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Words can't describe our mission trip but from the bottom of our hearts, we want to thank everyone who supported us materially and spiritually. 

We arrived to Hartsfield-Jackson International last night about 6:30 very tired but joy-filled.

God bless,

The Mary Our Queen 2012 Mission Team

The Team along with the Friars and some volunteers who help out regularly 

The Block Party in Honor of St. Anthony

Dear Friends, Family and Benefactors,

On our final day of our mission trip we had the Block Party. The weather was perfect! It had rained yesterday evening and brought in a bit of cooler weather so we had sunny skies. We started the day as usual with prayers and Mass. We ate breakfast and at about 9:15 we all went into action to set up for the party.

Fr Herald was the masters of ceremony and we had entertainment all day long. There was a mix of prayer, food, games, and fun. The kids enjoyed the day just being kids playing outside with no electronics or worry of their safety while the adults gathered and ate their meals with neighbors and friends. It was a very moving site full of plain, simple joy.

We served 850 hamburgers, 700 hot dogs, 400 kabobs, 35 gallons of potato salad, macaroni and coleslaw along with a bunch of five gallon tubs of ice cream. It was a great day!

At 4:30 we had a Eucharistic Procession through the street. Fr. Louis blessed each of the buildings on the block with Christ as the people processed with the Christ in the Eucharist. It was amazing.

This evening, Br David cooked chicken on the grill for the men of St. Anthony shelter as well as for us and other volunteers. While he was cooking, we all hung out in the gardens sharing, laughing and living.

We were all blessed. We can't believe that our week is almost over. The twelve of us have grown very close and feel a special bond with each other, the Friars and the men in the shelters. Our lives have been changed. We thank you all so much for supporting us so that we could live the Gospel message of loving each other and loving our neighbor.

Br Crispin giving our marching orders this morning

Patti,  Meghan, Lucy, and Walter went to Our Lady of the Holy Angels convent this morning to help with their weekly lunch program for the poor. The sisters have this program down to a science of feeding over 100 meals in one hour

The block party with good friends and food

A party is never a party without water

Brother talking to some children about prayer

Br. David, Paul and John cooking

Fr Herald assisting a woman 

Praying the Rosary

Enjoying hamburgers

Fr Louis in the Eucharistic Procession 

Benediction on the church steps

Fr Louis

Br Crispin thanking everyone for coming

Br David, Fr Rich and Meghan serving ice cream at the end

Fr Louis and Francis, a neighbor who comes over every day to visit the Friars

Block Party Preparing

Hello,

Today Paul, John and Marcia went to the Missionary of Charity's (Mother Teresa's sisters) convent for Mass and to help with their lunch program while the rest of the team did preparations for the block party that is held near the Feast of St Anthony (the name sake of the men's shelter) for all of the people in the neighborhood. It's another hot day in New York so later today, we will be filling up water balloons for the party tomorrow.

When it is hot, the city opens of fire hydrants for people to play in and cool off.

To the left is St Aldebert Church where we have been having Mass and prayers each day, the center is the St.Crispin Friary, and to the right is the old school where we have been sleeping. The Friars renovated the school so on the third floor are two dorms, one for the men and one for the women.

Meghan and Olivia chopping 50 pounds of onions for the block party food tomorrow.

Deacon Jim and Lucy chopping tomatoes

Putting up tents for the block party

Just a few hot peppers for some hot sauce tomorrow!

The Jesus Run

A reflection from Olivia

The Jesus Run was an experience unlike anything our group had done before. Staying in the compound and serving dinner to the residents in the shelter is one thing, but literally talking the talk and walking the walk is another. As my aunt Marcia passed me half of her jelly sandwich while I folded it onto its perfect complement, peanut butter, I had no notion of what I was doing and what was happening. It started with an assembly line of the group, each one doing separate tasks to complete the quota of about 100 pb and j sandwiches we would need for our run tonight. 

Olivia, Marcia and Jim preparing peanut butter  and jelly sandwiches

Sarah, Walker and John

The team had a great system going to get the 100+ sandwiches ready

We all hopped into the vans and drove to Manhattan to a couple of places that the Friars know where homeless people congregate. 

Lucy and Colin in the van with the sandwiches

New York scene

The first stop was Grand Central Station. We broke into groups of threes and fours and dispersed into the Station. We all had a common goal in mind; find people in need of God’s love, and spread it. No pun intended.

First stop was Grand Central Station. We all agreed that the homeless was invisible to us until we did the Jesus Run. Our awareness is so different now.

Paul, Fr Rich (background), Lucy, Reese and Br. Crispin getting ready to bring sandwiches and Jesus to the poor

 Next we headed for Penn Station which is right next to Madison Square Garden.  Each place offered an opportunity to meet new people, and hear each of the homeless person’s stories. I owe the best part of my night to a homeless man who performed an act of kindness I wasn’t anticipating on receiving. Instead of the members of our group offering our prayers up to God for him, he reversed the roles and prayed for us.  The whole experience was incredible because what this man wanted most at the time - a man living on the streets, hungry for the sandwiches we provided him with- was to pray for us. The whole encounter was incredible and I cherished it for the rest of the night. The Jesus Run was so moving because it put actual names to the faces of the many homeless men and women living on the streets of New York. It gave us a chance to help other people through an act so simple as giving them a sandwich, which is why it was an experience unlike any other. 

Jim, Sarah and Olivia

Meghan, Colin and Patti with our friend who was so appreciative of us not only bringing him a sandwich but spending time and praying with and for him

A hot Thursday

Greetings from New York again.

Today we started with rosary, Liturgy of the Hours and Mass. The Brothers from both Friaries joined us. When this happens, we like to say that we are “Friar-infested”. These moments are a blessing for us. We have an opportunity to be and pray with such joyful men who have dedicated their lives to serving the poor. Fr. Herald’s homily spoke about when we pray, we sometimes complicate it but it really is simple. We are speaking to our Father, a Father who created us, loves us, guides us and wants us in heaven. We need to discover our identity as a child of God the Father.

John, Colin and Deacon Jim went with Fr. Rich to have Mass at one of the convents and then work with the Brothers at St. Joseph’s Table. They helped prepare and serve lunch for about forty men. They also sat and visited with some of the people as well. Again, they said that they got so much more out of serving than they gave.

The rest of the team, stayed at our home base of St. Crispin/St Anthony’s helping the Friars with some tasks that they haven’t been able to get to in a long while….installing locks, gardening, stuffing envelopes for a mass mailing, etc.

Marcia with Fr Conrad gardening

Paul and Sarah installing locks

Lucy, Reese, Olivia, and friend of the Friars, Philip and Meghan stuffing envelopes

John moving lumber

Tonight we are going to make a “Jesus Run” where the team will go with the Friars to deliver some sandwiches to the poor. But more than the food, it is about bring Jesus to the least among us. More on that later.

The weather in New York has been really hot. The people have asked us if we brought the hot weather with us. The past two days the heat index has been 100+. Please keep the poor, especially the elderly, in your prayers since they can’t escape the heat as we can just walk into our air conditioned homes.

God bless you and thank you for your continued support.

The Mary Our Queen Mission Team

Dear Friends, Family and Benefactors,

Today, while the Friars attended a meeting for their congregation in their Newark Friary, we had the opportunity to see some of New York City.

We started our day with an early breakfast and were out the door by 6:45 am. We walked to a subway station and traveled to St. Patrick’s Cathedral for their 8:00 am Mass. The Cathedral was beautiful. The priest told us in the homily that we are the luckiest people in the world because we got to receive Christ in the Eucharist. After looking around a bit we did our Liturgy of the Hours in the back of the Cathedral.

Colin and Fr Dye

From there, we headed to Times Square. We were complete tourist but enjoyed every moment of it. Next, was the World Trade Center Memorial.  It is hard to describe being there. We were in awe, sad, inspired, and humbled. Certainly, we knew we were on hallowed grounds, knowing that so many people died right where we stood. We offered a decade of the Divine Mercy Chaplet and prayed the Angelus there.

The group

Meghan, Patti, Paul and John in Times Square

Paul and Deacon Jim at the World Trade Center Memorial

The group at the World Trade Center Memorial

Sarah and Jim looking at the names of those who perished on 9/11

We walked to the Staten Island Ferry and took the ferry back and forth seeing the Statue of Liberty and the skyline of Manhattan. The Shrine of St Elizabeth Ann Seton is right next to the Ferry so we stop to make a visit there. We finished our visit to the City with a late lunch of real New York pizza. For many of us, this was the first time in New York City. We had a blast.

Olivia, Walker and John in front of the Shrine of Elizabeth Ann Seton 

who was born in New York City

The World Trade Center Memorial

Once we got back to St. Crispin Friary, we had a holy hour, dinner and then to work at the two shelters. Patti and Sarah went to Padre Pio shelter to help serve dinner and play games with the men, while John and Walker went to St. Anthony’s shelter. The men had a “free night” there so our team entertained them with a skit. More on that later.

One thing striking to us is that these shelters that the Friars run are completely managed by volunteers and donations. The guests tell us that these shelters are really “upscale”. The Friars regard each man with dignity, love, and respect and maybe for the first time in a long time they receive this kind of treatment. We wish you could experience a day here. Many of the preconceived ideas of homeless are shattered once meeting the guys. The volunteers are amazing. Men and women come from all over the area to give of themselves and do so with great joy. It is so contagious to be around the Friars and the volunteers.

Thank you for your support and prayers.

The 2012 Mary Our Queen Mission Team

Our day with the Franciscan Sisters

Dear family, friends and benefactors,

Yesterday a few of us had a unique opportunity…we attended morning Mass with some of the novitiates of the Community of Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal.  After Mass we ate breakfast with them and then visited a second convent, where the postulants are living their first years of religious life. 

In addition to praying and visiting with the sisters, we helped them with all sorts of little tasks in their mission of serving the poor: sorting food-donation bags for the one hundred and fifty poor families who will likely knock on their door, begging for food this week.  Pre-cooking and freezing food for a week-long retreat that they will be attending, with other sisters in the area.  Weeding, planting and cutting back trees in their yard, and finally, joining the “Rosary Club” at a neighboring Jewish-owned Nursing Home.

 We give thanks to God for having had the opportunity to serve alongside such joyful and simple women whose lives are totally consecrated to Jesus.  Their invitation to pray at the beginning of each activity was a reminder to us of how much more our lives could become a prayer of thanksgiving and self-offering to Our Father.  We thank each of you for making this mission possible for us, and we commit to continue praying for you and your intentions. 

God bless you.

Affectionately yours in Christ,

Mary Our Queen Mission Team 2012

Check out franciscansisterscfr.com if you’d like more information about the sisters!  

Tuesday

Dear Friends, Family and Benefactors,

We are having an amazing mission trip with lots of different things happening. We of course start our day with prayer and the Mass and then off to work. Today we split the team up. Marcia, Meghan, Lucy, Sarah and Olivia went with Fr. Rich to help with the Franciscan Sisters all day while Fr. Dye, Paul, Colin, John, Walker, Deacon Jim, Reese and Patti stayed behind to help with a number of chores at St Anthony’s shelter. 

If you wanted to know more about the shelter that the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal run, you can go to this site. It is impressive.  http://www.stanthonyshelter.org

Fr Andrew Apostoli, Marcia, Sarah, Olivia, Meghan, and Lucy

Meghan and Sarah helping sort at a food pantry that the Sisters have

Olivia and Sarah

Meghan with a Sister cooking

The group with the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal

Meghan and Lucy went with the Sisters to visit a nursing home

Deacon Jim painting at St. Anthony's shelter

Paul and Walker preparing to paint

John and Colin moving some shelving

John and Fr Dye preparing dinner

Tommy and Cynthia (Tommy was a former guest of St Anthony's) who volunteer each week cooking for the men along with Fr Dye and Reese

We are praying for each of you while we are here and are very grateful that you have made this mission possible through your generosity.

Thank you and God bless.

The Mary Our Queen Mission Team