This mission trip is the first 3-day trip after two long years of Covid. Our hope was to provide a meaningful and impactful experience for our teens, to open their eyes to people and living conditions outside of their everyday experiences. Also, we wanted them to meet individuals less fortunate than they, and to hopefully see God in these people and in themselves, to see their world in a different but meaningful way.
Our journey began with breakfast and an overview of our upcoming weekend. In John 1:29-34, Jesus is traveling from town to town, and John the Baptist recognizes him. He says “Look, there is the lamb of God, and two disciples heard what John the Baptist had said and followed Jesus. When Jesus saw them following him, he asked them what they wanted, and they asked him “Where do you live?” Jesus responded “Come and see.”
Come and see! It is this message that would accompany our Mission Trip team; that each of us would keep an open heart and open eyes to see where God may be present on this trip. Our bright tie-dyed sweatshirts read “Be Kind”, and worked in perfect harmony with our hope to come and see.
After daily Mass, we received a beautiful blessing from Monsignor Shanley before we departed. We then left for Cambridge, MA, to help at The Friday Café (FC), a weekly daytime drop-in program that offers a welcoming space for both the homeless and housed adults, a place where all people are valued and can gather to get to know each other. The FC offers healthy foods, salads, hot meals, coffee and more, but more importantly, it offers community. People experiencing a wide variety of life circumstances can relax, share a meal, gather some necessary clothing and toiletries, and talk together as friends. It is a place where everyone is treated equally with dignity and respect.
Friday was a beautiful, warm, sunny day in Cambridge, and our teens had the opportunity to chat outside, try to make connections with other guests, and to truly be present. We listened to their stories, shared both a meal and conversation, served lunch, and distributed clothing. Most of the sweatshirts and hoodies that we brought with us were distributed that day.
Meeting guests of the FC was a highlight for our teens. They will tell you about their experience with Christian, who may just be the happiest homeless person around, and who is committed to his AA program, so rides his bike almost 20 miles round trip to attend his evening meetings. Or Warren, an intelligent and chatty older man who was once an engineer. Or Peter, who dresses every day in a suit because it reminds him of hope. Another volunteer named James, who attends Harvard University and is working on dual masters degrees was asked by one of our team members why he volunteers at the FC.
Without missing a beat, his response was because “I want to serve my Lord Jesus Christ”. It felt good to be surrounded by compassionate, kind and caring people, and I am sure our guests could feel it too. At the end of the day, our teens had the opportunity to sit and talk to another homeless man named Paul, who I have come to know well over the last 6 years. Paul has lived in the woods for over 8 years. Before he became homeless, Paul worked for the IRS, but electronic filings eventually caused his job to be phased out. Paul shared his experience about a homeless man (him) helping and sharing with the homeless. Even though he is homeless, he will tell you that God has blessed him and takes good care of him.
Upon our return Friday evening, we gathered for our evening program and took time to reflect and share with one another the high and low points of our day, and where we may have seen God? God was everywhere, in the people we served, in the people that volunteered, in each of us. To know this, we just had to “Come and See”. Later, we prepared for our Saturday service work, to feed the hungry in Hartford at St. Elizabeth’s/Mercy Housing, and then the teens moved and organized the St. Catherine’s food pantry from the Vestibule to its new location in the kitchen. Bright and early Saturday morning, we loaded our vehicles with over 100 sandwiches and an additional 240 grab & go lunches (made by our teens), gathered our hot casseroles, bags of groceries filled with all the fixings for salads and dessert, and headed to St. Elizabeth’s House in Hartford. Saturday was St. Patrick’s parade day, so we went extra early to avoid road closures and arrive early. And it is a good thing we did. Upon our arrival to St. Elizabeth’s, we found the receptionist, but no kitchen staff and no cook. Once we were able to gain access to the kitchen knives, we proceeded to prepare an abundant meal for over 60 walk-ins and another 15 residents and staff. Our teens noticed the sharp comparison between the FC from the day before, and the guests today. Today, once a guest was seated, they were greeted and offered lunch, choice of fruit and choice of drinks. Other than those brief moments, there was little opportunity to interact with the guests. St. Elizabeth’s dining areas have plexiglass cubbies to protect one person from another. Our teens noticed the lack of conversation and interaction with other people. We all agreed though, that everyone was gracious and thankful, specifically stopping to thank us for the meal, and even more so as they were leaving when they were offered grab and go lunches and drinks.
Saturday afternoon was another whirlwind of preparing, cooking and delivering dinners for local families in need. Something that surprised our teens was how we only had to drive a short distance to deliver these meals to families in Simsbury, Granby and Bloomfield. Even our own town and neighboring communities have people with significant needs.
To help these families further, teens “shopped” for groceries in our food pantry, for things they thought the families would need. One elderly couple lives with their son who has been disabled most of his life. The husband now has cancer, as does their daughter-in-law. Yet they were so grateful for everything, especially the meal, and were happy to invite our teens in for a visit. Another gentleman lives by himself in Bloomfield in low income housing, walks with a cane, and is very lonely. He had such a huge smile when he saw he had visitors. He mentioned that the highlight of his day was when we called him earlier in the day to let him know that we would bring him dinner. It wasn’t because we were bringing him dinner or groceries, it was because all the kids in the car shouted “Hi Winston!”
Only after delivering meals to others were we able to sit and share dinner and reflect on our own day. We were tired from being on our feet most of the weekend, but we were all in high spirits. Once again, the high points of our day for our teens included helping others by bringing them much-needed meals and groceries, and helping to brighten their day. At the same time, the low points, were that we delivered meals and groceries right in our own community. That evening, we all fell asleep much earlier than we had the night before. Sunday morning, families and teens were invited to attend Mass together, followed by a simple breakfast that our teens prepared the evening before.
We learned many lessons on this trip, but I believe our teens primarily learned that we are all children of God. Through our simple kindness and actions, in addition to basic needs such as food and clothing, we can also bring compassion, hope, courage, respect and dignity, love and more, to those less fortunate than we are, all without judgment. We also all come to realize how truly “blessed” we are, and to be appreciative of all that we have. We are truly blessed, and I am grateful for the support of Father Michael and the entire parish and community, for your prayers and for your committed support and generosity of Youth Ministry here at St. Catherine of Siena.