Parish Profile: Church of the Nativity Reaches Out

By Linda Busetti
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the issue of 1/10/02)

"Everyone has wonderful talents and gifts, not just the pastor," said Father Richard Martin, pastor of Church of the Nativity Parish in Burke. "Everyone can make a difference. The successful pastor is one who uses power to enable the people and enable their talents to grow."

Nativity Parish was founded in 1973 to serve the growing suburbs of Fairfax County. Father Frank Ready was the first pastor, followed by Father Salvator Ciullo.

Parish outreach starts with the pastor. In 1997, Father Martin contemplated a Lenten homily one evening as he walked his dog Pete. If all 2,500 families in the affluent parish saved 50 cents a day during Lent, he thought, they could raise $50,000 to build 25 houses in the slums of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Father Martin challenged his parishioners to "make a miracle."

Incredibly, they responded by donating $69,000 for what is now known as Project Starfish. People simply dropped money in a basket at the back of church. There were no administrative costs. The "miracle" continues. "The next year we helped to fund a medical mobile van in Haiti, the next year to rebuild an orphanage, and this year to rebuild an area with 35 new houses, which will be called Nativity Village after our church," said Father Martin.

A cheerfully decorated hall leads from the Nativity Church sanctuary past parish offices into the school.

The facility, which opened as a spiritual formation center in 1992, became home to Nativity School in 1996. Each grade from kindergarten through eighth has one class of about 30 students.

"The Nativity star leads to Christ," is the school theme this year. "They’re my stars and they shine bright," said Principal Maria Kelly of the 247 students.

Kelly, in her first year as principal, is proudest of student outreach to the community after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "As a school community we raised $2,400 for the Sept. 11 fund," she said. Students also wrote letters of support to President George W. Bush and donated $580 for Afghanistan.

Kelly also praises parent volunteers who re-sodded the school playing field in three hours one Saturday.

Although there is great emphasis on sports in Burke, teens find time for their church, according to youth minister Theresa Rogers. "The youth are very into community service. Kids come back from WorkCamp with their hearts on fire for social justice and for helping. It trickles down. It starts with the pastor and his passion for the poor," Rogers said. Sixty teens participate in youth group projects such as picking vegetables at a USDA farm for distribution to the homeless or visiting nursing homes.

Deacon Bill Korpi collected three vanloads of warm coats and blankets for the homeless. On a school holiday, he, Rogers and 15 teens distributed them to the homeless in Washington. A group of teens has continued on their own to bring sandwiches downtown to feed the homeless.

Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Sisters Donatella Merulla and Mary Attilia Todaro lead the parish CCD program. More than 1,600 public school students attend religious education classes on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at Nativity School. Over 250 adults volunteer as classroom catechists, office workers or wherever they are needed. "They are just great. We couldn’t do it without our volunteers," Sister Donatella said. "We try to welcome students with a smile…We try to make sure [the catechists] don’t just teach from the book, the content. It’s important that the children build a close relationship with Jesus. If they are close to Jesus, then everything falls in place and that’s the important thing," Sister Donatella said. This year 223 young people were confirmed and 200 will receive First Communion in May 2002.

Six weekend Masses, including a Vigil Mass in Spanish on Saturday for 4,300 parish families, are standing room only, according to pastoral minister Carol Mack.

"We as priests have to touch our people and if we are using the good news — and the Gospel is good news — they are going to go away feeling uplifted," Father Martin said.

Following Mass, the Knights of Columbus serve coffee and donuts in a room off the church vestibule. "People don’t leave on Sunday morning after Mass. We have coffee and they hang around. There is such a sense of welcome," Mack said. Parochial Vicar Father J. Kevin O’Keefe, Father Martin or a pastoral minister is available after Mass and the parish office is open.

The Nativity Youth Choir draws young people, especially teenagers to 11 a.m. Mass each Sunday. "We use whatever we can to draw them in and once they are inside the building you can start the preaching. Teenagers are bringing other teenagers," said Father Martin. "We have children who sing in our choir who aren’t even Catholic. They feel the community. This is a family type community. You just can’t help but feel loved," Rogers said. More than 60 youths participate in the choir, whose CD, "Every Season," benefits the Casa de Pobres orphanage run by Franciscan Sisters in Tijuana, Mexico, and victims of Sept. 11. The CD is sold at the parish gift shop, which is staffed by Mary Theresa Bueno.

Outreach extends to sick, elderly and grieving parishioners, said Mack. Mass is celebrated monthly at Burke Healthcare Center, Heatherwood Retirement Home and Burke Lake Retirement Home.

The parish sends birthday cards to nursing home residents and Father Martin brings them poinsettias at Christmas and Easter lilies. Nativity students make Thanksgiving and Christmas cards for shut-ins. The parish sends a peace lily to the immediate survivor of any deceased parishioner and invites them to attend an annual Mass of Remembrance. Mack started a parish grief support group that meets twice a month.

Deacon Korpi has served Nativity for five years. He directs the RCIA program, which brought 62 people to the sacraments last year. "We try to do a lot of community building — learning about Christ and welcoming people into a community of believers. We have in our RCIA for the last couple of years, teenagers who are bringing teenagers, their friends, to church. The next thing you know their friends are becoming Catholic," Deacon Korpi said.

"Outreach — I think that has been the success of this parish. My Dad said, ‘when you give out to others, it comes back double,’ and that has happened in this parish," Father Martin said.

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