Forty Days of Learning to Let Go

Lent is intended to be a time for self-reflection and repentance before the celebration of Christ’s resurrection – a spring cleaning, if you will, before the joy of Easter. This time of preparation and purification has Biblical roots – In the synoptic Gospels, we hear about Jesus’ solitary journey to the desert for a period of forty days before entering his public ministry.

Our own forty-day journey to Easter can be an opportunity for us to reflect on our call to serve as public witnesses of God’s love for every one of our brothers and sisters, particularly those on the margins of society. Our holy father, Pope Francis, reflects on our role as missionaries of charity and justice in his message for Lent: “What does this invitation to poverty, a life of evangelical poverty, mean for us today?”

This notion of “evangelical poverty” may sound strange, but Pope Francis goes on to explain that we are invited to partake in a life of radical simplicity and humility to better serve those suffering from material and spiritual poverty. By emptying ourselves of our attachment to the things of this world, we are able to meet others in their need with open hearts and understanding. A spirit of evangelical poverty enables us to go into the world and see the dignity and worth of everyone we come in contact with, especially those with no one else to turn to.

There is no better time in the year than Lent to undertake a period of self-reflection, to examine our own attachments and what is preventing us from more deeply being servants bringing the message of hope and love to all of God’s children. In these forty days, we have the opportunity to strengthen our resolve to innovating, education, and acting to bring about a society that provides opportunity for everyone to achieve their full potential. As our Holy Father says:

“The Church offers her help, her diakonia [servant ministry], in meeting these needs and binding these wounds which disfigure the face of humanity. In the poor and outcast we see Christ’s face; by loving and helping the poor, we love and serve Christ.”

As Catholic Charities agencies, we are the tangible expression of this commitment to bind wounds and alleviate injustice. Let us use this Lenten season as an opportunity to let go of whatever prevents us from fully following our Lord’s call, and, with both arms free, fully embrace what it means to love and serve the poor and marginalized in our community.

Father Larry Snyder

President of Catholic Charities USA

Ash Wednesday

Joel 2:12-18, 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

“But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door…”  Matthew 6:6

When I would go to my listening place,
closing the door to be alone in the quiet,
the whole world would come knocking,
banging to be let in.
The more I resisted,
the louder the knocking,
till one night, I relented.

Throwing wide the door I spoke to the night air, “Come on in, there’s room enough in here!”

To my surprise I found there was ample room on the inside,
and along with the world’s woes came wonders
and I was visited by the sacred silence I had sought.

 “…return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments…”
Joel 2: 12-13

The discipleship path,
the way of the cross, is not a dissecting path.
It is an intersecting path.

“It is a delusion to suppose that the disturbing questions will,
if ignored, go away, if suppressed be forgotten,
or that by hiding ourselves like naked Adam (and Eve) we can escape them.” 
Alan Eccelstone

As we turn our lives to the crosswalk
of Lent’s dark journey,
let us locate ourselves in the intersection
and there open a holding space
to welcome the world.

Over these next weeks
exercise your holding heart
and make room for the world.

Go to your listening place.
Open up, within you,
open up around you,
a space wide and deep.

And in the quiet,
let the whole world
tumble in.

All the hurts and hopes of loved ones,
of enemies, of neighbors,
let them all in.

The complex tangles
of struggles personal and global,
let them in.

Summon the most ravaged and despairing.
Find room for those who are sorely afflicted.
Let them all come. Bar none!

Let this space hold and enfold them!
Let the expansive mystery of God’s love envelop
all that is confounding, disturbing, unresolved or unrealized.

Hold it, hold it all till it fills you.

Lift the brimming pitcher
and empty yourself into the vast vessel,
that is the Sacred Heart.

“…Then the LORD was stirred to concern for the land
and took pity on the people.” Joel 2: 18

Kyrie, Christe, Kyrie Eleison!

Joe Grant
Director of Programs, JustFaith Ministries 
Louisville, KY

Developing Relationships of Trust with the Youth in our Community

As a new student at school, Lily was enrolled in Catholic Charities’ Neighborhood Youth Outreach (N.Y.O.) program located at St. Joan of Arc Church/school in Indianapolis to help her adjust to her new situation. She had recently been removed from parental care and placed in the care of an estranged aunt. The situation was traumatic and Lily's attitude clearly reflected the turmoil she had experienced. It was a struggle adjusting to the academic and social demands of her new environment – a new school, a new city, and social interactions with an unfamiliar student population that didn’t mirror her former life experience.

In the beginning, Lily did not like attending the N.Y.O. after-school program and she expressed her dislike in several ways – leaving the facility without the authorization of staff or her guardian, refusing to bring her homework so it could be completed, outbursts of anger, and many moments of being disrespectful. As the N.Y.O. staff worked with Lily and her aunt to help with the adjustment of a new environment, improvements began to take root. The N.Y.O. staff provided help, listened to Lily’s concerns and worries, and she began to feel hope. She knew she was not alone. 

Lily began to respond positively to her teachers, her outbursts were fewer, and her detentions far less frequent. She began completing her homework and class work; and of vital importance, she developed friendships; all while her interaction with the N.Y.O. staff beautifully flourished.

Lily has developed a relationship of trust with our N.Y.O. staff. She communicates her good school days and her bad school days – and while she works very hard not to have bad days, it is always communicated to her that everyone has their ups and downs. Lily has recently emailed her grades to the staff to show her effort and commitment. We are so proud of her growth and determination, and Lily has learned to take pride in a job well done and making wise choices.

For more information about the N.Y.O. program, please contact us at 317-283-6710.

Why Do We Celebrate Valentine’s Day?

Flowers, candy, red hearts, and romance – that’s what Valentine's Day is all about, right?
Few know the true origin of this holiday. The real story of Valentine’s Day is found in the man behind the holiday – St. Valentine. And the expression of love really isn't romantic at all – at least not in the traditional sense.

Valentine was a Roman Priest at the time of Emperor Claudias the second. Claudias detested Christians and took advantage of every opportunity to persecute the Church through his high-ranking position. As a result, he issued an edict that prohibited people from getting married, based on the belief that unmarried soldiers would fight better than married soldiers, because married soldiers might be afraid of what might happen to their wives if they died.

This edict, however, posed an immediate problem to the Christian Church. Christian marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman for life and is a right given by God. Roman Priest Valentine had a deep passion to see couples bonded in this sacred union and love, as a reflection of the union we have with Christ. So Valentine, in spite of the edict, continued to perform marriage ceremonies.

Valentine was eventually caught, imprisoned, and tortured for performing marriage ceremonies against the command of Emperor Claudius. But this imprisonment did not change Valentine’s zest to share the love of Christ with everyone he met.

While imprisoned, Valentine met a Roman judge named Asterius whose daughter was blind. Valentine shared the love of Christ with Asterius through prayer and the healing of his young girl. Asterius was so overcome with the power of love that he committed his life to Christ.

In the year 269 AD, Valentine was sentenced to a three-part execution of a beating, stoning, and finally decapitation – all because of his stand for Christian marriage. It is believed the last words he wrote were in a letter to Asterius' daughter, inspiring today's romantic notes by signing it, "from your Valentine.”

That is the real story of Valentine’s Day. It is not simply a holiday, but a celebration of Christ’s love for us. Won’t you follow the lead of St. Valentine by celebrating this day, sharing the unconditional love of Christ with everyone you meet – no matter the cost?

National Mentoring Month

January is National Mentoring Month. And every year, Catholic Charities USA joins Mentoring Works! for a nation-wide effort to highlight the importance mentors play in young people’s lives and mentorship’s power to fight poverty one child at a time.

Whether it’s helping with homework, playing games or just hanging out, mentors break the cycle of poverty by letting a child know that he or she matters. For a child living in poverty, this encouragement goes a long way. Impoverished children struggle academically and socially, which stunts emotional and intellectual development. These disadvantages deplete a child’s confidence and lead to delinquency, truancy, drug use, gang involvement, teen pregnancy and other at-risk activities that trap youth in a lifetime of poverty. Yet, mentorship has the power to break this cycle.

Catholic Charities is actively engaged with those in our communities throughout Central and Southern Indiana to provide help and create hope in the lives of young people all year round. If you’d like to get involved, please contact the Catholic Charities agency nearest you.

More than an Adoption Plan

Several months ago, St. Elizabeth|Coleman received a call from Julia. Young, pregnant, and two weeks from her due date, Julia contacted us for help in making an adoption plan.

At just 23 years old, Julie was already a single mom of three and had been staying in a local shelter. Her three children had been removed from her care by CPS due to Julia’s many challenges, including poverty, homelessness, mental illness, lack of a strong social support system, the inability to read or write, and a long history of abuse and abandonment by family members. Though Julia had contacted us to make an adoption plan, she also opened the door to a whole new support system to help her financially, emotionally, and to connect her with local resources.

Julia chose adoption because she wanted to be able to select a permanent family for her daughter. She was able to meet her daughter’s adoptive parents, and the adoptive mom served as her support system by being at the hospital – holding Julia’s hand during the delivery of her baby.

Since the placement of her child, a social worker has visited Julia numerous times. Having no friends or family to share her grief, she calls her social worker every day to share her thoughts and feelings and get the support she needs. Julia is comfortable and happy about her adoption decision, and shared a reunion with the adoptive family and her daughter less than two weeks after placement.  Julia has also been able to move out of the shelter and into a small house within walking distance of her health clinic and the grocery store. 

Through St. Elizabeth|Coleman’s life-long services, Julie has been provided with practical help and with the joy of renewed hope for a better future…and she thought she was just calling to make an adoption plan.

Artic Blast doesn't stop the Warmth of Compassion

Since April 1982, the Bethany house Soup Kitchen has not missed a day of serving meals to the hungry in our community – including during the recent arctic blast we experienced in Indiana.

Dottye Crippen, director of Bethany House, shares her story of feeding others even on those frozen, snow-covered days:

"Fed 32 hungry, cold people yesterday in the soup kitchen. You know these people are cold or hungry or BOTH when they brave the elements to walk to the soup kitchen to either get into a warm room, or get a warm meal, or both. In conversation, many do not have heat...sent food along with some for later...these are the truly needy and my heart feels good being able to help. It was well worth digging myself out and braving the road conditions to see the smiles and gratitude for the warm coffee and hot chocolate, the chicken noodle and beef veggie soup, the pork loin sandwich and a piece of pie for dessert. Plus since the dining area wasn't crowded with a line waiting, everyone stayed awhile and we had good conversation! Sometimes I'm beat down with my work, but most times I'm lifted up! God is great!" 

We are so thankful for our dedicated Catholic Charities staff, volunteers, and supporters all throughout Indiana. You truly help us provide help and create hope during some of life’s most crucial times.