Pray…Fast…give alms:
The list of grassroots groups you folks helped compile last month
Other groups we’ve mentioned:
And you know, there are undoubtedly free clinics in your area, crisis pregnancy centers, a St. Vincent de Paul Society…and much else.
From a reader, two more, both in Massachusetts :
Visitation House is close to my heart because it was a project envisioned by Ruth Pakaluk, first wife of Michael Pakaluk, now deceased, an extraordinarily holy woman and a blessing to all who knew her (well, except for the prochoice crowd in Massachusetts). It’s up and running, offering desperately needed housing to pregnant women. Like all such organizations, could use funds, goods, and volunteer time.
A Woman’s Concern does the toughest job in Boston. Money will help keep them there (in their many locations) , diapers will keep their clients’ babies happy, and time will save more babies for the diapers.
Moving on to the "prayer" part –an article from the Chicago Archdiocesan paper on a Byzantine Catholic Lenten practice:
Instead of praying for the departed on Nov. 2, All Souls Day in the Roman Catholic Church, Byzantine Catholics pray for them after the Divine Liturgy on all the Saturdays of Lent, explained Father Thomas Loya, pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption Byzantine Catholic Church in Homer Glen.
The practice reflects the idea that the essential nature of Christ’s death and resurrection is love, said Loya.
“Lent brings us to the ultimate Christian mystery, the mystery of death and resurrection, and also the mystery that God is the God of the living and the dead. … We pray for the deceased because the goodness of the world has been tainted by sin and death,” said Loya. “That divides us. Charity—love—is based in being united with one another, and how better can we express our unity than by praying for the good of their souls? It is part of the proof of how the church remembers them; we never forget anybody, and we are always with them. We pray for them as an act of charity.”
The practice also has a celebratory element, with the dead remembered at a funeral service that follows the Saturday Divine Liturgy. The Divine Liturgy is similar to the Mass, in that it is the Byzantine eucharistic banquet, Loya said, and it is not celebrated on weekdays during Lent.
“Saturdays are still a part of Lent, but they are like a stopover on our Lenten journey,” Loya said. “They are still the Sabbath, the seventh day when God rested, so we rest in our Lenten journey.”
Finally, speaking of prayers and speaking of almsgiving…Alabama. If anyone knows of any particular groups that are taking donations or assistance (in addition to the Red Cross), please let us know.
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