Mary B

Fred McKay, Principal of Charleston Catholic School, kicks off the First Friday Lunch season with a talk on Catholic education in Charleston. Before lunch,Father Gabriel Cruz Rodriguez celebrated Mass in the Chancellery Chapel.

Frank Dirks - CCP in the Community - Gentrification in Our Community - A Faith Community Response Community Report and Action Plan

OUR LADY OF MERCY-NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE-ST PATRICK’S CHURCH-TRINITY WORLDWIDE OUTREACH MINISTRIES

Gentrification in Our Community
A Faith Community Response
Community Report and Action Plan
Working Document

Overview

In response to changes in our community related the process of gentrification, three faith-based organizations hosted communities meetings open to the public for the purpose of gathering information from residents.  The meetings were held on Tuesday, 24 April at Our Lady of Mercy-Neighborhood House; Sunday, 29 April at Saint Patrick’s Church; and Wednesday, 2 May at Trinity Worldwide Outreach Ministries.  We asked participants to complete surveys and participate in group discussions during which we took notes.  More than sixty people attended the meetings and forty-seven people completed surveys.

Findings

• Residents have witnessed profound changes in our community. These changes have had positive and negative effects in their lives.

• The energized real estate market has increased the value of their homes but also brought an array of aggressive buyers that have brought real and perceived pressure (most of it unwelcome) on predominantly older and elderly home-owners.

• As neighborhoods change, residents are encountering increased property taxes and new neighbor with expectations for property maintenance that may be beyond the financial resources of long-time homeowners.

• In some cases, unscrupulous buyers are exploiting and, potentially swindling elderly, vulnerable homeowners. Added to this dynamic is the fact that many buyers are white and many of those feeling pressured to sell are black.

• Homeowners often do not feel confident that they have in the community or in government advocates that will protect their interests. While not all, many feel that they lack adequate information to make informed decisions related to their property; whether it regards maintenance, taxes, and sales.

• Residents have confidence in their churches and are willing to look to churches for information if they know that the churches have resource capacity. 

Recommendations

• Establish resource centers at select churches and faith-based institutions.

• Develop resource materials to be shared through the participating churches and faith-based institutions.

• Facilitate the development of collaborative operational partnerships that will develop and maintain necessary resources.

• Provide venues for periodic community training and information sessions.

• Develop an ongoing process for tracking community changes and conducting periodic quantitative analysis

• Stimulate the involvement of a broad array of community volunteers to provide specific services such as limited home improvement.

• Facilitate, on an ongoing basis, opportunities for discussion and community-building among new and long-term residents.

• Develop and private, nonprofit, faith-based, self-sustaining community fund to provide support for homeowners in the areas of property improvement and tax relief.

Action Plan

Phase One

• Identify community support volunteers willing to educate residents, assist, advocate and more

• Compile community resource guide to answer resident questions and provide points of contact

• Develop a database for distributing news and information among community networks

• Define collaborating partner roles—organizations, groups, and, professional service providers

• Determine web/social media strategy and presence

• Raise awareness- publish findings, share findings

• Follow up with meeting attendees by providing progress updates

Phase Two

• Schedule community education and information sharing sessions

• Finalize resource guide and summary fact sheets for distribution at various collaborating partner locations

• Develop and schedule volunteer roles

• Prepare plan to conduct in-home maintenance service for residents in need

• Conduct awareness-raising outreach to realtors, attorneys, and others on action plan and community concerns

• Develop and refine assessment methods

• Track interactions with residents through Phase Two efforts and monitor potential changes in community needs

• Seek funding to support efforts

Phase Three (ongoing)

• Establish micro-financing fund for home-owners in need

• Conduct “tip sheet” mailings to residents for continued education and information sharing

• Develop neighbor-to-neighbor meetings to share neighborhood history with new comers

• Develop neighbor-to-neighbor meetings with new and legacy businesses

• Schedule neighborhood-oriented ecumenical Christian services to foster unity

• Schedule neighborhood-oriented Christian Holiday events

• Conduct neighborhood-oriented volunteer community improvement projects

• Encourage “Know Your Neighbor” activities

Download a copy of this Report and Action Plan (PDF).

Frank Dirks - Case Statement for Campus Ministry Location at the College of Charleston

The Case for a Permanent Catholic Campus Ministry Location At the College of Charleston 

Bad company ruins good morals.  1 Corinthians 15:33

The Need

The college years are often seen and feared by parents and the public as a time during which the secular world erodes the Christian faith of students. In fact, Mass attendance is declining among all age groups.  Yet longitudinal studies of young Catholics have found that eight out of ten students enter college with the spiritual desire to deepen their faith.

Perhaps more than previous generations, studies find that today’s college students resist structure.  They seek a comfortable safe place, a home, among peers.  As is well known, the current college generation is more bound than any prior to electronic devices linked to digital communities and social networks.  They have grown up in homes gathered in living rooms with each family member intently involved with their personal devices.  The paradox of communal isolation is a hallmark.  Other interfaith studies have found that students with spiritual longing gain the most from shared experiences with peers through study, service, and one-on-one peer interaction.

Many traditional structures and processes of Catholic youth outreach are often not aligned with the needs of today’s college students.  However, the longstanding Newman Center model stands out because it offers the home and faith community environment that students want and need.  The key elements of the Newman Model include a permanent gathering place that is comfortably like home, large enough space for gatherings of forty or more people, close proximity to the college campus and a Catholic Church; and a kitchen available for large meals and off-hour and late-night snacks.  In short, it is a loving Catholic family home away from home.

This conceptual and empirical depiction of what a Catholic campus ministry center should be is affirmed by the testimony of the former and current students involved in Campus Ministry at the College of Charleston.  In what had been the temporary center called the Upper Room, one former student said that you would regularly find ten to fifteen students gathered in this “comfortable and safe space” to study at any time of the day or night.  Because upperclassmen would naturally become peer mentors for underclassmen, students with demanding class and study schedules would retreat to the Upper Room for peaceful fellowship and quiet study rather than the library.  According to the students, these one-on-one relationships were vital to deepening the students’ faith because they saw their peers living as quiet witnesses to the Gospel.  As one said, “You become more like the people you spend time with.”

The students who spent their days in the Upper Room also regularly attended Mass at Saint Patrick’s, inviting Catholics and non-Catholics alike.  Many non-Catholic friends became regular Mass attendees.  The students who shared their experiences came from homes that were both very and not very devout.  Yet they all found that their experience in campus ministry through the Upper Room deepened their faith and made them truer followers of Christ.

Today, Campus Ministry is without a home.  Saint Patrick’s Parish continues to offer a student Mass and provides meeting space for a weekly community meal.  Yet the program is without ongoing meeting space.  With deep concern for the spiritual well-being of young people at the College of Charleston and interest in ensuring that the ministry finds appropriate permanent space to renew the program and feed the spiritual hunger of young people for the Truth found only in Christ, a group of lay Catholics have joined to provide support for the ministry and work with the parish and diocese to find an acceptable permanent solution. 

Be demanding of the world around you; be demanding first of all with yourselves.  Be children of God; take pride in it!  Pope Saint John Paul II, World Youth Day, Czestochowa, Poland

The Solution

The “Newman Center” model continues to be the most effective and distinctive approach to Catholic college ministry on large and mid-size campuses. This model stands out because it offers the home and faith community environments that students want and need.

The key elements of the Newman Model dedicated center include:

• Close proximity both to the college campus within well lit, safe walking distance for late night travel (St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, our parish home away from home parish, could not be better located)

• Permanent gathering place that is comfortably like home – dedicated only for campus ministry use

• Large enough “living room” space for gatherings of forty or more people (e.g., movie nights, speakers, discussions, etc.)

• Two bathrooms – handicap accessible

• Main entrance and at least ground floor handicap accessible

• Kitchen available for prep of large meals and off-hour and late-night snacks

• Study rooms adequate for private and small group study

• Private ministry office for both workstation and pastoral counseling

• Multiple electric circuits, outlets, and charging stations for the “wired” generation

• A small quiet meditation prayer room

• Total space requirement of about 3,000 – 4,000 square feet

Download a copy of this Case Statement (PDF).

Frank Dirks - CCP Event - CCP in the Community

Mark your calendar for a day of activities on February 14, 2019 to support the creation of a low-powered FM radio station at Bishop England High School. More details coming soon!

Frank Dirks - Call for Prayer

Dear Friends in Christ,

Please join in Fourth Friday Fasting and Prayer in Reparation for the sins of our clergy and the healing of our Church.

“You have been told, O mortal, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.”
Micah 6:8

This is a time to choose and come to the aid of our Church.  “If one part suffers, all parts suffer with it… Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it.”
I Corinthians 12:26-27

Fast and Pray the Rosary

Visit our Lord in Adoration

Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Blessed Sacrament Church
https://blsac.org/74

Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Saint Theresa the Little Flower Church
https://www.sttheresachurch.com/108

Join in the already underway 54 Day Rosary Novena for our Nation
(www.novenaforournation.com/54-day-novena).

Look to Saint Joseph.  As Saint Thomas Aquinas teaches. “There are many saints to whom God has given the power to assist us in the necessities of life, but the power given to St. Joseph is unlimited:  It extends to all our needs and all those who invoke him with confidence are sure to be heard.”

To thee, O blessed Saint Joseph, do we have recourse in our tribulation, and having implored the help of thy thrice holy Spouse, we confidently invoke thy patronage also. By that charity where with you are united to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God, and by that fatherly affection with which thou didst embrace the Child Jesus, we beseech thee and we humbly pray, that you would look graciously upon the inheritance which Jesus Christ has purchased by His Blood, and assist us in our needs by thy power and strength.

Most watchful Guardian of the Holy Family, protect the chosen people of Jesus Christ; keep far from us, most loving father, all blight of error and corruption: mercifully assist us from heaven, most mighty defender, in this our conflict with the powers of darkness; and, even as of old you did rescue the Child Jesus from the supreme peril of his life, so now defend God’s Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity; keep us one and all under thy continual protection, that we may be supported by thine example and thine assistance, may be enabled to lead a holy life, die a happy death and come at last to the possession of everlasting blessedness in heaven. Amen.

Look to the Psalms.

Psalm 43:1-5

Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people; from deceitful and unjust men deliver me!

For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you cast me off? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

Oh, send out your light and your truth; let them lead me, let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!

Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my savior and my God.

Saint John Paul II calls on all of us to evangelize.  Let this be one example of devotion to our Lord and His Church.

Please join in Fourth Friday Fasting and Prayer for Reparation and Healing.

God bless you and your families.

Frank Dirks - Call for Prayer

Dear Friends in Christ,

Like yours, my heart is sick and aches at the horrific news of abuse and complicity by members of the clergy of our Church.  I despair that the darkness and evil of the world has infected our Church.  I feel righteous anger and want to demand accountability and transparency from the temporal stewards of our one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

I want to do something, but that “something” must be positive.  So what to do?  Looking to Micah 6:8 I am reminded: “You have been told, O mortal, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

Our Lady with incomprehensible patience reminds us that the way forward in every crisis of faith is prayer.  As the Saints demonstrate emulating the example of our Lord on the Cross, prayer is always made better with sacrifice.

With that in mind, in reparation for the sins of our clergy, I plan to fast and offer a Rosary on the fourth Fridays of the month.  There is, of course, more that you can do.  You can join in the already underway 54 Day Rosary Novena for our Nation (www.novenaforournation.com/54-day-novena).

In prayer, we should always look to Saint Joseph.  As Saint Thomas Aquinas teaches. “There are many saints to whom God has given the power to assist us in the necessities of life, but the power given to St. Joseph is unlimited:  It extends to all our needs and all those who invoke him with confidence are sure to be heard.”

To thee, O blessed Saint Joseph, do we have recourse in our tribulation, and having implored the help of thy thrice holy Spouse, we confidently invoke thy patronage also. By that charity where with you are united to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God, and by that fatherly affection with which thou didst embrace the Child Jesus, we beseech thee and we humbly pray, that you would look graciously upon the inheritance which Jesus Christ has purchased by His Blood, and assist us in our needs by thy power and strength.

Most watchful Guardian of the Holy Family, protect the chosen people of Jesus Christ; keep far from us, most loving father, all blight of error and corruption: mercifully assist us from heaven, most mighty defender, in this our conflict with the powers of darkness; and, even as of old you did rescue the Child Jesus from the supreme peril of his life, so now defend God’s Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity; keep us one and all under thy continual protection, that we may be supported by thine example and thine assistance, may be enabled to lead a holy life, die a happy death and come at last to the possession of everlasting blessedness in heaven. Amen.

The Psalms too are always a powerful source of prayerful sustenance.

Psalm 43:1-5

Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people; from deceitful and unjust men deliver me!

For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you cast me off? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

Oh, send out your light and your truth; let them lead me, let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!

Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my savior and my God.

I urge you to join in Prayer and Fasting in Reparation for the sins of our clergy.  Saint John Paull II calls on all of us to evangelize.  Let this be one example our devotion to our Lord and His Church.

Please join me in The Fourth Friday Fast and Prayer for Reparation.

God bless,

Frank

Mary B - Community Events - Fun Nun Bowl

The Fun Nun Bowl is an annual event held each year in Charleston, SC by Lucis Via Charities to help benefit the Daughters of St. Paul.  $40/bowler or $240 team includes t-shirt, 2+ hours of bowling, drink and food specials, silent auction, and door prizes!  Join us at Ashley Lanes Bowling on Sunday, September 23, 2018 at 12:30 pm!  Email funnunbowl@gmail.com for more information.

Fun Nun Bowl VII Flyer (PDF)

Frank Dirks - Catholic Study Bible - Scripture

Catholic Study Bible

Ephesians 4:1-32

1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
2 with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love,
3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call,
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all.
7 But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
8 Therefore it is said, ” When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,and he gave gifts to men.”
9 ( In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
11 And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ;
14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles.
15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love.
17 Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their minds;
18 they are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart;
19 they have become callous and have given themselves up to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of uncleanness.
20 You did not so learn Christ! –
21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus.
22 Put off the old man that belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts,
23 and be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
24 and put on the new man, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore, putting away falsehood, let every one speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
27 and give no opportunity to the devil.
28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need.
29 Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice,
32 and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Mary B

On this day we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus it is fitting to share the First Friday Devotion, which was the inspiration for scheduling the Carolina Catholic Professionals’ First Friday Fellowship and Networking Lunches.

FIRST FRIDAY DEVOTION

Nine consecutive Fridays in reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Our Lord appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alocoque (1647-1690), a French nun in the Visitation Order, and gave her the special task to spread devotion to His Most Sacred Heart at a time when religion was growing cold in the hearts of mankind.

He said to her:

“Behold this heart which, notwithstanding the burning love for men with which it is consumed and exhausted, meets with no other return from most Christians than sacrilege, contempt, indifference and ingratitude, even in the sacrament of my love [the Eucharist]. But what pierces my heart most deeply is that I am subjected to these insults by persons especially consecrated to my service.”

Jesus asked for special prayers and practices to make amends (reparation) for this great neglect to the proper reverence owed to God. For those who did this faithfully, he made what St. Margaret Mary referred to as the “Great Promise” which was the last and greatest of the Twelve Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

“I promise you in the unfathomable mercy of my heart that my omnipotent love will procure the grace of final penitence for all those who receive communion on nine successive first Fridays of the month; they will not die in my disfavor [the grace of final repentance], or without having received the sacraments, since my divine heart will be their sure refuge in the last moments of their life.”

CONDITIONS TO FULFILL THE FIRST FRIDAY DEVOTION

The specific conditions to receive the Great Promise of the Sacred Heart of Jesus are:

1. Receive Holy Communion on nine consecutive first Fridays of the month (this assumes that the person is in a state of grace, having made a sacramental confession for any mortal sins prior to receiving communion).

2. Having the intention, at least implicitly, of making reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for all the sinfulness and ingratitude of men.
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We are suspending our First Friday lunches for the summer.  We will resume in September.  Our speaker will be Fred McKay, Principal of Charleston Catholic School.

Wishing you and your families the Lord’s blessing for a safe and pleasant summer.

Mary B 

Danny Kassis shares how his Catholic Faith has informed and guided his executive career in the gas and electric power generation and distribution industry.