Once again, our Advent Giving Trees are in our parish’s vestibule and atrium, replete with envelopes noting our beneficiaries for this year’s charitable giving: the Knights of Malta House of Care and our parish’s own Neighbors in Need fund. 

 St. Catherine of Siena Parish has a long tradition of being a generous and compassionate people. She has long supported the local residents of the greater Hartford area with needs from food insufficiencies, to help with electricity bills, to heat in the cold winter, to repairs for the automobiles so they can continue to work and more. We are a parish with a ministerial heart, and while in the difficult economy of today, we continue to illustrate the heart of Christ in our collective actions.

How can we all help this Advent? 

Our Neighbors in Need (NIN) fund, initiated by a couple in our parish who felt blessed and wanted to pay-it-forward began years ago, when they donated stock TO create the fund and seed it with money to keep it going as well as to encourage others to help in the individual ways possible. The goal of the NIN fund was to keep it sustainable for the future and not to spend their initial donation all at once but rather create a sustainable ministry. As the Lord said—and I paraphrase—it is not only the poor we shall with us always…but also that rough times can fall upon anyone. Perhaps that is why the old saying, “…there but for the grace of God go I…” has so much truth to it.

 To date, our NIN fund has helped our local community neighbors in many ways from providing gift cards to grocery stores, in offering assistance with utility bills, repairing automobiles, in assisting with medical bills and other household expenses. These are normally emergencies when a sudden illness occurs or when unanticipated unemployment happens. Moreover, as is our Catholic tradition, we help without fanfare in the spirit of realizing the importance of human dignity being protected. As all of us currently struggle with ever-increasing prices at the supermarket, in costs of renting or homeownership or at the gas pumps, the NIN fund remains a constant source of help to our neighbors thanks to the charity of the people of St. Catherine of Siena.

The Knights of Malta House of Care began under the leadership of then-Archbishop (now Emeritus) Henry J. Mansell. He and others in the business and medical lay community came together to meet an ever-growing need: healthcare for the poor and the uninsured workers. Many hardworking folks carrying two or more jobs still cannot pay for health insurance. The Knights of Malta House of Care provides high-quality healthcare form doctors, nurses and other medical practitioners to ensure diagnosis and ongoing treatment—from mammograms to diabetes screening, to cardiology and prenatal care, and to so much more…including referral for surgeries. This all began with the design and coordination of mobile medical vans and medical professionals going out into the community where the uninsured live.

 Archbishop Leonard Blair, working with the Dames and Knights of Malta, expanded the medical care outreach from mobile vans in the community to include a stationary site, located behind the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford, comprised of a medical facility with patient rooms, supplies and medical equipment as well as a well-stocked food shelter.

 Historically and today, since we started in 2006, we have provided over 76,000 patient visits. In 2023, as of September 30, total patient visits amounted to 3,616; individual patients seen: 1,156 (more individual patients than all of 2022); 67% of our patients are female; 33% of our patients are male. The top three age ranges are: 30% are 50-59 years old; 25% are 40-49 years old; and, 19% are 60-69 years old.

 Our patients reside in 72 different Connecticut zip codes, come from over 56 countries and speak 27+ languages. So far, in fall of 2023, we have given over 350 flu vaccines to our patients. As you can see, this one, Catholic non-profit healthcare ministry has quite a large impact on providing care to the poor and working class in the greater Hartford area.

 So this Advent, I ask you once again to consider making a charitable donation to the Advent Giving Tree, for either the Neighbors in Need fund or the Knights of Malta or both. Your gift, no matter the size, when collected together with all our parishioners, will have a last impact on someone’s financial and home needs, or their health. It will have an immediate impact: feeding the hungry, making Christmas happen for a small child, caring for someone’s medical needs, for sure. But, it will also have a long-term impact when someone we don’t even know and might not meet, will realize that the world is not just about selfishness or indifference as seen each night on the news. However, they will come to feel the love of Christ in their very midst, in their homes and in their very being.

 May God bless you and your loved ones with His grace and favor! In addition, may He lead us to use those blessings to bless one another. Happy and Blessed Advent, and may the coming Christmas season be filled with Himself in-and-through you.