As Bishop Paul S. Loverde often says, “We don’t serve people
because they are Catholic, we serve people because we are Catholic.”
Transforming lives through loving service is what Christians are
called to do. And this beautiful vision of evangelizing the poor comes directly
from Christ’s actions and words. He gave us the commandment to love God and our
neighbor as ourselves.
Who is our neighbor? Jesus tells us in the parable of the Good
Samaritan that the unfortunate man moaning in the ditch is our neighbor. He
urges us to get off the main highway and help this man even though we are busy,
even though the wine and oil we brought was for other uses, even though we only
have one donkey to transport us, and even though we have to pay to house him in
the inn.
The mission of Catholic Charities of the Arlington Diocese is to
help people make that turn from the busy highway and attend to the weary so
transformation of the helper and helped can begin.
Because we are Catholic and we want to encounter Christ, to think
and act as He does, we serve the disenfranchised and the vulnerable, from the
baby in the womb, to others in rural, urban and suburban neighborhoods. CCDA
seeks to bring Christ to those living in despair just as He did when he
preached and healed and ministered to the sick, forlorn and demon-possessed during
the thousand days of his active ministry in Jerusalem and Galilee. This is what
Pope Francis is calling us to when he speaks of the church as a field hospital.
Because CCDA encounters men, women and children of all faiths — and
non-believers — we play a critical role in evangelization. Our 15-plus programs
aim to share Christ’s radical and saving love. When we teach English as a
second language or provide mental health counseling to those in despair, or
help people find jobs, or assist with their utility bills, we also bring them
the love of Christ.
We have more than 100 employees and 1,500 volunteers answering
the call to be apostles.
When you reach out to the poor through CCDA, your parish or
school, you are expanding the reach of Christ. When you make that encounter,
expect to be transformed in your own life. Helping the man in the ditch helps
us to reawaken and rediscover human dignity and human solidarity in our
culture. It is justice meeting mercy, and creative love fighting despair.
Our five program areas of Crisis Response — transformational housing,
dignity of life, health, and immigration and refugees — help so many people in
many ways.
Last year, we helped 113 men, women and children who were
homeless through our transformational housing; we counseled 264 adoptive birth
parents to choose life; we gave away nearly 1 million pounds of food through the
St. Lucy Food Project; served 18,000 free evening meals at Christ House;
offered Catholic integrated mental health services to 1,065 clients; and
provided support to 3,453 immigrant clients and refugees.
CCDA is where evangelization meets the road, where the churched
and unchurched encounter Christ, where the helpers deepen their faith in service
to others, and where those helped can experience the transformative love of
God.
Bennett
is president and CEO of Catholic Charities for the Arlington Diocese.
