By Fr. Justin Fulton
One rite of passage in this world is the phenomenon of getting your senior class pictures taken. When people are preparing to graduate from high school, they get their pictures taken, to be given away and memorialized in a high school yearbook.
I remember well my senior pictures taken back in October 1998. In a glistening array of flannel, Dockers khakis, Doc Marten shoes, Auburn baseball uniforms, a homecoming crown, and some Levi’s blue jeans, I suffered through a two-hour photo examination akin to Purgatory. Those pictures, I hope, are destroyed and gone for the ages.
Having our photos taken can be a pain... but it can also be a beautiful and uplifting experience.
Recently, Payton Bergkamp and some volunteers from the Newman Center at UNL partnered with Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska and held an uplifting and empowering event for the women and children at St. Gianna Women’s Homes.
Help-Portrait is a movement in which photographers, hairstylists, and make-up artists use their creative talents to lift up and build confidence in marginalized peoples. Payton and the volunteers executed a Help-Portrait day for the women and kids of St. Gianna Women’s Homes. The day was filled with activity, enthusiasm, joy, and God’s love.
This event built the confidence of the women and children of St. Gianna’s. With confidence being built, the women continued to see themselves as strong women who have survived the perils of domestic, physical, and emotional abuse. They grew in seeing themselves as survivors and leaders and not just victims. They grew in believing in themselves and continue to see themselves as precious, valuable, and integral in the eyes of God and in the world.
They celebrated their dignity and felt their value and gained self-respect to live greatly and become stronger leaders for themselves and their families. It was a wonderful and creative new event. This is modern-day evangelization—using talent and time given by God to meet people who need help—building them and each other up in the Mystical Body of Christ.
Christ is always moving in the Gospels. And it is humbling to see volunteers like Payton, the students from the Newman Center and these creative artists moving to bring hope and joy to the women and children of St. Gianna’s. People from all different backgrounds came together united along with the residents and Marian Sisters of St. Gianna’s to bring Hope in the Good Life.
We are proud of all of our volunteers, employees, and clients of Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska. Thank you for supporting them and praying for them. And thank you for your faith in Jesus Christ.
May God bless us all!
