Isaiah's Brilliant Instructions for How to Live Our Lives

This was the first reading we had last Sunday at mass. When I'm at my best, I live my life this way:

Reading 1IS 58:7-10

Thus says the LORD:
Share your bread with the hungry,
shelter the oppressed and the homeless;
clothe the naked when you see them,
and do not turn your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
If you remove from your midst
oppression, false accusation and malicious speech;
if you bestow your bread on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday.

New Poem--about the Homeless and Hungry

[All names in this poem are fictional]

The Deep-down Loneliness of the Homeless and the Hungry

Again and again I have noticed the deep down loneliness

Of the homeless folks who dine with us . . .

Liz, now walking with a cane, sneaking around the church

Looking for a cranny where she can spend the night,

Her mind a jumble of sweetness and anger.

Stanley, dressed impeccably, looking like an insurance salesman,

Wheeling his cart full of his possessions. I wonder

Where does he sleep? How is he able to clean up,

Present himself as if he is some upper middle class white collar guy . . .

Jimmy, looking much older, talking to himself,

Friend to my blacksheep cousins—could have married one of them!

Erin, who eagerly hugs Cathleen, then comes to the kitchen while we are cleaning up—

To hug her again.

He looks like he should be able to make it,

But something mysterious holds him back.

I look at the beautiful children, daughters and sons of the Homeless or Hungry,

Wonder about their futures. Right now many of them are happy, carefree.

One reminds me of my beautiful grandsons!

Where will they be in January, when Lake Erie sends us feet of snow and blasts of bitter

Cold? I think: I could help these innocent ones . . .

Jack sitting all day near the wall by McDonalds, with his homeless cart,

What does he do, how does he spend his time?

Another Jack, looking like an Indian,

His hair pulled back in a ponytail,

Sometimes very sweet, sometimes staggeringly drunk.

Most have their routines, lunch at the Salvation Army, supper at St. James or St. Mary’s,

Sometimes enough coins scrounged for McDonalds,

Mornings and afternoons at the Morley Library,

Nights at Project Hope, or in some car, in an alley,

An abandoned building, on somebody’s porch,

In a tent by the Grand River, in the woods behind the power plant.

So little comfort in their everyday lives, lives we can barely understand.

I hope we bring them good food two nights a week,

Some companionship, some kindness,

Some beauty,

Maybe a laugh . . .

Wish we could do more . . .

Bob Coughlin / September 15, 2016

Serving the Needy, Giving Food to the Hungry at St. Mary's Painesville ("Just Thoughts" article)

[Ed and Krista Zivkovich write about what we are doing at St. Mary's in Painesville, Ohio.]

A Year of Helping Generously

In March of this year St. Mary's began its 4th year of hosting a monthly "Mobile Pantry" for local

persons and families in need.  This was done in partnership with the Greater Cleveland

Foodbank and under the sponsorship of our St. Vincent de Paul Organization.  Once a month

the Foodbank delivered a truckload of fresh fruits and vegetables and additional foods such as

yogurt, breads, and pastries at no charge.  Upon delivery, a band of hard-working volunteers

then went to work dividing up and often bagging these various food items into household-sized

Another group handled the registrations, assisted invaluably by our bi-lingual volunteers.  This

year, with help from Greater Cleveland Foodbank staff and thanks to our church's generous

extension of wi-fi coverage over to the Fr. Hanzo Family Center, we were able to switch to a

computerized registration system.  This change greatly increased the accuracy and efficiency of

our record keeping and reduced the time it takes to register those who received food.

Once everyone was registered, some volunteers helped distribute the food while others helped

those needing assistance to get food and load it into their cars.  A big thank you also goes to

our local Giant Eagle store for providing bags and loaning us the grocery carts we used each

month.  Additional thanks to the Perry IGA store for also donating grocery bags.

In keeping with Pope Francis' call to be better stewards of the gift of creation, and as part of our

parish's efforts to recycle as much as possible, all cardboard boxes which were left were broken

down and taken to a recycling station, along with recyclable plastics and paper.  Discarded fruit

and vegetable matter was collected and taken to be composted thanks to parishioner Bill

At our nine monthly Mobile Pantries beginning in March and ending this month, November, we

distributed a total of 102,956 pounds (that's 51 tons!) of fresh, healthy foods to an average of

591 people living in 162 households each month.  51% were either children or seniors.

While most of our volunteers were St. Mary's parishioners, we had help at various times from

members of St. Gabriel's, St. Mary's Chardon, and St. Mary Magdalene, as well as several folks

who came to receive food but then pitched right in to do the work that was needed. We can't say

thank you enough to all the volunteers who made this possible.

Jesus said, "The poor you will always have with you" and challenged us in the Gospels to help

and support them.  Thanks to our parishioners, our other volunteers, and the Foodbank and its

contributors, the poor are being fed, and will continue to be fed, here at St. Mary's.

Bridge Building in a Time of Great Divisions

Bridge Building

There’s a little German poem, “Die Menschen bauen /  zu viele Mauern / und zu wenig Bruecken.” Translated it means, “People build too many walls, and too few bridges.” These days people are bitterly divided by so many things: politics, race, religion, social class, place of residence, and so on. The divisions are heartbreaking and seem impossible to overcome. But you probably know a few people or institutions that bridge these walls. We need to follow their examples and look for every opportunity to find common ground with those who are different from us. Jesus himself demonstrated that approach many times in his life, once with the Samaritan woman at the well, and at the end of his life when he blessed the so-called “Good Thief.” A first step is to look for the goodness in all people and find programs and people that are bridging these walls.

One place many St. Mary’s [Painesville, Ohio] parishioners have found common ground is in our Karpos Ministry to the homeless and hungry. This ministry is now in its 5^th year and feeds more than 100 people every Wednesday and Thursday evening. The volunteers are not all St. Mary parishioners. Some of the key volunteers are not Catholics. The entire political spectrum is represented, and there is ethnic and racial diversity among volunteers. Ages range from school children supervised by their parents to a man in his mid 70s, who comes from a neighboring parish. The Karpos volunteers have a common mission and their commonalities are much more compelling than their differences. In the end, the Karpos volunteers love one another and show the Love of the Lord to the homeless and hungry that they serve. Living out the Works of Mercy has helped Karpos build bridges, to each other, and to the poor among us. Examples like Karpos are all around and show us a way toward bridging the terrible and dangerous walls found in our world.

[From time to time I'll try to write about people and institutions bridging the great divides in our world.]