Clare House News
by Tina Sipula
It is Ash Wednesday when I sit and write and the basement is full of volunteers bagging groceries for Friday’s hand-out. Bill, Bob, Kathy, Deborah, Ed, Mignon, are all on-deck to sort through many boxes of food to bag up at least 100 bags to be ready for Friday’s hand-out. They are a faithful crew who have been coming for years and years and laughter wafts up the stairs as they work.
When they come in, we speak of Lent and ashes, and Bill and I were at the same Mass at 7:00 a.m., and Sr. Glenda reminds us that we are all made of “fairy dust” from God, and she used to tell the children at St. James parish in Decatur they were from “fairy dust.” I like that.
I want to believe that we are all from the same dust that God created in the very beginning of the Universe. We are all the same. We are all from the very beginning and are all brothers and sisters. If the whole world believed in that, what a different world it would be. We strive to treat everyone as our brother or sister and greet each person as if they are Christ.
At Christmastime, the Tinervan family came through again with turkeys for everyone in the line, and huge boxes of food and produce for everyone. Thankfully the weather was warm enough to hand out everything in the parking lot again this year. We give many thanks to the Tinervans for their annual Christmas donations, and we give thanks for the pledged support of the Gudeman family who are now on deck with us every week to help here and at the soup kitchen. They are a family of seven who weekly contribute and volunteer at the soup kitchen and here at the house. I feel like an auntie to the children who range in age from four to fourteen. What a blessing!
Last Sunday I spoke at the Peace and Justice Group from the Mennonite Church and one of the members reminded us of the pacifism of Dorothy Day. We live in a world of such turmoil and violence. Let us pledge to work for a world of peace and justice every day of our lives. Many of the Catholic Workers I know put their lives on the line every day and are in jail for acts of civil disobedience protesting war and injustice. Please pray for them and all who work for peace and justice in the world.
During this Lenten Season, please consider this passage from Isaiah, Chapter 58, vs. 6-7:
When they come in, we speak of Lent and ashes, and Bill and I were at the same Mass at 7:00 a.m., and Sr. Glenda reminds us that we are all made of “fairy dust” from God, and she used to tell the children at St. James parish in Decatur they were from “fairy dust.” I like that.
I want to believe that we are all from the same dust that God created in the very beginning of the Universe. We are all the same. We are all from the very beginning and are all brothers and sisters. If the whole world believed in that, what a different world it would be. We strive to treat everyone as our brother or sister and greet each person as if they are Christ.
At Christmastime, the Tinervan family came through again with turkeys for everyone in the line, and huge boxes of food and produce for everyone. Thankfully the weather was warm enough to hand out everything in the parking lot again this year. We give many thanks to the Tinervans for their annual Christmas donations, and we give thanks for the pledged support of the Gudeman family who are now on deck with us every week to help here and at the soup kitchen. They are a family of seven who weekly contribute and volunteer at the soup kitchen and here at the house. I feel like an auntie to the children who range in age from four to fourteen. What a blessing!
Last Sunday I spoke at the Peace and Justice Group from the Mennonite Church and one of the members reminded us of the pacifism of Dorothy Day. We live in a world of such turmoil and violence. Let us pledge to work for a world of peace and justice every day of our lives. Many of the Catholic Workers I know put their lives on the line every day and are in jail for acts of civil disobedience protesting war and injustice. Please pray for them and all who work for peace and justice in the world.
During this Lenten Season, please consider this passage from Isaiah, Chapter 58, vs. 6-7:
“This is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke;setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke;sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own.”
Blessings for Lent and Easter,
Tina Sipula
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