I am most appreciative of our many supporters who allow me to drop by from time to time, without an appointment. I figure I need to do the same thing, so when I am free and someone stops by the office to see me unannounced, I ask the receptionist to have them wait in the chapel and I see them pronto.
Last week, a concerned woman wanted to talk. After meeting her in our St. Joseph Chapel, she informed me that “frozen angels have been discovered in blocks of ice in the artic, with their wings intact.”
She seemed a bit concerned. I reassured her by saying that if, in fact, they discovered some kind of winged creatures in ice, they are not angels (for angels do not have bodies as we do), and not to worry. I believe she left somewhat reassured.
That said, since we humans are body-and-soul composites, when we have suffered physical and emotional abuse, our bodies and souls are wounded. This is most evident with the ladies who come to St. Gianna’s with their children. Just this week, we admitted a woman with a black eye to St. Gianna’s. Hidden in her soul are her emotional, psychological and spiritual wounds. The goal at St. Gianna’s is to heal all of these wounds.
Not long ago, a woman with four young children graduated from St. Gianna’s and moved into an apartment. She came to us after escaping a terribly violent situation. I remember meeting her little children, one of whom we were worried about as her affect remained flat for months.
As a baptized Catholic, the mom knew little about her Catholic faith. Because of the seeds planted by the Marian Sisters, she started attending Mass on a daily basis. They were all “angels” at Mass. She and her children thrived and rebounded because of the healing that only the Divine Physician can provide. I remember before her graduation, when she learned she qualified for a housing rent voucher, she refused it saying, “Father, I want to do this myself. I do not want to be dependent on the government!” She is now working at a minimum wage job as a single mother with her four children. Since things are very tight, we still help her with the hurdles present in her life. Her biggest concern right now? Sending her children to a Catholic school. She wants them to have what she did not have, namely, a Catholic education.
As we continue preparing ourselves for Christmas this Advent Season, I cannot help but marvel at the generosity of our loving donors who have made this woman’s physical, psychological and spiritual healing possible. But there are many others like her under the umbrella of St. Gianna’s Women’s Homes and more to come. What is more exciting than to be involved in saving lives and souls?
Please remember Gianna’s Java & Gelato (located at our St. Joseph’s campus at 23rd and O streets in Lincoln) for your caffeine, food and gelato urges, for all of the proceeds help those we serve at Catholic Social Services including the woman and her children mentioned above. Thank you all! St. Gianna, pray for us!
