Question of Faith
A weekly question of faith answered by Cleveland Catholics. Fr. Damian Ference, Vicar of Evangelization and Deacon Mike Hayes Director of Young Adult Ministry in the Diocese of Cleveland co-host with frequent guests from the Diocesan Office who join in the conversation.
Question of Faith
How do our diocesan media productions affect people’s faith?
Can faith and media truly intersect to create powerful narratives of healing? Join us on "Question of Faith" as we unpack the emotional journey of Christy in our award-winning multimedia series. With psychiatric nurse practitioner Maureen offering her invaluable insights, we explore the complex mental health repercussions of reproductive events and spotlight the Catholic Church's unwavering support for those navigating such challenging circumstances. Christy's story is a testament to the courage required for faith, forgiveness, and healing.
Find both stories here:
Christy’s Faith and healing story:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Eucharistic Revival prayer: Many Voices, One Body
Discover the magic behind our Eucharistic Revival Prayer and the Multilingual Prayer video Project, a beautiful effort to make this prayer accessible to all. This chapter takes you through the intricate process of translating a deeply moving five-paragraph prayer into 16 languages and Braille, involving community volunteers to contribute their voices in their native language. You'll also be moved by the story of a blind woman who found profound meaning in this prayer, illustrating the profound impact inclusivity and prayer can have. The segment also delves into the spiritual significance of the Eucharist and the transformative power of communal prayer.
Wrapping up, we serve up an exciting recap of the diocesan softball league, highlighting the standout performances and thrilling moments.
You’ll get a sneak peek into our upcoming diocesan magazine, featuring inspiring stories of pilgrims preparing for the Eucharistic Congress and students making a difference through ministry work. We also send our heartfelt wishes to Father Damien, who is currently on retreat, and eagerly await his return for our next episode from the Eucharistic Congress. A production note: next week we’ll be filing from the Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis and the episode may not be up on Tuesday.
Readings for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time are here:
On today's Question of Faith. How do our diocesan media productions affect people's faith? Hey everybody, this is Question of Faith. I'm Deacon Mike Hayes. I am the Adult Ministry Director here in the Diocese of Cleveland.
Speaker 2:And I'm Kay Colby and I'm the Multimedia Senior Producer in the Communications Department here at the D diocese.
Speaker 1:Now, that's a title.
Speaker 2:It is a title.
Speaker 1:I aspire to a title like that.
Speaker 2:I just always emphasize senior because I am a seasoned producer Aren't we all.
Speaker 1:And so, kay, first of all, congratulations. The communications department of the diocese has won a couple of awards at the Catholic Media Awards this year, so that's awesome.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you. It's definitely teamwork, because we worked with you and your team and also a lot of people in the community, so it's kind of a teamwork. Congrats, okay.
Speaker 1:There you go. So let's talk about the first award that you got and tell me a little bit about how this all kind of came to be.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, when I was trying to think about how we talk about this work because it was really done like a year ago.
Speaker 2:truly, I was like the one word that I feel the first award was for our series Faith and Healing and it was for our multimedia series that we did on pro-life activities. And I was like, how do I describe what we did? And the one word that I came up with was courage, because it took so much courage for the women who were willing to come forth and share their stories in the series. Yeah, and really our goal, mike, we were trying to capture stories that show how the Catholic Church has always and will continue to walk with people related to all different circumstances of pregnancies.
Speaker 2:It may be an unplanned pregnancy. It may be a planned pregnancy for a family who simply needs resources, and we also really wanted that to include helping people who have had experiences with past abortions. It could be a woman who had an abortion or a male partner who are having trouble dealing with the aftermath of that. And you know that's a tough—these are tough stories, tough circumstances, right. So we were fortunate enough to really build the series around a woman named Christy. She's on the cover of the magazine. This was multimedia. So we did it in Northeast Ohio Catholic Magazine, we did it on our website. We featured it on a special page called Faith and Healing, you know, with our Office of Human Life section on our website. And Christy's journey was very intense, very much a journey of faith and forgiveness, and so you can imagine what it's like to try to capture that.
Speaker 1:Sure yeah right.
Speaker 2:And the reason I thought of courage is because she was very brave to be able to share that with us. So I'll just tell you a little bit of the details of her story. At age 16, christy got pregnant. She had a boyfriend in high school and this was not planned, and so they went to Planned Parenthood and they were given, you know, different options and one of the options was well, just get rid of it, go on with your life. You know you don't want to, you know it's. They said to her and these are her a quote just get rid of it. It's like a clump of cells, it's like a tumor. You can just be done with it and move on.
Speaker 2:And so she ended up going and having an abortion because she was confused, didn't know what else to do. And part of this story is really boosted by the expertise that we were able to find from a local psychiatric nurse practitioner who actually treats women for all different mental health issues that can come along with reproductive health and pregnancies, and she's really passionate about trying to inform the public and make sure doctors really have these conversations that there can be lasting effects from an abortion for men and women. So we're going to listen to part of the story. And it sets up. It starts with Maureen, who's our psychiatric nurse practitioner, talking about what she sees in her practice from that standpoint, and then it picks up with Christy, who really became what Maureen calls one of these wounded women who couldn't really cope with what had happened, and she ended up pretty much on the verge of suicide. So let's give a listen.
Speaker 3:In my practice I see women who experience all types of reproductive events and I will say that those who experience abortion tend to have higher rates and more severe depression, anxiety, ptsd and self-destructive behaviors because of the guilt involved. There are generations of wounded women walking around. We know just epidemiologically the increasing incidence of substance abuse, trauma, depression, anxiety. Many of these are linked to a prior abortion that has never been dealt with.
Speaker 2:Christy was one of those wounded women.
Speaker 4:One night I was particularly depressed and I took a bottle of tequila and a handful of secondols which were always good for when you couldn't sleep and I decided this is it. I fell to my knees and began sobbing. I thought maybe there is a God, and so that point I just reached out and asked him would you help me? Help me. And that's when I had a very profound spiritual encounter and the message he was giving me was that he loved me.
Speaker 1:Wow, maureen and Christy Boy, they're two heroes, huh.
Speaker 2:They are heroes and that's why I really my theme for this, talking about this really was courage, because just and this is where the Holy Spirit guides us, mike Like every time we start a production, we pray, I pray. Please, let me find a story, let me find a person willing to share their journey and make it be the right person at the right time for this kind of story. So that's the Holy Spirit. They brought these two women to us.
Speaker 1:And didn't you find Maureen in your parish? No so.
Speaker 2:Maureen, that was interesting. I had met her. Really, when I first started my job, one of the first things I did was cover the Catholic Medical Association, the local medical conference.
Speaker 2:And we ran into each other and I'm like, oh my gosh, I'd love to do a story with you. I'm a former health reporter, we will connect at some point. Then I find out she goes to my parish. So again, the Holy Spirit bringing us together at the right time to do this.
Speaker 2:And really the beauty of Christy's journey, and why we called it Faith and Healing, is so she's, you know, we heard in the story she's on her knees, god help me. And then she had this profound spiritual experience where God, she ended up looking at different religions, ended up talking to a priest and he suggested one of these Catholic healing programs. It's called Rachel's Vineyard. There's another one called Project Rachel and she went through that and it was life changing. She was able to experience forgiveness, which she felt Jesus' true presence, and then she ended up going through RCIA and converting to Catholicism. And the coolest part of her story is she now helps other women Strong Enough where she volunteers with the local project Rachel and Her Diocese, which is the Diocese of Youngstown. She's from Alliance, ohio and also then is involved in a lot of different pro-life activities. So it's just a beautiful journey of forgiveness and then wanting to give back by helping others.
Speaker 1:That's awesome yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I have to say those are the kind of stories like when you asked the first question. You know, what do we try to do with our faith in our media productions? Those are what we try to do is follow people on a journey. They go through a harrowing experience, they grow in their faith or they even find God in this journey and then they want to pass it on and their faith, you know, empowers them to do that. So I love that's the kind of stories we do and that's what I love about my job is to tell those stories. And I have to tell you the other part of the series, because it was multiple media, which is why we won the award. You know, we had another story about another brave woman who was willing to share her experience being the first mom helped by the Gabriel Project, which there's a handful of parishes that do that. But the bigger project or the bigger program in our diocese is also called Walking with Moms in Need.
Speaker 1:Sure, yeah, and they're great. Yeah, we do that in my parish at St Chris.
Speaker 2:Oh, I love it, and I was there when they first launched the program for that when I was working on this, so it's wonderful. So, anyway, this brave woman they're like oh, we don't know if we're going to be able to find you a mom, because it's hard for them to talk about. If they need help, they may not have the resources.
Speaker 2:It's an embarrassing thing to want to go public and I prayed and prayed and they ended up the first mom. I went and had lunch with her and I was like, if this is something you'd be willing to do, you know you may help others. And she prayed about it and she decided to do it. So we ended up with that story. Again, it's women who were brave enough to really want to come forward and be public with their personal stories.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's awesome, good job personal stories.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's awesome. Good job. Yeah, oh, I mean, this is what you know. Your question of faith about what we do is really capturing the journeys of people and finding the people at the right time, and again, that's the Holy Spirit bringing the people to us to do this and then even making, propelling more good out of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think people who've gone through these kinds of experiences and feel the healing touch of Christ in their lives, you know, they realize that sometimes, at the worst parts of our lives, those are the times when we have a more profound experience of God working with us. Right, you know, and you don't know that until after you've gone through it, most of the time, unfortunately, right.
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely. And then you want to share it because that's Christ in you wanting to propel the good. So it's neat. And I have to tell you there's more good coming from this, because Christy is, you know, she's a volunteer in her diocese with Project Rachel and they want to expand and start collaborating with other dioceses and Mary in our Office of Human Life, Mary. Von.
Speaker 4:Carlowitz.
Speaker 2:I just talked to her this morning and she's like oh, this is the Holy Spirit, because, guess what? We are really updating the training of our priests for Project Rachel. We want to collaborate, so we're going to bring all of these people together, and it all started with trying to have tell a good story about something. So that's God working again. The Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1:Amen.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:So that's one story, so congratulations. And what was the exact award that?
Speaker 2:you won Best multimedia package for Faith and Healing Pro-Life Series. Very nice.
Speaker 1:Catholic media. And so we won a second award, and I say we this time.
Speaker 2:Yes, it was truly. We, a bunch of us were involved in this.
Speaker 1:I would say to Father Dan this is a real team effort when we think about it. You know, I mean just everybody was involved in this, from top to bottom.
Speaker 2:I love that you just said that, because my word for this project, teamwork, isn't that neat.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so it's first place, best video the Eucharistic Revival. Many languages, one body, and so the Eucharistic Revival here in this diocese is a little Eucharistic Revival team. We're actually we're getting ready to go next week to the Congress.
Speaker 2:I know you guys are going to be off and running and ready, Very well prepared.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, and one of the things that the committee put together is we put together a team of people who were going to write a diocesan prayer for Eucharistic revival so myself, kayla Gill and Mary Fugate, who work in our office downstairs in Parish Life, and then our diocesan archivist, emily Olin. The four of us got together maybe about three or four times and we said, okay, let's, let's all try to come up with a draft of what we think you know might be or we might want to include in this, you know. So we did everything, from people who came in with a couple things written with people came in with a couple of things written, people who came in with a couple of ideas Like, oh, I'm not sure what to write here, but maybe we go in this direction with this idea, and then we kind of put them all together over the course of three or four meetings and writing is frustrating.
Speaker 2:It's a fine like you comb through and then you fine tune. Like I will just really mold it to death.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wordsmith this to death.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, that's what I do.
Speaker 1:Pick this and not pick that, and do it this way, not do it that way, and well, maybe we should go in this direction. But we were pretty good working together and we came up with this little five-paragraph prayer and I have to be honest with you. We put together this prayer, we said, okay, is this too long? And then we said, well, let's just give it to them, and if they want to shorten it, they'll shorten it. And then they didn't touch it. It's beautiful.
Speaker 2:Okay, I guess you know, hats off to you guys, because the prayer was the base and it really became the springboard for something beautiful.
Speaker 1:Yeah, great team to work with too. So then we took this prayer and then we came to you and said, hey, what we'd really like to do is we'd like to have this. So we got the prayer reproduced 16. 16 languages. Thank you, Keg.
Speaker 2:And Braille.
Speaker 1:And Braille, yes, 16, 16 languages and braille and braille, yes. And so we said, okay, let's have, let's try to get a bunch of people who speak these languages it's a native language and let's bring them in and have them read the prayer for this video and let's find a nice church that we can, you know. So we went to, uh, saint stanislaus, which is one of the real gems of the diocese.
Speaker 2:I mean, when I walked in there we scouted it, I was just in awe. I'm like this is going to be beautiful just in the presence of this church.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and so we went over there one afternoon with a video crew and we did benediction. Literally, we just did benediction for the day, and then we had people read this prayer and it was great. So talk a little bit about your end.
Speaker 2:Like you know, you did the whole video and it was a like it was a logistical lift because it was a lot oh my god, 60 like.
Speaker 2:I'm like how are we gonna do 16 languages? And then we said, okay, we'll do seven. And then when I talked about the teamwork, it was really the base of the team was these community volunteers who came forward to donate their time and talent, and these aren't people that were necessarily used to being on camera. I mean our main young woman who did the majority of the read. She has done professional theater work.
Speaker 2:So she was an actor and she was great, but the others were just people from the community, and that was the beauty of this. I mean, it was really cool, but it was a lot. And I think what made it work was everything together and again, the Holy Spirit. I mean I remember being on my knees praying because I was like, oh, how is this all going to work when we actually do the shoot? And I just said, please, god, guide us to the right people and the time. And it really did come together beautifully. But we decided how we would have each person, because you couldn't read the whole prayer in every language for the whole time. It would be too long. Pick up little excerpts. So it became this kind of really it kind of flowed from one language to the next and then with the visuals, do you want to read the prayer?
Speaker 2:Yeah, sure it's such a pretty—and if you want to just end, we can put—I put together a little audio so people can hear that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so here's the prayer, In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Lord Jesus, as we gather at your altar, you give yourself to us in the most holy Eucharist so that we might become what we receive by your holy presence. We are blessed. May we be transformed forever by your love that stretches forth to us from this altar. May your sharing in our humanity humble us to share in your divinity. Heal our brokenness with your real presence and help us to draw strength from you in the Eucharist. Unite us to you in the sacrament that brings healing and redemption. As we glorify you by our lives, give us grace and courage to share your love with the world sorely in need of your mercy.
Speaker 5:May your true presence bring hope to those on the peripheries, dry the tears of the poor and the wounded and end our divisions. May your body, blood, soul and divinity be a constant source of revival for us. Constant source of revival for us. Let us become one with you as we seek the peace of your kingdom, where you live with the Father and the Holy Spirit. God, forever and ever.
Speaker 1:Amen. And so when we wrote this prayer, we thought about well, you know, where would we want people to use this? And so we were thinking that it would be used during adoration or benediction. Right, that people would be—so hence the part in there, you know transformed to us from this altar, you know, so it's supposed to be—you have to think about. You know people be praying this as they're adoring the Eucharist. I also say it could be, you know, as people are walking up to communion. You know they could read this as they're walking up to communion, because Jesus stretches forth to us. The most important thing that we need to do with the Eucharist is receive the Eucharist. You know we become what we receive, and you know, and adoration is an extra step. You know we adore the Eucharist, but Mass is the highlight of that of the Eucharist.
Speaker 1:So we receive the Eucharist so that we might be transformed to become another Christ, to go out into the world, and that's what this revival is supposed to do. Right, Right.
Speaker 2:And I love that idea of walking up to communion with saying this prayer and then after because you have that time you hear, hear the music, but this is a beautiful way to reflect on it, so that's a great idea. And um, I have to tell you, like we were talking about how the holy spirit makes good things come out of these productions when we truly place them in his presence and care. And um, so I don't know if you know this, but a woman who is blind she's been blind since birth she wrote in to thank you, your committee, for making the prayer available in Braille.
Speaker 2:And she typed this really cool letter and Father Damien gave it to me and said hey, this is the story. Do you know that she is a lector? I go, she's a lector and she's blind and I'm like that's a really cool story. So we ended up doing a story and she had written a book about her experience growing up blind and she's very active in her church, st Rita in Solon.
Speaker 2:So I went and filmed her lecturing and it's really a neat little thing where the whole church, somebody walks her up and she has the readings in Braille. And then Carol ended up doing an article because she's also part of the quilting ministry at St Rita's. And I'm like okay, quilting and you're blind, Tell me about that. That's the story and they actually are able to—she's very coordinated and they can put her hands— so she works with the quilting ministry and the women there and they put her hands so that she can tie the knots.
Speaker 1:Oh, I got it, as they make the quilts Very nice.
Speaker 2:So yeah, another good story, because God knew we were doing something good with the prayer.
Speaker 1:Exactly so. Every Sunday we do something good as well. We play softball with our young adults, and so it's time for this week's Softball Update. Well, we play softball with our young adults, and so it's time for this week's softball update. All right, here we go. A huge outpouring of scoring in our first three games of the afternoon. In the opener, the Westside Whitecaps go to 3-0. Now they beat the Blue Scapulars 20-12. The Whitecaps jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but the Scapulars came roaring back eight runs in the bottom of the frame. It took the great Logan Feldkamp to come into pitch and settle things down. The Scapulars didn't score again until the sixth inning. The Whitecaps couldn't stop hitting the ball all day long. Five runs in the second, three runs in the third, eight runs in the sixth. Tom Bruno, his first home run of the year. Three RBIs apiece for Brendan Devenney, bobby Bolin and Diocesan Archivist Emily Allin. Six hits for the Scapulars Megan Peters, matt Hiltz, each with two RBIs. Scapulars now 0-2.
Speaker 1:Big League Chew knocked off the Parma Peacocks 13-6. Close game through three innings with the Chew jumping out early, 1-0. Aaron Linville knocked one in with a single. There the Chew broke things open. In the fourth, jim Kottmeyer with a homer man where'd that guy come from? A solo shot to lead off the inning. It's his fourth home run of the year that leads the league. Michael Nin's two-out double was the big blow in a seven-run inning where the Chew batted around. Nin and Tom Cranes each with three RBIs. Jim Kottmeyer with three hits. On the day the two are 2-1. Peacocks now 1-2.
Speaker 1:Another slugfest had the Chosen Ones beating the ETA Project, mighty Doves 24-10. Stephanie Baccia with a first home run of the year for her, four RBIs. For Matt Lister, who was also the winning pitcher on the afternoon, eta hung tough early. The eight-run ruled chosen. In the second, david Smith, three RBIs for them. In the loss, chosen ones now three and one Ite at one and two. The bats calmed down in the nightcap as Young Vitus took it to the Strongsville Vikings five to two. Sean Armand's two-run double in the third, the big hit for them. Peter Bushbaker and Dwayne Thomas each with an RBI. The Vikings had a shot, the harder their lineup coming up in the last inning. But both Mary-Kate Glow and Father Ian Kelly popped up to catch her Alyssa Slitter. She made two great plays before Maria Wincotta then grounded out to end the game. The Strongsville Vikings now even things up at 1-1. Vitus gets off the schneid now 1-3.
Speaker 1:Games start at 12.30 next week out at St John Bosco Parish. The ETA Mighty Doves will take on the Parma Peacocks in the opener. 2 o'clock, big League Chew against Catching Flamingos, 3.30, blue Scapulars against the Strongsville Vikings and at 5 o'clock Grapes of Wrath takes on the Chosen Ones, the Westside Wakecaps and the ETA Project on the bye. So a nice crowd out there last week, teams doing some postgame socializing. Come on out this week and watch us. St John Bosco Parish diocesan softball. I'm Deacon Mike Hayes. This is your softball update. All right, lots going on. Hey, what's coming up for you, what's coming up down the pike in the communications department and the things that you're doing?
Speaker 2:Oh, I'm very excited because we have another journey story and it's kind of this will be coming up in the magazine that's coming out within the next two weeks really, or within the week, two different journeys to the Eucharistic Congress because, that's a big. Thing right, and one is one of our. We have a perpetual pilgrim who's from our diocese, and one is one of our. We have a perpetual pilgrim who's from our diocese, and we've been in touch with her, as she's making a 1,900-mile trek.
Speaker 1:So a perpetual pilgrim, someone who just does pilgrimage all the time? Oh no, she's with the National Eucharistic.
Speaker 2:Pilgrimage, so she's one of 30 of these pilgrims that are literally walking. I mean they're driving and walking but, a lot of walking 1,900 miles. She started in Brownsville, texas, and will end up in Indianapolis for the start of the Congress. Great, so we're telling her story. But the other story which I'm very excited about is a woman who would have never imagined herself being a delegate to the Eucharistic Congress, because it was, and I want people to read the magazine article and I'm not going to give it away.
Speaker 2:But she had quite a journey there that came out of a tragedy losing her husband to cancer and she wasn't involved in the church and this whole tragedy brought her closer and it's just a really neat again another spiritual growth experience that brings people to where they are. So now she's going to be one of the delegates and you're going to have to read the story in the magazine.
Speaker 1:There you go, and so the Eucharistic Congress coming up next week, about 250 people from our diocese. We're going with the official delegation, probably some more we're going unofficially on their own. You know, if you want to drive down, feel free. You know, but we have 250 people that we invited.
Speaker 2:And that's impressive. I think that's a very, very big showing for our diocese.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the great Christi Cabaniss has got us all in line and waiting. We have our hotel rooms and our buses and all those kinds of things I'll be spending pray for me on Tuesday. I'll be spending the day on Tuesday gathering lunches for people at Mark's three different locations. I'll be driving around all day, but before that, on Sunday, it's the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, and so the readings for this week. I'm preaching out at St Chris this week.
Speaker 1:And one of the things that in the gospel stood out to me this week is where Jesus tells the disciples don't take anything with you for your journey no food, no sack, no money in your belts. As I was doing research for this, I came across a guy who said well, you know why? Jesus told them that? Because then they can't come back, because they have no means to make it back, that they have to depend on the kindness of others, and they have to depend on god and one another, because he sent them out two by two I know, I noticed, I, I picked up on, like the two by two, and also to me I picked up, I underline that same passage.
Speaker 2:he instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick, no food, food, no sack, no money in their belts. And I'm like that is having to turn it over and trust God for everything that your needs are going to be provided. Because you turn it over and trust that's right or you can use a comfortable pair of shoes and a big stick.
Speaker 1:that's it. You know, and you can make your way, but I love that, especially as we're going to Congress too. Is you know your way, but I love that, especially as we're going to Congress too. It takes very little. Whenever you go on pilgrimage, you always end up bringing way too much, and then you start to throw things out. Your load is too heavy. If you've ever done the Camino or anything like that, that's on my bucket list. I've not done this.
Speaker 2:My sister's doing it. They're doing it this fall, she and her church friends.
Speaker 1:Make sure she watches the movie the. But what happens is people load themselves down and then the pack gets too heavy as they're going and then, you know, after walking a while it gets even heavier, you know, and so you start to leave stuff behind, you know. So what is it that we really need? And they said that most of the pilgrims, by the time they get to the end, they don't really have a whole lot in their sack. That's interesting.
Speaker 1:I'm going to have to ask Izzy, our perpetual pilgrim, what she had in her and if she left stuff behind yeah because they realize that they don't really need as much as they think they need. They can depend on God and can depend on others along the way to get them through.
Speaker 2:So I have another question about this passage.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:What's your take on? Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet. Yeah, what do you think of that?
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, don't hold people in hostility. You know it's. You know, if someone doesn't welcome you, just walk away. You know, there was at that time too. I think that there was. If someone doesn't welcome you, you know, hospitality to strangers is very important, especially in Judaism.
Speaker 1:You know it's a mitzvah right Right right, you do kindness to others, but if someone doesn't, there would often be hostility. You know, like who do you think you are? And they would. You know how come you're not welcoming me? And he said no, no, no, don't do it, just walk away.
Speaker 2:Walk away with humility and not be angry.
Speaker 1:Right Walk, be angry, right Walk away, shake the dust off your feet and testimony against them that you were here and they didn't welcome you, and they'll be judged for what they've done and you just go on your way. Go find someone else now.
Speaker 2:Kind of like not everyone's going to get it right.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, exactly. I always say the reverse of this is also true is that when we offer hospitality to someone, they may not accept it. We did this midnight run ministry when I was in Buffalo with my students. We did an alternative spring break and we made sandwiches. We'd take them down to the Port Authority bus terminal in New York and we'd hand them out to people who were in need. Well, you know, some guy grabs the sandwich. One of my students, I should say, handed this guy a sandwich. The guy looked at it and threw it across the street and said One of my students, I should say, handed this guy a sandwich.
Speaker 3:The guy looked at it and threw it across the street and said I hate bologna or whatever it was.
Speaker 1:It might have been ham, I think, if I remember right. And when we went back and reflected on it, my student was like I can't believe that guy did that. How come he wasn't grateful. Beggars can't be choosers. And it was about all my friend, my colleague, father Ted, could take. And he said hey, wait a minute. He said you know you get to go into your supermarket and get whatever you want, whenever you want. He has to get what you give him.
Speaker 1:And he said how many times have you sent something back in a restaurant? How many times have you thrown something out that didn't taste good? He goes, he doesn't get to do that. It's not about the sandwich, it's about he goes. Did you even ask that guy his name before you gave him the sandwich, or did you just toss him a sandwich? Like we all sat back because we were all on the side of the student, right, we're all like, yeah, that guy shouldn't just eat that sandwich. And Father Ted just kind of said no, no, no, no, this is about more than the sandwich, this is about restoring people's dignity and he goes very good and how often have we offered this person true hospitality?
Speaker 1:Or do we just hand him a sandwich? None of these people are a sandwich. Away from turning it all around, and we just sat there. Oh, that is beautiful.
Speaker 2:What a lesson.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was really really great, and so I keep that in mind whenever I go out and do these kinds of ministries is that we're really supposed to spend time talk with them, get to know them and actually ask them what they would like. And so the students then changed the ministry and they ended up going down there at some point meeting people and said, hey, we'll be back tonight. Can we take your order?
Speaker 1:Oh see, that was a life lesson, and then they'd go back and they'd actually make specific sandwiches as their needs were able to do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's beautiful.
Speaker 1:They would do what we could.
Speaker 4:Great All right.
Speaker 1:Well, if you're wondering by the way, I don't think we said this at the top of the show. Father Damien, where are you?
Speaker 3:Not in this recording studio.
Speaker 1:On retreat this week, and so, father Damien, please retreat well, and we'll see you when you get back, and we'll see you next time here on Quest for Things.
