dothan Deanery Training sessions are conducted on an “as needed” basis. Contact your pastor in the Dothan area for more information. Each of these parishes will serve as the ongoing training location for its district/deanery. For information or to report suspected abuse contact the Office of Child Protection at 251-434-1559 or email childprotection@mobarch.org The Archdiocesan Child Protection Policy can be found in the “Supplemental Material” section of the Children and Adolescents Protection Program page of the mobarch.org website Education/Training Schedules CHILD PROTECTION OFFICE By MARINELLA LENTIS For The Catholic Week MONTGOMERY — It’s 6:30 a.m. on a chilly Saturday in the City of St. Jude Parish on Montgomery’s west side and longtime parishioner John James is set to unlock the school cafete- ria for the weekly soup kitchen. He turns on the lights, starts warming the oven and gets things ready for volunteers who will arrive shortly to prepare and serve a hot breakfast for those most in need in the community. Years ago, after seeing the soup kitchen at the Don Bosco Nutrition Center in nearby Selma, then-pastor Fr. Paul Mc- Quillen, an Edmundite priest, opened a similar one in Mont- gomery. With the help of Bosco chef Harry Dominick, it became a reality in October 2015. The kitchen is operational every Saturday and meals are served from 8-9 a.m.Teams of up to eight volunteers led by a “team captain,” a St. Jude parishioner, prepare the food, set up the buf- fet line, arrange tables and clean up. Volunteers arrive around 7 a.m. and are ready by 7:45 a.m., by which time people have begun lining up outside the building. “Weather permitting,” said Roberta James, in charge of the soup kitchen, “they are out by 7, 7:30 because they are hungry!” Once the doors open, people sign in so team leaders can count the meals they serve to ensure there is always enough food for everyone. They rarely run out of food and everybody gets served at least once. Nothing gets thrown away, but food needs to be consumed in the building — to-go boxes are not allowed— so for those who want, there is often a possibility of a second serving provided that they sign in again. Many come with an extra ap- petite, and that’s fine, remarked Roberta James, as long as there is enough food. On average, about 125 meals are served every Saturday to peo- ple ranging from children to the elderly. According to the St. Jude website, more than 8,000 meals have been provided to those in need since the kitchen opened. Breakfast consists of eggs, bis- cuits and jelly, bacon, grits, coffee, juice, and lemonade. John James said that when Montgomery recently got its first snow in years and the soup kitchen was open people were glad they could come and get a warm meal. “Some said no lem- onade today, it’s all hot coffee!” Food is purchased with mon- ey donated for the soup kitchen and through St. Jude funds. Ev- ery week, Roberta checks the cafeteria ahead of time to ensure everything is in place and ready to go and to make a list of items needed to be bought.Latoya Pol- lard-Walker, the church book- keeper, does the shopping. “Because there are a lot of things to purchase and many vol- unteers from different churches, we have a set way of doing it and that keeps it organized,” she said. People who come to enjoy the breakfast are from around the area — sometimes they are the same, often times they are not; many are homeless, unkempt and soiled, but all have the same need to be fed and, most of all, loved. “People thank you for serving them and not looking down on them because they too want to feel respected,”John said.“When someone says that we’re not look- ing down on them or trying to put them in a second class, they let us know that they appreciate us, and that’s rewarding to me, to let us know that they feel loved.” For Roberta too, being able to serve others is a true blessing: “it’s a ministry, an outreach, an exten- sion of this parish to the commu- nity and when we have children that are hungry it’s a blessing to be able to give them food.” Roberta and her husband John have been parishioners of St. Jude since they were born. They were baptized and married at St. Jude, so they feel blessed to serve their community and be part of a the ministry. “The reality of it is that it could have been me,” Roberta observed. In addition to ensuring that everything is ready for every Saturday meal, Roberta also AROUND THE ARCHDIOCESE Feeding the hungry inMontgomery City of St. Jude Parish soup kitchen serves an average of 125 meals every Saturday trains team captains so they know what to do before each of their team starts volunteer- ing for the first time. Right now there are six teams of volunteers from local Catholic churches that rotate, so each serves ap- proximately once every five weeks. Among them are hus- bands and wives as well as whole families.The youngest volunteer is 10, while the oldest is about 80 years old. Maria Hsu and the Aaron family, both parishioners of Holy Spirit Parish, recently joined the soup kitchen volunteers after seeing an ad in their bulletin. Hsu started volunteering aroundThanksgiving because she wanted to do something for the needy, for the poor, and thought this was a good opportunity.Like other members of her team, she helps by baking biscuits, setting tables and serving. She goes ev- ery week and she truly enjoys it. The best part of it is serving the poor, because she feels she is “do- ing a good thing for Jesus.” The Aaron family started in December and volunteered twice so far. Rick Aaron has been involved in soup kitch- ens in the past and wanted to do this again as a family so his children could understand the blessings they have and also feel joy in giving back to others. On their assigned Saturdays, they too prepare the food, serve and clean the cafeteria area. While the food is being cooked, the younger kids crack eggs, wash dishes and pans and then help at the serving line. “The most rewarding thing about volunteering as a family has been to experience the joy of sharing God’s love with others in tangible ways,” he stated and for the children to be able to recog- nize “how nice they have it, how blessed they have been in their lives.” He believes the kitchen is run very well and is very happy that St. Jude gave them the opportu- nity to bring on the young and make this a family event. “This (St. Jude) is an extension of what Jesus would do because every kind of need is met,” Ro- berta said. “And there is such a need, such a need!” But she and all the volunteers know that people who come to the soup kitchen are very grateful because they always get through those doors with words of thank on their mouths. Photo courtesy of City of St. Jude Parish Volunteers and visitors pray before a meal at the City of St. Jude Parish soup kitchen.