Spirit of Service: Passing on Old Clothes

One of the Works of Mercy is to clothe the naked. A very simple way of sharing the love is by donating. We donate our old, unused, or unwanted clothing and household items. It's not a big thing, but as St. Therese of Lisieux and Mother Teresa say,

 "Do small things with great love."

A way to stretch our family's money, aside from shopping sales and scouting the clearance racks at department stores, is by frequenting our local thrift stores. Just about all my maternity wardrobe from this last pregnancy was purchased from them. We've also been very blessed to have a number of friends pass around their daughters old clothes to us. Not to mention donating, buying used, and passing around clothing and other items is a superb, easy, green way of helping the environment through reusing.

I am in the process of doing some house cleaning and organizing. This stash of clothing is headed today for CCAP, a local needs assistance center that gives out clothes without charge to those who need them.

Spirit of Service: Prayer Intention Board

 "I entrust to your infinite mercy, O Lord, those who have asked for my prayer, those for whom I have promised to prayer, and those for whom I should pray."

 ~Excerpt from LMC Morning Offering Prayer





Prayer is a part of my life as an LMC.

I love souls and I love praying for souls. It's a spiritual work of mercy, in fact. One way to assist the poor is through the service of prayer.

There are so many people in need of prayer. The list is forever getting longer and my heart and prayer goes out to each and every one of them.

One thing my family has begun to do recently is to create a Prayer Intention Board. It's simply a cork board dedicated only for people we're praying for. In this way we can keep them in our hearts and minds, being reminded of them each time we look at the board.









When the time affords me, I'd like to glam it up; maybe decorate the trim or something. Right now our intentions are written on a sticky note pinned to the board, but I'd like to create heart or angel shaped cut outs to give it a little special touch.

Spirit of Service: Passing on the Legacy

There is nothing that makes this mama's heart sing louder than watching her own children practice the spirit of service. Instilling my six daughters with a servant's heart is one of my goals as a parent.

This summer my oldest daughter, who is 12 (soon to be 13~eek!!), had the opportunity to volunteer at not one but two Vacation Bible Schools. There was more involved to being a camp assistant than I first realized. She was required to attend numerous prior planning, training, and set up meetings. Faithfully she attended each one.

Watching her over these couple months, I discovered she has a bigger heart than I first realized and a knack for working with kids (having 5 younger sisters may contribute a little something to that, although she's not always so generous with them!). Her adult leader counterparts on more than one occasion made compliments on how much of a help she was. It was heartening to see her bud and blossom in this new leadership role as she grows into a beautiful and giving young lady.

Service to the Poor: First Visit to MCs

The Missionaries of Charity have three houses in the Washington, DC area:

1244 V Street Southeast ~ Contemplative Sisters
Washington
(202) 889-6100

Queen of Peace House ~ Soup kitchen and Home for pregnant women 3310 Wheeler Road Southeast Washington

(202) 562-6890

 

Gift of Peace House~ Sick and dying

2800 Otis Street Northeast
Washington(202) 269-3313

 

The cross in the chapel at the Gift of Peace House

My first visit to the MCs was about 4 years ago. I went to the Queen of Peace House because I was interested in the home for unwed mothers since I have my own history as an unwed, teenage mom. However, there really isn't much to do as a volunteer there. So instead I helped out in the soup kitchen. It was a beautiful experience. The Sisters have no problem giving you a chore and putting you right to work.

The Sister Superior noticed I had a car. She asked if I wouldn't mind giving her a ride around town to do some shopping. I hadn't had that in my mind, but sure, I was up for anything I could do to be helpful. They always go out in pairs, so I ended up driving around DC these two little nuns. The Sisters know every dollar store in the city. And come to find out they love shopping. We went to three or four different stores shopping for items on their list. It was such a pleasure to be able to do this for them.

Driving around the city, the topic of the National Shrine came up. I mentioned I had never been before. The two sisters had me take them there and gave me a quick tour. I was so humbled and blessed to be personally accompanied around the shrine by them--one sinner-in-reform with two saintly nuns. I never would of imagined in a million years having this experience.

Afterwards, the sisters took me to the Gift of the Peace House and gave me a tour there as well. They had a brief chat with their other sisters and collected a few supplies to take back to their convent with them. The sisters grabbed me a snack and a soda before we ended the day back where we started.

It was such a blissful day. I thank God for that amazing experience. I went to serve the poor, instead it was I who ended up being served, being blessed.

Service to the Poor: Canned Food Donations

A group called The Knights of Columbus at our parish holds a food drive every third Sunday of the month. They collect food to be used and distributed by the local Soup Kitchen.

 

Unfortunately, since the kitchen is sponsored and run by the K of C you have to either be a member or know one in order to help out. On occasion you can find a volunteer opportunity posted in the church bulletin to get in on. My children and I have had the privilege to assist in one evening of preparing and serving  food.

 

 It's a small operation, but what I thought was nice about this kitchen is it is run in a restaurant style manner. The person comes in, is greeted at the door, and seated. They are then served by a volunteer "waiter." Doggy bags and Take-Out plates are even provided.

 

With the K of C manning the Soup Kitchen, one of the easiest ways for my family to assist the poor in our community is by simply donating food.

 

 

Whole-hearted and Free Service to the Poorest of the Poor: The Vow

Last in the series of studying the vows in literal form is Whole-Hearted and Free Service to the Poorest of the Poor. This is one of my favorites and what draws an LMC to be an LMC. It is what distinguishes this movement from others. It is the work of Mother Teresa.



WHOLE-HEARTED AND FREE SERVICE TO THE POOREST OF THE POOR


"What we have seen and heard,
what we have watched and touched with our hands,
concerning the Word of Life, we proclaim to you. "(1John 1:1-4)

"Truly I say to you, whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you did it to Me." (Mt 25:40)

1. The fourth vow of the LMCs contains and expresses:

- their particular Charism;

- their affiliation and interdependence on the Missionary of Charity Family;

- the kind of apostolate they must engage themselves in;

- the type of persons they are called to serve in their way of serving them.


2. This vow distinguishes the Movement of the LMCs from various other movements and associations, confirming and clarifying their distinct vocation in the Church. If in the first three vows is manifested the task of the LMC to observe the first great commandment to love God with the whole heart, with the whole soul and with the whole mind, through the fourth vow they are assisted in the practice of the equally important command to love one's neighbour as themselves, and especially the poorest of the poor (Mt 22:34-40; 25:31-46).


3. Taking this vow, the LMCs undertake to give whole-hearted and free service to the members of their own families and to all the poorest of the poor, according to the Statutes.

a) Service means:

- living generously in the world without being of the world, one's own life consecrated by prayer and faithfulness, with a profound sense of responsibility, and joyously accepting whatever the Lord wishes to send in the name of and for the sake of the poorest of the poor. "All Christians by the example of their lives and the witness of the Word, wherever they live, have an obligation to manifest the new man which they put on in baptism, and to reveal the power of the Holy Spirit by whom they were strengthened at confirmation, so that others, seeing their good works, might glorify the father" (Mt 5:16; AG 11);

- to be always ready to offer poor, humble, simple, loving service to the best of their ability in all the needs of the poorest of the poor, not only with the simple intention to help them, but also for the love of God;

- to share person-to-person, by their presence and dialogue, the overflow of God's love that they experience in their way of life. "Just as Christ penetrated the hearts of men and by a truly human dialogue led them to the divine light, so too, his disciples profoundly pervaded by the Spirit of Christ should know and converse with those among whom they live, that through sincere and patient dialogue these men might learn of the riches which the generous God has distributed among the nations" (AG 11).

b) Free means:

- giving freely and joyously what they have received (Mt 10:8), without asking in exchange, either money or goods, and without expecting gratitude and appreciation (Lk 17:10).

c) Whole-hearted means:

· to give everything we can without considering the cost, to give even when it hurts (Jn 13; 15:13); to give to the poor not only our hands to serve, our lips to speak, our eyes to see, but also our hearts to love, with goodness, humility and joy. "...The Church, through its children joins itself with men of every condition, but especially with the poor and the afflicted, and willingly spends herself for them. It shares their joys and sorrows, it is familiar with the hopes and problems of life, it suffers with them in the anguish of death" (AG 12).


4. This vow allows us to love and serve Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poorest of the poor through:

a) the seven spiritual works of mercy, which are:

1. to call sinners to repentance
2. to instruct the ignorant
3. to counsel the doubtful
4. to comfort the sorrowful
5. to bear wrongs patiently
6. to forgive injuries
7. to pray for the living and the dead

b) the seven corporal works of mercy, which are:

1. to feed the hungry: not only with perishable food, but also with the Word of God, prayer and sacraments;
2. to give drink to the thirsty: not only water, but also knowledge, truth, justice, peace, love and joy;
3. to clothe the naked: not only with a piece of cloth, but also with human dignity;
4. to give shelter to the homeless: not providing only a house made of bricks, but a heart which understands, protects, and loves;
5. to visit the infirm, crippled and blind: not only those who are infirm, sick, crippled or blind in body, but also in mind and spirit;
6. to visit the imprisoned: not only those who are imprisoned behind iron bars, but also imprisoned in their passions, selfishness, sin, indifference, and ignorance;
7. to bury the dead: not only corpses, but also bad habits, sins, and selfishness.


5. Among the poorest of the poor it is necessary to also include:

- the members of one's own family, the persons with whom we live, work and pray;

- each LMC, each brother and sister of the Missionaries of Charity;

- those who continue to live in sin, who lead others into sin, into error, and into confusion;

- those who live in solitude, the aged, the abandoned, the unwanted, the unloved, the shut-ins, those who live in despair and the shadow of death;

- those who are deprived of their natural rights, the gypsies, the refugees, those who are considered inferior or who are mistreated because of the colour of their skin, their culture, their status, their religion, or their nationality;

- the faithful departed.


6. This vow does not prevent one, however, from working for one's living and receiving a salary for the support of one's own family, but without coveting money which is the root of all evil (1 Tim 6:10) and is out of place among LMCs who make the effort to follow Christ, born poor, lived poorer, and died the poorest.


7. To awaken and satisfy the hunger for God is the heart of the vocation of the LMCs. They, however, do not manifest presumptuous attitudes toward the poor, but go to them as witnesses of Jesus Christ to communicate the influence of silent prayer and the personal experience of God's love.