Service and Outreach – Page 3 – St. John – St. Paul Catholic Collaborative

Thank You from Capuchin Mobile Ministries!

The Capuchin Franciscans of the Province of St. Mary wish to thank everyone at the St. John -St. Paul Collaborative for their generosity to Capuchin Mobile Ministries in their Lenten Gift of over $33,000.

With grateful hearts, we received the parish gift at the end of April. We also received contacts for potential volunteers who will 1) accompany the friar chaplains on our outreach trips and 2) make sandwiches for the outreach trips. May God richly bless you for your support. We want you to know that your assistance has already borne fruit! Your gift has enabled us to assign more friars to the chaplaincy team…

Thank You for Supporting Pregnancy Help Boston!

A very big thank you to all parishioners for your generous response to our “Baby Shower” for Pregnancy Help Boston last month. You donated enough diapers, bottles, pacifiers, baby wash, lotion, Desitin, newborn outfits, bibs, and hooded towels to fill 2 (!) large SUVs to the brim (and then some!). The staff at Pregnancy Help was overwhelmed at the amount of donations — and so very thankful for your generosity.

A special thanks for the hand-knitted items…

Praying for Peace this Mother’s Day – A Message from Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem

This Mother’s Day, the staff of Holy Family Hospital of Bethlehem, the beneficiary of our Collaborative’s Advent Gift collection last December, asks for your prayers for peace and strength. Many thanks to Fr. Jim and to our parishioners for your generosity during that collection, which raised over $29,000 – representing the 3rd largest second-collection in the U.S. for Holy Family Hospital last year…

Since Advent, anxiety and hunger among Bethlehem’s expectant mothers have continued to skyrocket, jeopardizing their and their children’s health. The ongoing absence of pilgrims and tourists has meant soaring unemployment, poverty, and lack of food. Anxiety over family insecurity has been exacerbated by increased roadblocks during the day, challenges or preclusion of nighttime travel, and thundering of military might in distant skies…

THIS WEEKEND, May 11-12! Baby Shower to Support “Pregnancy Help Boston”

This weekend our Collaborative is hosting a “Baby Shower” to collect items for Pregnancy Help Boston, a pregnancy resource center supported through the Archdiocese of Boston, whose mission is to provide compassionate, practical, life-affirming alternatives for women facing crisis pregnancies…

Would you consider providing an item from the “registry” below for our Collaborative Baby Shower for Pregnancy Help Boston? See below…

May 11-12: Baby Shower to Support “Pregnancy Help Boston”

Our Collaborative will be hosting a “Baby Shower” to collect items for Pregnancy Help Boston, a pregnancy resource center supported through the Archdiocese of Boston, whose mission is to provide compassionate, practical, life-affirming alternatives for women facing crisis pregnancies…

Would you consider providing an item from the “registry” below for our Collaborative Baby Shower for Pregnancy Help Boston? See below…

Feed a Child at NPH Today! Special Collection April 27-28

Since 2017, our Collaborative has been a part of the Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) family, helping to transform the lives of vulnerable children throughout Latin America and the Caribbean through the generous support and sponsorship of our parishioners…

Each day, NPH provides nutritious meals and food baskets for 8,000 children and adults who might not otherwise eat. At every main home for children, NPH offers a sustainable farming option which helps harvest 15-30% of the food needed at that home. The remaining food needed must be purchased, which costs $2 million annually.

To continue helping in the vital work of NPH, our Collaborative will be taking up a special second collection at Masses on April 27- 28 to help fill a deficit gap in NPH’s food program…

Attention Volunteers! April is CORI Renewal Month

Each year in the Spring, all staff and volunteers age 18 and older (including Eucharistic ministers and lectors, choir members and musicians, members of councils and commissions, ushers and counters, other Mass volunteers, etc.) must complete an annual Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) background screening (except for Religious Education and Youth Ministry volunteers who complete their screening in the early Fall), as mandated by civil and Archdiocese of Boston authorities…

Home Visits

Perhaps you (or someone you know) isn’t able to travel to Mass each weekend and would like a visit from a Eucharistic Minister? Or would benefit from a social visit at the holidays or on a weekly or monthly basis? Or might be interested in a pastoral visit from a parish member or member of the Collaborative staff?

To help us gauge interest and build our list, interested individuals are invited to visit the Collaborative website…

March 16-17: Our 2024 Collaborative Lenten Gift Collection for Capuchin Mobile Ministries

During Lent, the Service Commission has shared the story of Capuchin Mobile Ministries and the Capuchin friars who sponsor and staff the program – how it is born out of their charism of deep commitment to humble service with and for all people, put into action through spiritual caregiving to those on the streets…

Capuchin Mobile Ministries needs our financial support to continue this important work. Our Collaborative Lenten Gift will help fund the ongoing needs of the ministry, including the coffee, snacks, and other supplies that are distributed, as well as the ongoing gas, maintenance, and repair costs for the outreach van. Our financial support will also help to grow the ministry by helping to provide funding for more chaplains and administrative help. Volunteer support is also critical. Volunteers (age 16+) are needed to go on outreach trips, and to organize collection drives and sandwich making (all ages)…

Telling the Story Part 2: The Work – A Ministry of Accompaniment

The work of Capuchin Mobile Ministries is spiritual caregiving to our friends on the streets, those who are chronically homeless, hungry not only for food for their bodies but for things of the spirit – to feel part of the community. The focus is on being a ministry of presence, of building relationships, of showing people that they are not alone.

Friars and volunteers go out in the Mobile Ministries van several times a week to locations in Cambridge and Boston where the homeless congregate, sharing food and drink, offering spiritual resources and directing them to social services, and listening to and praying with them…