Monthly Saint Article St. Christopher – The Patron Saint of Trav- elers, by Marilyn Nagle Because I have had a special devotion to St. Christopher since I was a child, Katie asked me to feature him in this month's Spirit. Many of you may remember that, prior to 1970, St. Christopher was a very popular saint with travelers. Many families would have a little statue or medal in the car for safe travels. My family was no exception. St. Christopher became more than a medal in the car to our family because of an incident that happened when we were returning from an outing on Memorial Day. There were seven of us in the car, my mother, father, grandmother, two brothers, a sister and me, when another car hit our car broadside with such impact it sent us sideways across the two lane highway into a telephone pole. Despite the fact that our car was completely demolished, all of us survived with no perma- nent injuries. To us, it was a miracle and St. Christopher got most of the credit. A great deal of what has been written about St. Christopher is legendary, and according to that legend, he was ini- tially called Reprobus and lived in the third century dur- ing the reign of Emperor Decius.He was a Canaanite and was believed to be 7 feet 5 inches tall and with a fear- some face. While serving the King of Canaan, he took it into his head to go and serve “the greatest king there was.” His search led him to seek out the Christ whom many seemed to believe was this king he was looking for. He went to a hermit and asked how he could serve this Christ. When the hermit suggested fasting and prayer, Christopher replied that he was unable to per- form that service. The hermit then suggested that because of his size and strength, Christopher could serve Christ by assisting people to cross a dangerous river, where they were perishing in the attempt. The hermit promised that this service would be pleasing to Christ. Acts of Kindness - Ken Moran As I begin serving the Queen of Apostles “family” as the Community Coordinator, I am reminded how lucky we are the Lord steered us to such a wonderful community. We have lived in many places, and been part of dozens of parishes, big and small, city and rural, tradi- tional and progressive. None have found the same secret sauce that QAC holds … its unique sense of community and giving and the self-sacrifice nature of its members. The selfless way QAC members behave, week in and week out, remind me of the story about “Random Acts of Kindness” which I am sharing below. I have no doubt that we will tackle many problems and issues over the next two years, but I have only one goal: to continue kin- dling the spirit of kindness that makes QAC so unique. I look forward to every member helping me with this goal, each in your own way. Yours in God, Ken Moran Random Acts of Kindness (-- Author Unknown --) A young man was driving home one evening. Ever since the factory closed, he'd been unemployed. It was starting to get dark and light snow flurries were coming down. He almost didn't see the old lady, stranded on the side of the road. But even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His car was still sputtering when he approached her. Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help, for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe. He looked poor and hun- gry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you. He said, "I'm here to help you Ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan." August 2014 (continued on page 4) (continued on page 8)
10
Embed
August 2014 - Queen of Apostles Communityqac-ohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Spirit_201408.pdf · Peace Museum "Quilting the Golden Rule" exhibit and optional Well Ruby, Frances
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Monthly Saint Article St. Christopher – The Patron Saint of Trav-
elers, by Marilyn Nagle
Because I have had a special devotion to
St. Christopher since I was a child, Katie
asked me to feature him in this month's
Spirit. Many of you may remember that, prior to 1970, St.
Christopher was a very popular saint with travelers. Many
families would have a little statue or medal in the car for
safe travels. My family was no exception. St. Christopher
became more than a medal in the car to our family because
of an incident that happened when we were returning from
an outing on Memorial Day. There were seven of us in the
car, my mother, father, grandmother, two brothers, a sister
and me, when another car hit our car broadside with such
impact it sent us sideways across the two lane highway
into a telephone pole. Despite the fact that our car was
completely demolished, all of us survived with no perma-
nent injuries. To us, it was a miracle and St. Christopher
got most of the credit.
A great deal of what has been
written about St. Christopher
is legendary, and according
to that legend, he was ini-
tially called Reprobus and
lived in the third century dur-
ing the reign of Emperor
Decius.He was a Canaanite
and was believed to be 7 feet
5 inches tall and with a fear-
some face. While serving the
King of Canaan, he took it
into his head to go and serve
“the greatest king there was.”
His search led him to seek
out the Christ whom many seemed to believe was this king
he was looking for. He went to a hermit and asked how he
could serve this Christ. When the hermit suggested fasting
and prayer, Christopher replied that he was unable to per-
form that service. The hermit then suggested that because
of his size and strength, Christopher could serve Christ by
assisting people to cross a dangerous river, where they
were perishing in the attempt. The hermit promised that
this service would be pleasing to Christ.
Acts of Kindness
- Ken Moran
As I begin serving the Queen of Apostles
“family” as the Community Coordinator,
I am reminded how lucky we are the
Lord steered us to such a wonderful
community. We have lived in many places, and been part
of dozens of parishes, big and small, city and rural, tradi-
tional and progressive. None have found the same secret
sauce that QAC holds … its unique sense of community
and giving and the self-sacrifice nature of its members.
The selfless way QAC members behave, week in and
week out, remind me of the story about “Random Acts of
Kindness” which I am sharing below. I have no doubt
that we will tackle many problems and issues over the
next two years, but I have only one goal: to continue kin-
dling the spirit of kindness that makes QAC so unique. I
look forward to every member helping me with this goal,
each in your own way.
Yours in God,
Ken Moran
Random Acts of Kindness (-- Author Unknown --)
A young man was driving home one evening. Ever since
the factory closed, he'd been unemployed. It was starting
to get dark and light snow flurries were coming down. He
almost didn't see the old lady, stranded on the side of the
road. But even in the dim light of day, he could see she
needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and
got out. His car was still sputtering when he approached
her.
Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one
had stopped to help, for the last hour or so. Was he going
to hurt her? He didn't look safe. He looked poor and hun-
gry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out
there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill
which only fear can put in you. He said, "I'm here to help
you Ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's
warm? By the way, my name is Bryan."
August 2014
(continued on page 4) (continued on page 8)
Social Justice
School Supply Collection and
Continued Support Needs for
School Children
QAC’s annual school supply collec-
tion this year will benefit the Dakota Center, one of the 12
agencies QAC supports. Dakota Center, 33 Barnett St.,
Dayton, OH 45402 is a community center supported by
the Marianists for 49 years. www.dakotacenter.org Any
school supply item will be accepted: pens, paper, note-
books, backpacks etc Please bring contributions to the
vestibule. Social justice folks will deliver to the Center. If
you see children’s gloves on sale, we will collect and save
for that day in winter when gloves start disappearing from
children’s pockets and school bags. Another one of life’s
mysteries.
Please consider volunteering to read to students in the
Homework Club at the Dakota Center or at Ruskin Ele-
mentary School. This helps tremendously in improving
reading scores required of third graders for advancement.
This prayer was offered during the Good Friday Walk this
spring. Standing in front of the Dayton Metro Library, it
was observed: “ many of our young people are unable to
read and comprehend the books in this building. In our
libraries and in our houses of worship, we can teach our
children that reading is the key to gaining knowledge…
State legislation mandates that children who are not profi-
cient readers by third grade be retained…Only 4% of pro-
ficient readers don’t graduate. For children who were
poor for at least a year and not reading proficiently, fail-
ure to graduate rises to 26% and for those in chronic pov-
erty, the proportion jumps to35%.”
God, our Father and Mother, through your Son, Jesus, you
have taught us to love and care for the children in our
midst. Show us how we can step forward to help them in
their learning process so they may become successful and
productive citizens in our world. Amen
Update on Funds for Victims of Typhoon Hai-
yan in the Philippines
Following the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan in
the Philippines that costed thousands of lives and dis-
placed millions of families, QAC generously contributed
money to help the victims. The funds were made out to
QAC and directly to Nimfa Simpson. Nimfa and Jack
Simpson also collected from friends, relatives and stu-
dents. As previously reported in the March 2014
article, the funds were allocated as follows:
Relatives of Dennis Hernit and Susan Fraker
whose homes were destroyed and required re-
building.
Fely Ramos and family who lost two brothers,
a sister in law and a nephew. The funds were dis-
bursed through Nimfa’s family to give directly to
the victim. St. Scholastica School and Hospital. This is a
school operated by the Benedictine nuns that was
completely destroyed. The school lost many of
its staff and students.
In June, additional funds in the amount of
$500.00 were disbursed to the family of Fely
Ramos to help with the tuition of the children or-
phaned by the death of two sets of parents and to
help Fely with her household needs.
A Side Note from Chris Sitko:
Most people don't know that back in 1912, Hellmann's
Mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the
Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment
scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which
was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its
stop in New York. This would have been the largest
single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mex-
ico. But, as we know, the great ship did not make it to
New York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank. The peo-
ple of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise, and
were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at
the loss. Their anguish was so great, that they declared
a National Day of Mourning. It occurs each year on
May 5 and is known, of course, as - Sinko De Mayo.