Jesus the Homeless

  "  At Christmas time several years ago, Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz noticed a homeless person a corner in downtown Toronto, so wrapped up in a sleeping bag to keep warm that he couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman. This is Jesus was Schmalz' first reaction.

   The Catholic artist decided to create a bronze sculpture of the tired Jesus, wrapped in a blanket except for his feet.  Despite the artist's hope to place a homeless Jesus in every major city, the statue had difficulty finding a home.  In Schmalz' home Diocese of Toronto, st. Michael's Cathedral declined to accept the statue.  St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York also turned it down.

   But when Pope Francis blessed the sculpture at one of his weekly general audiences and called it a "beautiful piece of art:, interest in the bronze sculpture increased.

   Today the Jesus the Homeless statue (which is based on Chapter 25 of Matthew) can be found in several locations, including Chicago, Rome, North Carolina and at the University of Toronto's Regis College."

This Lent - can we find Jesus the Homeless in our thoughts and what we do for those in need?

(1.)  from The Little Black Book, Six-minute meditations on the Passion according to Luke

PMC and the FoodBank

The Akron/Canton Regional FoodBank is somewhat a "silent partner" with PMC. While we are truly blessed with five parishes and one private organization providing meals, and contributions from various churches,  the provisions we draw from the FoodBank are critical to rounding out our meals and keeping our food costs low.

How low from the FoodBank  in year 2014? 

*  our average cost on all purchases was .10 per pound.

*  our total cost for all provisions was 6.7 cents on the dollar.

Our overall stats:

Meals served:  16,459  (year 2013 10,000). This includes our meals served in the Dinning Hall, meals to our tented citizens on Saturday and Thursday meals to the Miller Avenue Youth Program.

These statistics are important only because of the team of volunteers who prepare for and put the meals together.

Who are they:  Tom Smith, managing the kitchen; Don Roese, Mickey Mader and Dawn Hosick coordinating the selection of provisions needed, and placing and picking up the orders each week.

So .. praise God for the wonderful resource of the Akron/Canton Regional FoodBank. When you receive a plea in the mail asking for support of this non-profit organization, please consider a donation.

Joe May

Chairman