Serving those who serve us: Lenten gifts

St. Raphael the Archangel (SRA) donated two gifts to the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND) this Lenten season. The gifts included care packages for the sisters living at Sancta Maria in Ripa, which students created. The care packages were accompanied by a monetary donation for SSND ministries, which was raised by parishioners.

Father John Mayor, pastor of SRA, shared in his letter to the parishioners announcing the Lenten project, "While all the Baptized are called to be Missionary Disciples, Jesus calls some of His followers to follow Him more radically. He invites them…to give up their own families, house and fortunes to follow Him in religious life. …Our Lenten project will focus on serving those who have left everything to serve Jesus in this radical way. Our project this Lent will be to serve those sisters who have served us so faithfully over the years." Because of Father John's letter, the Lenten project was called, "Serving Those Who Serve Us: School Sisters of Notre Dame."

The bond between St. Raphael the Archangel Catholic School and SSND began in 1951, where sisters worked as teachers and in administration for an accumulative 28 years. During that time, the sisters made a lasting impression not only on the parish, but also on the students. The packages included postage stamps, personal items such as toothpaste and Kleenex, and fun items such as note cards, word search puzzle books, etc.

When asked how this year’s Lenten project came about, Pam, an SRA parishioner, shared, “I receive the SSND newsletter and admire the ministry work done by the sisters. I had no idea that the sisters' ministries included such work as battling the effects of human trafficking until I read Trust & Dare and the article entitled, Fellow travelers along the road of life found on page four. I found this ‘different kind of epidemic,’ to be very troubling, contemporary and important. I presented the idea to Father John, to have SSND be this year’s Lenten project and he, along with the Parish Council and Stewardship Committee, agreed.” Pam worked closely with Debbie Rohrich-Tyler, from the SSND Resource Development office, to make this project a reality.

On Friday, April 15, 2022, Pam, along with a Stewardship Committee member, and an SRA mom with her two students dropped off the care packages to Sancta Maria in Ripa. These care packages are just a small way the students at St. Raphael the Archangel Catholic School share their appreciation for SSND. During the Saturday evening Mass on June 4, 2022, the parish will present their donation of over $10,000 to the SSND ministries fund. Debbie shared, “We are so blessed by the generosity of the St. Raphael Parish community. This gift to SSND this Lenten season directly supports the ministries of the sisters. Elizabeth Hyndman once said, “There are three elements that are almost always part of Lent: prayer, giving something up and giving something back.” St. Raphael has shown that in a season of rejoicing in the Resurrection, we can unite to share it forward to those who give so much, like our SSND sisters. We are deeply grateful for their kindness.”