The Church of St. Luke

As they have for many years, members of St. Vincent de Paul, known as Vincentians, served thousands of people on Thanksgiving day around the country. / Credit: D Sharon Pruitt/Creative Commons (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

CNA Newsroom, Nov 29, 2024 / 12:50 pm (CNA).

While millions of Americans were traveling or cooking or getting ready to watch a football game, several thousand volunteers with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul were serving Thanksgiving meals to those who needed them. 

“Many communities have a sizable level of poverty, people who just need that helping hand up,” said Michael Acaldo, chief executive officer of the national council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a Catholic charitable organization headquartered in St. Louis. 

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Acaldo said, more than 300 volunteers were scheduled to serve more than 3,000 people at four sites. 

It started in the late morning at Baton Rouge River Center, which included sit-down meals but also a drive-through component since it’s near a highway. St. Gerard Catholic Church was scheduled to kick off its meal in the late morning as well, followed by meals in the society’s dining room in Baton Rouge and at McKinley Alumni Community Center. 

The Baton Rouge society has been serving Thanksgiving Day meals since about 1982, Acaldo told CNA. 

In Phoenix, more than 500 volunteers were expected to serve about 7,000 meals at seven locations, under the direction of executive chef Chris Hoffman, who has worked at the Ritz Carlton and other resorts, said Ryan Corry, chief philanthropy officer of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul there. 

“And his style is that he wants to put dignity and humanity on a plate, every single day,” Corry said. 

Breakfast at the Phoenix dining room was at 7 a.m.; the last meal of the day ended at about 6:15 p.m., he said. In between, there are brunches, lunches, and dinners. 

The major Thanksgiving meal in Phoenix included turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and green beans. 

And, Corry added: “We have the most number of pumpkin pies I’ve ever seen in my life.” 

‘The center of their day’

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul was founded in 1833 in France by Blessed Frédéric Ozanam and Emmanuel Bailly to help the poor in Paris. The American version was founded in 1845 at what is now the old cathedral in St. Louis. 

Members of local conferences, who are known as Vincentians, serve more than 5 million people a year in the United States, according to the organization’s national council. 

On Thanksgiving, organizers of the meals say they appreciate the time volunteers take on what is one of the quintessential family-gathering days in the United States. 

“Thanksgiving Day is a wonderful day to be with family and friends, and those who are taking their time or talent, it’s the most valuable thing we’ve got — they understand the need in the community, and they’re sacrificing time with their family to help those who don’t have family,” Acaldo said. 

Many who come to serve have been doing so for years. 

“For volunteers who come here, they plan their day around volunteering. This is the center of their day,” Corry said. 

The Phoenix version includes a program called “Hearts and Hands,” aimed at accommodating multigenerational families of volunteers with age-appropriate tasks, from as young as 3 to people in their 90s, Corry said. 

Charity in the Society of St. Vincent de Paul isn’t a one-way street, he said. 

“It’s special because not only do we serve people, but we give people an opportunity of service,” Corry said. 

While many of the volunteers didn’t watch football games on television, at the dining room on West Jackson Street in Phoenix, less than a mile away from the Arizona Capitol, some had a chance to see former Kansas City Chiefs kicker Nick Lowery and about 20 other National Football League retirees. Not a lot of fuss will be made over them, though, Corry said. 

“They [weren’t] there for celebrity status. They’re working,” Corry said. 

This year has been tougher for poor people in Maricopa County (which includes Phoenix) than 2023, he said. 

“We’ve seen a 30% increase in requests for food, year over year,” Corry said. 

Corry noted that while Thanksgiving Day brings a lot of attention, the society plans to feed about the same number of people in Phoenix on the day after Thanksgiving and every day after that. 

“In some ways it’s a really special day,” Corry said, referring to Thanksgiving. “In other ways, it’s another day for us to care for God’s people.” 

Gratitude  

In Pittsburg, California, about 25 miles northeast of Oakland, several dozen volunteers were scheduled to serve about 200 meals overseen by a trained chef, said Claudia Ramirez, executive director of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul District Council of Contra Costa County. 

The regional council of the society has been serving meals on Thanksgiving Day for the past 15 years. 

“Everybody comes to help support the community and do the good we can, and share the blessings we have,” Ramirez said. To the usual menu this year was added butternut squash soup, she said. 

The gathering began at 10 a.m. with the distribution of coats, scarves, toiletry items, and notes from kids in Catholic religious education programs to the people coming for meals — “So they all know they are loved and appreciated this Thanksgiving Day,” Ramirez said. 

At 10:30 a.m., volunteers and those being served gathered for a “Gratitude Circle” in which those who want can take the microphone and say what they are grateful for. It usually takes about a half hour to 45 minutes. 

“They do it very much from the heart,” Ramirez said. 

The event isn’t just a meal, she said, but a meeting of hearts. 

“This is what makes us Vincentians: We see Christ in those we serve,” Ramirez said. “And if we’re doing our work well, they see Christ in us.” 

Bishop John Sherrington, auxiliary bishop of Westminster and lead bishop for life issues, said he hopes and prays the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill might be rejected at a later stage in the legislative process. / Credit: Mazur/catholicchurch.org.uk (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

London, England, Nov 29, 2024 / 12:20 pm (CNA).

Members of Parliament in the U.K. on Nov. 29 voted in favor of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, so it will now pass to the next legislative stage.

Three Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of Apostles, are all smiles at Colwich Abbey in Staffordshire, England. / Credit: Courtesy of the Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of Apostles

London, England, Nov 29, 2024 / 09:18 am (CNA).

The order was welcomed by Archbishop Bernard Longley of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, England, who invited them to consider the property.

Archbishop Dermot Farrell of Dublin (left) and Bishop William Crean of Cloyne (Ireland) / Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference

Dublin, Ireland, Nov 29, 2024 / 08:10 am (CNA).

The Catholic hierarchy’s statement to the electorate underscored the social and moral concerns that should shape voters’ choices.

Holy Hour celebration in southern Mexico's San Cristobal de las Casas diocese. / Credit: Courtesy of Diocese of San Cristobal de las Casas

Puebla, Mexico, Nov 29, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Mexico’s bishops have issued a statement clarifying that there is no such thing as an approved “Mayan rite” of the Mass.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archdiocese of Westminster. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

London, England, Nov 28, 2024 / 10:30 am (CNA).

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, was asked to respond to remarks by Lord Falconer of Thoroton.

For committed Catholics, statistics like this come as no surprise. It’s the Gospel message in a bar-graph, the Cross in a pie-chart. / Credit: Diego Cervo / Shutterstock

National Catholic Register, Nov 28, 2024 / 08:28 am (CNA).

Some might be surprised to learn that religious work leads to greater personal fulfillment than any other profession. But not Monsignor Stephen Rossetti. 

“Priestly happiness is one of the great secrets of our time,” said Rossetti, a research associate professor at The Catholic University of America. “And I’m glad it’s coming out.” 

Last week, a column in the Washington Post brought the news of happiness among religious workers to a secular audience. Citing studies from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it found that religious work causes a higher sense of satisfaction than any other profession.  

“It’s counterintuitive,” said Rossetti, who has written numerous books on the subject over the past 20 years. “Everyone says priests are unhappy, but they’re not. They’re stressed, they’re under pressure, but those aren’t the underlying factors that promote happiness.”  

The Post article relied upon responses by workers to statements intended to measure professional fulfillment, such as “I am proud to be working for my employer” and “I contribute to the community through my work.” Workers who fell under the category of “clergy” responded “strongly agree” to these questions more than any other type.  

What’s behind religious happiness? 

The article’s findings echo other studies in recent years. A 2014 study by the Office of National Statistics in the U.K. also found that clergy reported the greatest level of job satisfaction among 274 others.  

Other professions that provide elevated levels of fulfillment include outdoor jobs, such as forestry and construction, and education workers. Meanwhile, food service jobs, janitorial roles, and engineering and software developers all reported low levels of happiness in their work.  

While the idea of the “happy priest” might seem counterintuitive to a secular culture that prioritizes self-interest over service, a deeper dive into happiness data makes it seem obvious. According to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics cited by the article, “religious activities” finish highest among all activities in terms happiness and meaning, while “personal care” activities finish at the very bottom.  

But for committed Catholics, statistics like this come as no surprise. It’s the Gospel message in a bar-graph, the Cross in a pie-chart.   

“What is it that makes one’s life happy? What are the underlying factors?” asked Rossetti. “People who spend their time helping others tend to be happier people. People who give themselves to others find not only that it helps others, but it helps them. The thing about happiness is it's elusive. If you try to be happy, if you try to grasp it for yourself, it fails. But when you search out the wellness of others, you find out, ironically, that it helps you, too.” 

Rossetti went on to cite other factors known to foster personal happiness, all of which are abundant in religious life: having solid friends, having a rich spiritual life, liking what you do for work, and being a part of a community. These markers of personal fulfillment have diminished since the COVID-19 pandemic, which accounts for diminishing morale among the general population.  

But as Rossetti noted, the opposite effect is taking hold among the religious.  

“I’ve done a study several times that finds the numbers for happiness and morale are rising among priests,” he told the National Catholic Register, CNA's news partner. “Priests like being priests. Over 90% say they like it, and they would choose it again.”  

A 2022 study conducted by The Catholic Project also found that priests experienced high levels of well-being, despite some struggling with burnout. 

'No greater happiness'

Sister Carolyn Martin, a vocations coordinator for The Little Sisters of the Poor, believes there is more at play here than sociological factors.  

“I think it’s because our work, regardless of what ministry, is specifically connected with eternal values,” she said. “Our employer is God himself. And what we are doing is rooted in him and connected with eternal values. That's what really makes us happy: to be a part of the work of his kingdom.”  

The popular saying "do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life" seems particularly apt for the religious. The available statistics bear this out. In addition to the finding that “religious activities” bring more fulfillment than any other kind, the Bureau of Labor Statistics also finds that a “place of worship” is more likely to bring happiness and meaning than any other place, including one’s own home, the outdoors, and restaurants or gyms.  

“My daily work is such a joy that I find it problematic to even call it work,” said Martin. “It's deeply meaningful. It's not just social service. It's not just, what I'm called to do the work of my hands, but it’s who I’m called to be, which is a witness of the hope and joy that people are looking for and their hearts are longing for.” 

Martin’s average “work” day is highly structured and filled with challenging tasks that include caring for the elderly and infirmed, as well as community time and silent prayer. That such a way-of-life should bring elevated levels of happiness seems curious to the modern secular mind, which prizes material wealth, freedom from responsibility and individual autonomy.  

But for Martin and her fellow sisters, it’s the perfect recipe for fulfillment.  

“Nothing can give us more consolation than at every moment of the day having given ourselves,” she said. “To be fatigued because you poured out all your energy and strength for God and his poor, there's no greater happiness.” 

“I love going to bed, tired,” she added. “That makes me happy” 

This article was originally published by the National Catholic Register, CNA's news partner, and has been adapted for CNA.

Women holding hands in prayer. Stock image via Shutterstock. / null

Madrid, Spain, Nov 28, 2024 / 07:30 am (CNA).

The Spanish Bishops’ Conference has published a doctrinal note criticizing the practice of so-called “intergenerational healing” or “healing of the family tree” promoted by some priests.

From left to right: Venerable Pierre Toussaint, Venerable Henriette Delille, Venerable Mother Mary Lange, Venerable Father Augustus Tolton, Servant of God Julia Greeley, Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman. / Credit: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons ; Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Archdiocese of Denver, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Courtesy of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration

CNA Staff, Nov 28, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

November is National Black Catholic History Month in the United States, a time to honor the history, heritage, and contributions of Black Catholics across the nation. The National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus (NBCCC) first established Black Catholic History Month in 1990. 

Here are six prominent Black Catholics on their way to sainthood: 

Venerable Pierre Toussaint

Venerable Pierre Toussaint was born on June 27, 1766, in Haiti and was brought to New York City as an enslaved person. After his master died, he was determined to support the household. In his early 20s Toussaint became an apprentice to a hairdresser and quickly learned the trade. He became very successful and was able to support himself, his master’s widow, and the other house enslaved people, whose freedom he eventually bought. Toussaint himself was freed from slavery soon before his former master’s widow died in 1807.

Toussaint attended daily Mass and is credited by many as being the father of Catholic Charities in New York. He played a major role in raising funds for the first Catholic orphanage and began the city’s first school for Black children. He also helped provide funds for the Oblate Sisters of Providence, a religious community of Black nuns founded in Baltimore.

Toussaint died on June 30, 1853, and was declared venerable by Pope John Paul II on Dec. 17, 1997.

Venerable Henriette DeLille

Born on March 11, 1813, in New Orleans, Henriette DeLille was a religious sister who devoted her life to improving the welfare of her community, especially African Americans who were currently or formerly enslaved. She was born in New Orleans; her father was from France, and her mother was a free woman of African descent.

After being confirmed in 1834, she began pursuing religious life and sold her possessions to use the money to establish the Sisters of the Presentation, the second Black religious order in the United States. The sisters — whose name was eventually changed in 1942 to the Sisters of the Holy Family — educated enslaved people, which was illegal at the time. DeLille also established the Lafon Nursing Facility, which is the first and oldest Catholic nursing home in the U.S. 

After 20 years as mother superior, DeLille passed away on Nov. 17, 1862, and was declared venerable by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010.

Venerable Mother Mary Lange

Mother Mary Lange, who was born in Cuba, came to the United States in 1813 and settled in the Baltimore area. She quickly realized that the children of her fellow Caribbean immigrants needed an education and decided to use her own money and home to educate children of color.

In 1829, Lange became the founder and first superior of the Oblate Sisters of Providence. Her deep faith helped her persevere against all odds and she gave herself completely to help her Black brothers and sisters. In addition to establishing a religious order, she also opened an orphanage, a widow’s home, and a school. 

Mother Lange died on Feb. 3, 1882, and was declared venerable by Pope Francis in 2023. 

Venerable Father Augustus Tolton

Augustus Tolton was born into slavery in Brush Creek, Ralls County, Missouri, on April 1, 1854, to Catholic parents Peter Paul Tolton and Martha Jane Chisley. In 1862, he, along with his mother and two siblings, escaped by crossing the Mississippi River into Illinois.

Called to enter the priesthood, Tolton sought to enter the seminary but none in America would accept him because he was Black, so he studied for the priesthood in Rome and was ordained in 1886 at the age of 31, becoming the first African American ordained as a priest.

Tolton returned to the U.S. where he served for three years at a parish in Quincy, Illinois. From there he went to Chicago and started a parish for Black Catholics — St. Monica Parish. He remained there until he died unexpectedly while on a retreat in 1897. He was just 43 years old.

During his short but impactful life, Tolton helped the poor and sick, fed the hungry, and helped many discover the faith. He was lovingly known as “Good Father Gus.” Pope Francis declared him venerable in 2019. 

Servant of God Julia Greeley

Julia Greeley, also known as Denver’s Angel of Charity, was born into slavery near Hannibal, Missouri. When she was a child, her master, while beating Julia’s mother, caught Julia’s right eye with his whip and destroyed it. After she was freed in 1865, she spent her time serving poor families mostly in Denver.

In 1880, Greeley entered the Catholic Church at Sacred Heart Parish in Denver. She attended daily Mass and had a deep devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. She joined the Secular Franciscan Order in 1901 and was active in it until her death in 1918. Her cause for canonization was opened by the Archdiocese of Denver in 2016.

Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman 

Born in Canton, Mississippi, in 1937, Thea Bowman converted to Catholicism as a child inspired by the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity, who were teachers and pastors at Holy Child Jesus Church and School in Canton. Bowman witnessed Catholics around her caring for the poor and those in need, and this is what drew her to the Catholic Church.

At the age of 15, she told her family she wanted to join the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. She left her home in Mississippi and traveled to LaCrosse, Wisconsin, where she would be the only African American member of her religious community. 

In 1978, Bowman accepted a position to direct the Office of Intercultural Affairs for the Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi, and became a founding member of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University in New Orleans. She became a highly acclaimed evangelizer, teacher, speaker, and writer. 

In 1984, after the death of both of her parents, Bowman was diagnosed with breast cancer, which eventually metastasized to her bones. Despite the pain she was in, she continued her rigorous schedule of speaking engagements to share her love for God and the joy of the Gospel with others. Bowman would arrive in her wheelchair, with no hair due to chemotherapy, but always filled with joy and smiling from ear to ear. 

She died peacefully in her childhood home on March 30, 1990, and in 2018 the Diocese of Jackson opened her cause for canonization.

null / Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.

CNA Newsroom, Nov 28, 2024 / 05:00 am (CNA).

According to the saints in heaven, we should give thanks to God each and every day. In special celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday celebrated in the United States, here are 10 quotes about gratitude from well-known saints.

1) St. Teresa of Calcutta:

“The best way to show my gratitude is to accept everything, even my problems, with joy.”

2) St. Gianna Beretta Molla:

“The secret of happiness is to live moment by moment and to thank God for all that he, in his goodness, sends to us day after day.”

3) St. John Paul II:

“Duc in altum! (Put out into the deep!) These words ring out for us today, and they invite us to remember the past with gratitude, to live the present with enthusiasm, and to look forward to the future with confidence.”

4) St. Thérèse of Lisieux:

“Jesus does not demand great actions from us, but simply surrender and gratitude.”

5) St. Josemaría Escrivá:

“Get used to lifting your heart to God, in acts of thanksgiving, many times a day. Because he gives you this and that. Because you have been despised. Because you haven’t what you need or because you have. Because he made his mother so beautiful, his mother who is also your mother. Because he created the sun and the moon and this animal and that plant. Because he made that man eloquent and you he left tongue-tied … Thank him for everything, because everything is good.”

6) St. Teresa of Ávila:

“In all created things discern the providence and wisdom of God, and in all things give him thanks.” 

7) Blessed Solanus Casey:

“Thank God ahead of time.” 

8) St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier:

“Gratitude is the memory of the heart.” 

9) St. John Vianney:

“Believe and adore. Believe that Jesus Christ is in this sacrament as truly as he was nine months in the womb of Mary, as really as he was nailed to the cross. Adore in humility and gratitude.”

10) St. Francis of Assisi, in his “Canticle of the Sun”: 

Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures,

especially through my lord Brother Sun,

who brings the day; and you give light through him.

And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor!

Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.

Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars;

in the heavens you have made them bright, precious and beautiful ...

Praise and bless my Lord, and give thanks, and serve him with great humility.

This article was originally published on Nov. 25, 2021, and has been updated.