Search
December 10, 2022: Feeding the Hungry
-
Every Monday morning after the 9:00 Mass, I step outside the back door of the Church to greet the handful of folks who leave after Mass from that exit/entrance. Most people exit through another door (wink wink). Anyway, while standing outside for just a few moments each Monday, what’s noticeable is the small commotion throughout our parking lot. The “commotion” stems from the many volunteers organizing a good number of food baskets for the many vehicles that will pass through our parking lot throughout the morning, accepting for themselves a box of goodies that will be put to good use in their respective homes. Feeding the hungry, it's called.
I also see one of my old baseball teammates at work, volunteering his time, assisting in carrying food from one spot to another, and helping to put together food baskets that will be given to those in need. Jim Vail was a teammate at both St. Peter-Marian High School, as well as Assumption College, what is now Assumption University. Jim was a great teammate, a team player, never complained (much), a very good second baseman like Pedroia was, and an above average hitter. When I saw him the first time in many years back in July or August while performing his weekly ministry here at St. Anne’s, I thought, “That looks like Jimmy Vail.” Lo and behold, it was. And is. One never knows where and when we’ll meet someone connected to our past - in good ways, of course. Catching Jim doing God’s work in helping to feed the hungry of Shrewsbury, Worcester, and wherever else they may come from, was uplifting and most Christian. May God continue to bless Jim and the many good folks who perform this ministry each week, knowing they ease the burden of many people in need of grocery store prices and whatever else is sky high nowadays, which seems like everything.
The point I wish to make here is that of perseverance and patience in good works. It’s pretty obvious that everyone who assists in feeding the hungry in ways of making certain some families do not know hunger pains, that all these assisters are in a routine every Monday morning. When Monday rolls around, their hearts, minds, and bodies know automatically where they will be in a short time, what they will be doing, and the actions they will perform to fulfill the words of Jesus in famous in Matthew, chapter 25 of feeding the hungry. It is a well-oiled machine behind the Church on Monday morning. It’s much easier to be on the assisting side on the issue of hunger than it is to be on the receiving end, possibly not knowing where our next meal is coming from.
Growing up in a large family, where food was treated like gold, silver, and bronze put together, we came to know how precious and delicious food was and is. And how without it, one cannot survive. The combination of hunger pains and an empty refrigerator are one of the worst duos a person will face in this world. But there they are after every 9:00 Monday Mass, the many who assist in alleviating human hunger pains, all the while making St. Anne’s look like the giving Parish it is, persevering through all kinds of weather and all seasons of the year, to hand a filled box of food to the many who need it.
I remember when first arriving at St. Anne’s back in July from my last assignment at St. Luke’s, another Matthew:25 parish that does so much to alleviate hunger and other human pains in the Westborough community, each Monday there was a box of food that arrived at our rectory door. Like Moses at the burning bush, I asked, “What is this? Where is this box of food coming from?” I was told from the good people about 100 feet outside the rectory doors who prepared baskets of food for the those who needed them. I thought, “Well, we don’t need this food. We got plenty in the cupboards here. Fr. Paul eats like a bird. Fr. Enoch has his own food cooked for him by the Ghanian community he serves in his Diocesan ministry. Which leaves yours truly, who has the appetite of an elephant.” However, what my former baseball teammate Jim Vail and his Christian fellow workers gave in the box each week would take yours truly and others in the rectory more than one week to consume. Eventually, some would be wasted, which, because of the family I grew up in, would be nothing short of a sin that fell somewhere between grave and venial – a mid-level sin. Thus, I requested the weekly box of goodies to stop being delivered to our back door, hopefully to no one’s regret.
While patting myself on the back, which I mean not to do, the real first reason for the stoppage of the Monday morning food delivery to St. Anne’s rectory was twofold; first and foremost, the boxes of food prepared by Jimmy Vail and his fellow Christian co-volunteers are meant for those in need. Feed the hungry, commands Jesus in Matthew, chapter 25. If I’m hungry, or Fr, Paul or Fr. Enoch is hungry, or workers in the rectory are hungry, we just open the refrigerator and/or cupboard and there’s plenty to choose from. If not, Jersey Mike’s is next door, or Napoli’s is a short walk. When moving here in July, I noticed there is no shortage of food establishments in this neighborhood. Combine this fact with the fact that none of your three priests qualify for “the poor,” unless you want to say, “Oh, poor Fr. Riley, having to deal with so many folks in need” (which is our priestly duty and responsibility), then I can speak with full honesty like John the Baptist that none of your three priests are financially poor. I suspect the same about rectory employees. Poor in spirit? Hopefully, yes. But not poor in the ability to purchase food to satisfy our personal hunger, like so many others happen to be.
The second reason for stopping the Monday morning delivery at our rectory back door is the awareness of the large number of Italian-American mothers and grandmothers worshipping God in this Parish of St. Anne. All who remind me of my own mother, who was half-Italian American. I used to see my mother in action on this matter of feeding the hungry, and she excelled at it. It was more the Italian side of her background – although I love her Polish side as much – that built up my awareness to know that Italian mothers and grandmothers love to feed people. Especially priests. This is absolutely, definitely, positively not a plea for food from all the Italian-American mothers and grandmothers present at St. Anne’s who worship Jesus our Lord and Savior. Please do not respond to this above statement by leaving all sorts of Italian food at the rectory back door or on our kitchen counter. Remember, in my world, wasting food is a mid-level sin, tilting toward grave sin. I’m sure Fr. Paul and Fr. Enoch would agree. However, if the need arises, which it likely never will, you will come to know about it.
I recently read a thought from St. Cyprian (3rd century) on this matter in the Office of Readings for Advent. He wrote, “Paul warns us not to grow weary in good works through impatience…and allow our past good deeds to count for nothing because what was begun falls short of completion.” Well, on this matter, we’re confident that the Monday morning crew working outside the doors of our Church will not be falling short of their good work of feeding the hungry. It seems to me it’s been going on for years now. Although, when a program like this one begins, there’s always the concern that events will happen which will cause a program to die off and fade into the mist, for a thousand reasons, where the intention was grand, but the effort and people needed for the life of the program fell short. Most times, we know that good ideas will be sustained because of the love and goodness that makes up the program through its volunteers. But even these will, once in a while, go by the wayside. But Monday mornings at St. Anne’s. There’s a proven track record for these folks, accompanied by a deep level of devotion to what they do in God’s name and Matthew’s chapter.
At this time of the year, we know, there tends to be a greater focus on making sure all people in our respective communities are fed properly and to satisfaction. Thanksgiving and Christmas heighten our awareness to “persevere” in this good work, so that our past good works will not count for nothing. Rather, they will count very much for something in the name of Christ Jesus. The attention of our faith, however, tends not to be lost at any time throughout the year. Good works, especially in the matter of feeding the hungry and needy, are continuous in the Catholic Church. As a Church family, we do not take summer vacations and head off to the beaches of New England forgetting our works of mercy. St. Cyprian makes the holy connection between initiating a good work, and performing the good work with sustained power centered in the Holy Spirit. Years of service given toward feeding the hungry is proof of the Spirit’s presence. And it’s nice to know, on my part, that a former baseball teammate from high school and college is working hard in this ministry, along with so many others, outside the back doors of St. Anne’s.