Pictured at a recent Young at Heart Luncheon, CTK parishioners since 1975, Mary Beth and Al Sauter. Mary Beth attends WWP and Al is a longtime member of the choir.
Like the positive health benefits of eating right, not smoking, and getting routine exercise, participating in social activities also supports a healthy lifestyle. “Wellness in a person’s life and living vitally means having a life filled with loving relationships, meaning, joy, peace, and well-being.”* As Catholics, we understand that God created us to be in a relationship with him and those around us. At Christ the King, we build the Kingdom of God by providing opportunities for our community to come together to learn, love, and serve. Our weekly curriculum-based ministries and studies engage and educate through scriptural lessons. Our new partnership with the SSJNC offers opportunities based on social justice and service to others.
The ministry that nourishes our over-50 crowd by offering lunch and a lively speaker is Young at Heart. When asked about her experience with the ministry, Mary Beth Sauter shared, “For us, Young at Heart folks, to gather monthly with fellow believers over a most tasty meal is in itself a pure delight, but even more impactful is the featured speaker at each event who exhorts us either with humor or with more academic formats to demonstrate the Catholic faith in this post-Christian era. Father Jon, for example, employed various slides to present a thorough handling of Catholic social doctrine, social justice, and the importance of the family. Young at Heart gatherings are a delightful and productive way to encourage us to let our little lights shine!”
* “Abundant Life”, Adapted for the Avila Institute of Gerontology, Inc., 2009
Deepen your relationships by attending the next Young at Heart luncheon on Thursday, November 14 at 12PM. S. Bonnie McMenamin, SSJ. Director, SSJNC, will be our speaker. Bring a friend and a pack of diapers to support the current diaper drive. Call the office to RSVP.
Project Serve
Jojo Schanne, Theresa Miller, Norah Schweiker: “Project Serve is great because it offers us a space where we can hang out with our peers while helping others. The teen/tween clothing project felt especially important because I learned about clothing insecurity happening to other kids just like me living nearby.” Theresa Miller
Charlie LaPointe and Amanda Nolan: “Being on the Core Team allows me to not only give younger students the opportunity to be excited by Catholicism, but to also take up more responsibilities as a leader.” Charlie LaPointe
This year, each of our monthly Project Serve events is focused on providing needed donations to our partnership organization, the Sisters of Saint Joseph Neighborhood Center (SSJNC). In September, parishioners generously cleaned out their closets to donate t-shirts. In one hour, the students repurposed almost one thousand t-shirts into sustainable grocery bags for food pantry use. In October the request was tween and teen clothing. Meeting in Morgan Hall, the students sorted and organized according to size and gender, then bagged about sixty-five bags of clothing.
Thanks to the advocacy of parishioner Joan Sandell, we learned that there is a diaper crisis in America. The National Diaper Bank Network reports, “One in two U.S. families struggles to provide enough diapers to keep a baby or toddler clean, dry, and healthy. The most common form of child abuse is neglect. When a child is left in a soiled diaper, the result of this neglect is physical and emotional pain for the child and oftentimes, anxiety and depression for the parent. Children living in poor and low-income families are at greatest risk of suffering the effects of diaper need because many families can’t afford diapers. Most childcare facilities require parents to provide diapers for their children. And nationally, 25% of parents with diaper needs reported that they have missed an average of five days of work or school in the past month due to not having enough diapers to drop children off.”
We hope to lessen the burden felt by the Neighbors serviced by the SSJNC with our November Project Serve Donation Drive for diapers, wipes, and rash cream. All students in grades 6-12 are welcome to join us on November 10 at 12PM in Morgan Hall to sort and organize donations.
An added component for the events this year is the development and participation of a Core Team. Headed up by our Coordinator of Evangelization, Veronica Spilker, the Core Team comprises twenty teens committed to growing in their faith and engaging in leadership roles offered at the parish. The team supports and guides the participating students and adult leaders during the monthly Project Serve events.
Help stop child abuse before it starts. Donate diapers, wipes and rash cream to our Neighbors in need. High school students ready to engage more deeply with their faith and life of the parish, reach out to Veronica Spilker for more information on joining the Core Team.