By Fr. Justin Fulton
The other morning I made a comment about a pet peeve of mine: kissing white stoles, lectionary pages, and altar cloths during Mass while wearing cherry ChapStick, thereby leaving a cherry mark on everything.
Well, those dear Marian Sisters of St. Gianna Women’s Homes took care of that with the thoughtful gift in the included picture. God bless them, and let the liturgical lip smacking continue!
I must admit when I entered the sacristy that morning and saw the note and the clear ChapStick, I was floored and burst out into laughter. The Sisters were attentive and intentional about ridding a nuisance. It was a joke, but it also took care of a pet peeve. Thank you, Sisters, for spreading some joy and thinking of me! And thank you for making sure there are no more cherry marks on the lectionary, stole, or altar cloth! Jesus thanks you for that as well. Thank you for extending the joy of Christmas into the New Year!
At CSS, we are happy to announce a new idea that is coming to fruition at our 22nd and O streets Lincoln campus. This idea seeks to engage more volunteers, have accompaniment and dialogue with the poor, and extend our outreach to the marginalized of society. And this idea seeks to extend the joy of Christmas into and throughout the year.
At Christmas time, we gave away toys and helped nearly 350 families and more than 1,190 kids have a good celebration. We figured why do we only celebrate Christmas and give away toys at Christmas time? So, on or near the 25th of every month we will give away different goods (clothes, shoes, furniture, goods, food, toys, etc.) to needy families.
In this way we are reaching, teaching, and living our Catholic faith. We are teaching our clients that everything we give away materially is derivative of another reality: our love for Jesus Christ who we celebrate every day and especially on December 25th.
The fact is, we give away food, clothing, emergency assistance and services every day here at CSS. But by making a concentrated effort to give away more goods on or near the 25th of every month, we are living Christmas joy, spreading Christmas joy, and teaching Christmas joy to the world. And in this day and age of polarization, we need to live Christmas joy every day.
Like the Marian Sisters and the ChapStick, we will be intentional about spreading the Gospel of Joy in a simple and teachable way.
If you would like to volunteer and join in on some of the monthly “25th Giveaways” please contact our Volunteer Coordinator Jeremy Sousek at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The first giveaway will happen Monday, Jan. 27. All of us have a duty to live greatly and live out our baptismal promises. We would be honored if you were to collaborate with us and help others in need.
Thank you for your prayers and support of Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska. May God bless us always!
