Helping others is a way of life for Rosie Saberton.
“I’m originally from California and my background is Hispanic and the Hispanic community is very well known for helping as many people as they can,” said Saberton, 76. “I once heard Johnny Carson say that when he was a down-and-out entertainer that he could always go to the Hispanic community and get help no matter what.”
Whatever need arises, Saberton dives in at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church in Arlington, her parish since 2008. She is the co-manager of the Gabriel Project, assisting pregnant moms and new moms with clothing. She also volunteers with the Building Forever Family ministry, serving children in foster care, and is a member of the knitting and crocheting group that makes hats and blankets for those in need.
“It’s one of the reasons I came to Queen of Peace,” she said. “I just love that we have ministries that reach out to every aspect of the community. That’s the way we did things growing up and the way I have always lived by.”
Whether she is talking about serving others, or doing it, Saberton radiates the love of Christ, said longtime parishioner Debra Johnson. “When you are near Rosie, she uplifts you with her joy of doing God’s work with the many moms or dads who come to her in need of items for their babies,” she said. “Rosie has excitement in her voice when she talks about getting things to give out to the many families in need. She embodies what Queen of Peace is and that’s why we love our church so much. We all help each other with our ministries. It makes me cry just thinking about it.”
Saberton is a passionate believer in a kind of old-school Catholicism where members participate in neighborhood ministry throughout the week. “I don’t think we’ve lost the old ways of taking care of our neighbors, we just have to re-energize it,” she said. “We are our brother’s keeper and we must care for everyone that we encounter. It makes me sad when people don’t recognize that what they do impacts so many other people. If you see someone who needs help, let’s give them a smile and acknowledge first of all that they are human beings. That smile lets them know that you care.”
A fixture at church, Saberton lectors at daily Mass, where “she acclaims the word with joy in her big heart,” said Johnson. “She is ready to move whenever she is called.”
Saberton wants expectant and new mothers to know that, in addition to clothing and baby accessories, they will always receive unconditional love and acceptance when they reach out to the Gabriel Project. “We always make such a big deal over the babies,” she said. “We want the moms to realize how much they are loved and how much we appreciate them allowing us to serve them. I once read that babies are proof that God thinks the world should go on. I believe that.”
