Many years ago, while I was stationed in the Bronx, Immaculate Conception Parish had a custom of feeding the poor on Thanksgiving. We fed approximately 200 people and then prepared another 200 meals for shut-ins in the parish and neighborhood.
Being new to the feeding-the-poor scene, I was a bit overwhelmed at the amount of need. I can remember stepping back and having a conversation with myself: “Geralyn, what’s the matter with you? Your dad’s family came from this neighborhood! These individuals are members of your family, your kin. You are called to love them!” My response after the, “Oh, heck!” was to look each of the folks in the eye, ask them their name and engage with them. I must have done something “above and beyond” when the organizer pulled me aside to correct me: “Ah, Sister, I just want you to remember that you can’t solve the issues in their lives. We are just to feed them and then send them back out to their life.” Looking at her, I retorted, “Really, I thought we were not about just feeding them but giving THANKS with them for … ah … whatever. Or better yet, giving thanks with them for the presence of God here and now.”
I could not help thinking about this story as I continue to reflect on the “living saints” that work and live among us, making our Diocese truly awesome! One woman I recently met was Juliet Altenburg of St. Theresa Parish in New Cumberland. From the information that I received about her during the Year of Faith in 2012, Juliet was coordinated Communion to the homebound, was the parish nurse, an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist, lector, and even went on mission trips to Haiti to share her nursing skills with the poor.
When I caught up with her via phone, she laughed and said that she no longer does most of the items on that list. She still participates in Communion calls to the homebound on occasion. She stepped away from these commitments to the parish because she was the caretaker for her parents and mother in-law. She explained that she journeyed from formal service in the parish to helping family and neighbors. By this action, she realized that she needed to be open to where God was leading her, where God showed himself in her life. She became involved in Rotary because of its focus on service and being with others who dedicate their lives to it. She volunteers time with the Bethesda Mission’s soup kitchen and works with her Rotary Club in projects for the Silence of Mary Home. She is always discerning where the Holy Spirit is asking her to serve, where individuals need her the most.
I asked Juliet, “What do you get from service?” She responded, “Service gives me a deeper love of God. It’s all about opening my heart with and to another. This connects me with God because I see Him in the faces I serve in so many unexpected ways. Sometimes, when I serve, it’s hard. But there are moments of grace in an act of service and giving a smile or showing respect to another because it acknowledges that person is human. I have come to realize the importance of respecting people and acknowledging their holiness. … Through service, I focus on what’s more important at the very moment. In doing so, I connect with God.”
If this insight was not profound enough, I asked Juliet, “How do you find balance in your life?” She cautioned as a wise sage, “Try to be careful not to overextend yourself. If you do that, you can’t give. We should not be in the state of constant movement. I have learned to say, ‘No,’ despite the push back. I have learned to be true to what God is asking me in the moment. I keep a Gratitude Journal so that I can reflect on the day, to see where God was in it. This helps me to remain open to the present. As I serve, I have to constantly remember that I should not take on everyone’s burdens!”
In the course of conversation, I was reminded by Juliet, “There are living saints all around us.”
Doesn’t this remind you that God makes himself present through others? Sounds like every day should be Thanksgiving, doesn’t it?
By Sister Geralyn Schmidt, SCC, Special to The Witness
