Parish Service Day 2014 Reflections
This was the first opportunity I had to participate in a
work day with Mid City and cannot have met a more deserving family. My husband and I had the pleasure of working
with Bill & his son Danny… what a wonderful and inspiring work team! Danny cracked the whip and kept us all on our
toes keeping the trash bags flowing and ensuring to point out any neglected
debris to get it picked up.
Working at the home of Joe and Marie was especially
rewarding knowing they are both members of GSCC and deserving of our
support. Upon meeting Joe and Marie and
kicking off our work day with Joe’s blessing and prayer, I knew I was in the
presence of someone very special that shared the love of God and the blessed
Mother as we do. All through the day,
Joe & Marie continued to express their gratitude for our support; little
did they realize that it was us that received the true blessing of getting to
know this beautiful couple and offer our help in such a little way. While our work team was small, the impact of
the day was mighty.
Thank you for blessing us with meeting this beautiful and
deserving family!
– St. Thomas Aquinas
The basic
commandments is "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."…
First, it must be true
love,…
Secondly, we must
love our neighbor with an ordered love…
Thirdly, we must love
our neighbors with a holy love,…
Fourthly, we must
love our neighbor with an efficacious love,…
Today,
my wife, daughter and I experienced the agape love that St Thomas is
describing in the above quote. It’s not the first time we have experienced the
Love of Christ demonstrated by our fellow parishioners, but surely one of the
most physically demanding expressions as Vern, Sarah, Bill, Danny, Cheryl and
David, arriving at 9:00 AM literally tore into a terribly overgrown back yard,
clearing, clipping, binding up and carrying out to the what amounted to many
sheaves and trash bags. They stopped for nothing until finished and the back
yard looks like it was the product of a master landscaper.
Surely
the underlying motivation was the true love of Christ reflected
in these brothers and sister in Christ.
Their
labor was well planned and executed, demonstrating the planning of the ordered
love St Thomas listed as the second most important evidence of loving
their neighbor as themselves.
Before
they started, we all gathered in a circle to thank the LORD for sending them,
for their protection, and success of their efforts – transforming a mere yard
cleanup into a prayer: a holy love.
The
efficacious love is in the final product. Our back yard is
something to genuinely proud of. It now gives glory to the LORD in a way that I
have not be able to effect since first getting ill over two years ago.
So,
please let these few heartfelt words express our sincerest thanks to all who
participated in the planning and execution this Day of Service, most especially
those mentioned in the opening paragraph.
One
more thing, not specifically mentioned by St. Thomas but surely implicit in his
words: their loving attitude, loving courtesy and loving patience to the
octogenarian recipients and our daughter.
