Serving and Sharing, One Meal at a Time

The Bible extols the virtue of love in scripture passages like “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18). The words in this verse shine brightly as Bishop Ryan students embrace the opportunity to volunteer and feed the hungry on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month.
  Beginning last week, older BR students are volunteering to prepare sack dinners, then serve them outside of St. Leo the Great Roman Catholic Church on select evenings. BR elementary students have been helping, too, by coloring pictures of Jesus, Mother Mary, and other worthy depictions of Christ’s love that are placed on the front of each package. Christmas Eve will be more of a special event, with a traditional meal catered by Homesteaders Restaurant from 12pm to 1:30pm.
  With the students on the giving end and the local community in need receiving, the students experience a love for others that is deeply immersed in a growing demand for adolescent volunteerism and a greater connection to God’s community. Bridging the gap between Bishop Ryan students and the local community through the soup kitchen appears to be intrinsically rewarding; when we help others, we tend to experience Christ’s love. “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:35).

           

On Thursday, one of the very first soup kitchen visitors asked the students if they would pray with him. They stood in a circle and let him lead them in prayer. Not only did he embrace our students with warmth and kindness, but he also led them in humble, selfless prayer for those affected by the pandemic. He articulated the collective aspiration to help others, focusing on what we all genuinely care about and the change we are trying to make because we want to, not because we need to. As the evening wrapped up, the students were warmed by something bigger than the December chill: the commitment they wanted to make to the truth, His truth, wherever possible. 

Volunteering with and for others helps build a support system based on our commitment to God. Through a shared vision, we can help our students recognize and manage the complexity that this world brings, while zealously reminding them that God is greater than any worldly system or force at play, including poverty and suffering. By creating an environment where our students can work together effectively, they can use whatever gift they have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God’s grace.

Inspired minds. Faithful Hearts. Lives of Virtue.

Submitted by Samantha Bryans, Soup Kitchen Coordinator