Keeping
Faith
Betty Sodomka-Daly began
Transitions eight years ago to help women deal with what she calls the
unrecognized spiritual violence of abortion.
The program, which is part of the Respect Life office of the
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., archdiocese, helps women who have had abortions
work through the emotional pain of their experience through one-on-one
counseling, group therapy and peer support groups.
When they find they can have their self-esteem restored and
accept responsibility for the abortion, its freeing, said
Sodomka-Daly, a parishioner at Mary Mother of the Church in Burnsville, Minn.
Were very clear that judgmentalism does not have a place in this
program.
The example of Jesus and what he
asks us to do compels Peter Trebtoske to help others. If one
adheres to the gospels, one can hardly avoid volunteering, he said.
Trebtoske, 65, has been giving his time as a respite care
volunteer through a Catholic Charities program that provides relief for
caregivers of the homebound and ill. The first two men Trebtoske helped had
Alzheimers disease and in the end went to a nursing home and died there.
I became close friends not only with them for as much as they could
communicate, but also with the spouses, said Trebtoske, a member of the
Basilica of St. Mary Parish in Minneapolis.
The man he helps now is a little bit more
cantankerous, he said. But we get along fine, and we hug at the end
of the night.
Mari Cleary says she shares
the gift of hospitality as coordinator of Our Lady of Peace
Parishs participation in a program that provides shelter for the
homeless. The Darien, Ill., parish staffs the PADS (Public Action to Deliver
Shelter) site on the third Tuesday of every month.
Cleary works for two weeks before the Tuesday night, creating
menus for the three meals the shelter will provide. She calls dozens of
volunteers from the parish, assigning them food to buy and prepare. When the
day arrives, she arrives at the shelter at about 3:30 in the afternoon and
leaves the next morning at about 8:30, with a four-hour break to sleep. She
oversees set-up, serving the guests and clean up, and offers counseling.
I see Christ so vividly in everyone I come in contact
with, Cleary said.
Send suggestions for Keeping Faith to Teresa Malcolm at
NCR. Her e-mail is tmalcolm@natcath.org
National Catholic Reporter, December 3,
1999
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