Works of Mercy Initiative

in Motion

SPRING 2014

Our Latest Initiative: Communion Outreach

Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Our Lady Queen of Peace, St. Adalbert’s,

St. Anthony’s, St. Gabriel the Archangel, St. John the Evangelist, St. Joseph’s,

St. Kateri Tekakwitha, St. Luke’s, St. Madeleine Sophie,

St. Margaret of Cortona, St. Paul the Apostle

“For I was in prison and you visited me…”

Officers:

Chairperson

Rev. James Belogi

Co-Chairperson

Vacant

Secretary

Rev. Robert Longobucco

Treasurer

Toni LaFond

Board Members:

Administrative Supervisor

Rev. Dominic Isopo

Coordinator

Kristin Black, MSW

Rev. Richard Carlino

Deacon Joseph Cechnicki

Rosalie Claughsey

Kevin Harrigan

Rev. Michael Hogan

Angie Marczewski

Anna Marie Mantanaro

Lynn O’Rourke, PLD

Jack Pudney

Ex-Officio

Rev. Peter Pagones, Dean

Board of Directors

M any Catholic seniors reside in the 13 nursing home and adult care facilities in

Schenectady County. While efforts are made to keep them connected to their faith and

to offer the Sacrament of Communion on a regular basis, the Communion Outreach

Ministry seeks to coordinate ongoing efforts to ensure the spiritual needs of our seniors

who are no longer able to join us to celebrate mass are met. The vision is to have trained

lay ministers conduct weekly Catholic communion services at each of the identified

facilities on a consistent basis.

According to Works of Mercy Initiative coordinator, Kristin Black, “We began this

effort by establishing what was currently being offered at each facility through (Page 3)

The Jail Ministry Team that serves the

Schenectady County Jail continues to

reach out with the love of Christ to those

who are imprisoned by offering a weekly

service and opportunity for faith sharing.

Jail ministers also regularly maintain

contact with those who are released back

into the community or transferred to other

facilities. One man who encountered the

ministry team has continued to practice his

faith with the Our Lady of Fatima Parish

family. He is employed and doing well.

He states, categorically, that the love and

acceptance he received from the Jail

Ministry Team gave him the inner strength

to turn his life around. Please keep him in

prayer.

The team has experienced Christ’s

healing touch through the support they

have provided those they minister to and

by witnessing the gifts of love that come

from within us all.

Jacob faithfully participated in weekly

services, at times sharing some of the

struggles his wife and kids were

experiencing while he was incarcerated.

The ministry team reached out to help the

family. After his release he had difficulty

finding work. He met the ministry team

outside of the jail one day, frustrated by

his unsuccessful attempts to secure gainful

employment. He explained that he was a

skillful painter and had some work lined

up, but had no money for a ladder. The

team came together and helped him get a

ladder so he could support his family.

What do we learn? God will provide for

us and through us, all of us. “From the

needy turn not your eyes..” (Sirach 1:5)

R a i s e Y o u r A w a r e n e s s

P a g e 2

H e l p i n g C h i l d r e n & F a m i l i e s

W o r k s o f M e r c y I n i t i a t i v e

Pope Francis recently commented that “Christians are good at praying

but hungry people can’t eat prayers. There is an old saying that goes

“It’s not enough to pull drowning people out of a raging stream; we

must walk back upstream, and see who is throwing them in the first

place!” Today 47 million of our brothers and sisters in the U.S. and

well over a billion members of our human family around the globe are

“drowning” in the raging stream of hunger and food insecurity. While

we are good at responding with prayers and almsgiving (and certainly

both are needed), Christ calls us to go a step further and to open

ourselves to greater action. He calls us to “walk back upstream” and

seek the underlying causes of hunger and food insecurity. Then he calls

us to change-first ourselves individually, and then our parish, our

communities, our country and our world so that we can dig up and

eradicate the root causes of hunger and food insecurity.

Join the Works of Mercy Initiative Social Justice Committee today and

explore ways to make our world better for tomorrow.

The Good Neighbor Program was

launched in November 2012.

When families are struggling

financially or experience a tragedy

such as a house fire, it is often hard

to make ends meet. The goal of

this program is to take one burden

off of families and provide clothing

for children that will help them feel

more comfortable and confident to

face the school day. The program

receives referrals from local

elementary schools, Schenectady

County Children’s Services, and

parishes. A standard package

includes a week’s worth of

gently-used or new clothing and

new underwear & socks. Packages

may also include pajamas, P.E.

clothes, jackets and swimwear

based on inventory. Sneakers are

provided upon request. Packages

have also included hat & mittens,

prayer blankets, hygiene kits and

school supplies.

Thanks to all of your support, over

100 children have been helped to

date. The program has also helped

several school nurses’ offices by

supplying emergency clothing,

donated clothing for older children

to Safe Inc. of Schenectady, and

for toddlers to Schenectady Head

Start.

Here is what our referring entities

have said about how the program

makes a difference in our

community.

“Thanks for all the attention to

detail you guys put into this

mission-the families continue to

be grateful.”

Duanesburg Elementary

“The Good Neighbor Program is

such a gift to all school social

workers...We are thrilled with

your services to both our students

and their grateful parents.”

Jefferson Elementary

“Once learning about the

program and who it would help,

students in our 1st through 5th

grades decided to hold a clothing

drive...By making this a totally

hands-on experience for our

children...the children could see

the real world implementation of

the responsibility given to us by

Jesus. We had a full-circle

moment with the program when

one of our families lost all of their

belongings in a house fire...and

were overwhelmed by the response

they gave.”

St. Madeleine Sophie School

How you have helped

Winter hat & mitten/glove

drive

Sock drive & sweatshirt drive

Clothing drives & donations

Monetary donations

Going forward we continue to

accept donations of children’s

clothing size 4-18, gently-used or

new and new socks & underwear.

Arrangements for donations may

be made by contacting:

goodneighborprogram@live.com

CONGRATULATIONS

Mary Jane Smith

Community Hero As coordinator of the

St. Luke’s Daily Bread

Pantry, Mary Jane shows

compassion to all those she

meets as she helps fight

hunger in Schenectady. She

w a s a w a r d e d a s a

Community Hero by the

Schenectady Foundation on

May 20, 2014. A well

deserved honor.

Prayer Blanket Ministry To date 115

cozy fleece prayer blankets have been

prayerfully made and given to youth in

need of comfort due to homelessness,

grief, illness, or who are experiencing a

life struggle.

C o m m u n i o n O u t r e a c h

( C o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 1 )

P a g e 3 F a l l 2 0 1 3

“Help one

another.

That is what

Jesus

teaches us.”

Pope Francis

Pastoral Care to the Elderly, Sick, and Homebound Formation & Skill Building Workshop-In

partnership with the Office of Pastoral Care of the Albany Diocese, we will once again offer this 6 week

workshop for visitation ministers. SAVE THE DATE: September 24, & October 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 @ St. Paul

the Apostle. Registration forms will be available in June.

Fall 2014 Family Initiative-This half day event will focus on teaching about the Catholic tradition of the

Works of Mercy and motivating our parish families to be leaders in service and working for justice. The

event, planned for late October or early November, will include prayer, presentations, workshops,

opportunities for reflection and Mass.

Continue to check your parish bulletin and our website worksofmercyschdy.org for additional information

about these and other upcoming programs and events being sponsored by the Works of Mercy Initiative.

the efforts of individual parishes.

We found a variety of really great

things were happening. Some

facilities, such as Baptist Health

in Scotia had a weekly service in

place already. Many facilities

offered monthly services and

individual visits for Holy

Communion. Our first success

was in establishing an ideal

schedule at Capital Living

Nursing & Rehabilitation Centre,

which includes the cooperation of

3 parishes to celebrate mass once

monthly and offer communion

services every week. This is

what we are hoping to see at each

of the facilities over time.”

Who will lead these services?

“That’s the other critical

component,” says Kristin. “Over

the next couple of years we hope

to have upwards of 50 trained lay

minsters from throughout the

Schenectady Deanery. It is a

wonderful opportunity for many

of our parishioners to be

‘Church’ to their brothers and

sisters. We began training in

March and are working on

scheduling needs. Ideally, we’ll

have rotating teams of 2

ministers partnering to lead the

services at any particular

facility.”

Kristin believes it will take many

months to take this ministry to

it’s full potential. “We know this

is a lofty goal. So, although

we’re starting slowly we plan to

expand steadily. I’m encouraged

by this starting point,” she says.

“We are working to build

relationships with the facilities

and we believe that many

parishioners will join us in this

important pastoral care

initiative.”

Make A Difference Day

Emergency preparedness kits were

assembled for homebound seniors

in our community.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Works of Mercy Initiative derives directly from the heart of Catholic tradition: the Works of Mercy.

Pope Benedict XVI has said, “The Church cannot neglect the service of charity any more than she can neglect the

Sacraments and the Word.” Deus Caritas Est (paragraph 22).

The Works of Mercy Initiative aims to identify those who are most in need and connect them with others to experience Christ’s healing touch. In comforting the afflicted, we pray all will find their path to salvation.

In order to accomplish this mission, the Works of Mercy Initiative will enhance and coordinate existing Pastoral Care and Christian Service programs and partner as appropriate with agencies and organizations within the county.

Works of Mercy Initiative C/O St. Luke’s Roman Catholic Church

1241 State Street

Schenectady, NY 12304

Get Involved:

If you would like to volunteer or make a donation to the Works of Mercy Initiative, please contact:

Kristin Black, M.S.W.

Works of Mercy Initiative

c/o 1241 State St., Schenectady, NY 12304

E-mail - worksofmercyschdy@live.com

(518) 347-0871

Website: worksofmercyschdy.org

Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/worksofmercy

“The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ “ Matthew 25:40