In my last bulletin column, I shared why I believe retreats, pilgrimages, and mission trips are so essential to the life of the faithful. They often lead to deeper conversion, as parishioners encounter Jesus in new and more personal ways.
A personal connection is essential. The Church teaches that love (caritas or “charity”), in its deepest sense, means willing the good of another. If we want to love others well, we have to know them. It’s not enough to simply write a check and drop it in the mail or donate a few bucks and whisper a prayer. No, if we want to truly love our neighbor, we need to have a relationship with them.
That is why, as a parish, I want to “formalize” our relationship with a few of the organizations we support at St. Michael. With so many worthwhile opportunities to give of our time and money, I hope to see this generous community give more to organizations we know and love on a personal level:
We are prolife, so we support Options for Women-Cornerstone. Cornerstone is our local, nonprofit women’s clinic and pregnancy center, providing compassionate, confidential care to women and families, free of charge. This past spring, Cornerstone averaged 213 visits a month from more than 60 clients, up 335% from last year. Many arrive with specific concerns, then return for free classes, life coaching, and resources. Cornerstone walks with clients before, during, and after pregnancy for as long as they want support.
We care for those in need locally, so we support the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) and Hanover Food Shelf. Volunteers from our local conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul go out in pairs to meet with those in need, primarily in eastern Wright County. So far in 2022, SVdP has assisted nearly 200 “neighbors in need” with more than $65,000 in financial assistance. Donations, grants, and the local SVdP Thrift Store provides money to support this mission. The one thing SVdP doesn’t carry is food. Based at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Hanover, the Hanover Food Shelf redistributes fresh, frozen, and nonperishable food items and more to local people and families without enough to eat.
We care for those in need globally, so we support Mustard Seed Communities. The needs of our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world can seem far removed from our day-to-day lives. That is why we give to Mustard Seed Communities, a nonprofit caring for more than 600 children and adults with development and physical disabilities in the Caribbean, Central America, and Africa. It’s also why we plan to take a mission trip to Mustard Seed’s Hogar Immanuel in the Dominican Republic every year—to form lasting relationships with the residents and staff of Mustard Seed and to love them firsthand.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t give to other organizations. We will continue to have mission appeals and support worthwhile projects of our other affiliated organizations and ministries. But my hope is that we will adopt these four organizations and the people they serve as our own, both as a community and as individuals.
We who are blessed by God with so much are called to give generously of ourselves, our time, and our wealth. One of the Church fathers, Tertullian, writes that the pagan Romans observed early Christians and were astonished, saying, “See how they love each other!” May all who meet us say the same.