Mariposa's Little Flowers group (with St. Matthew School) took a field trip to our local temporary homeless shelter. The SOS shelter runs for 3 months at a local mega-church, and it serves a group of about 40 adults (mostly men) by providing dinner, breakfast, and a warm place to sleep.
 |
| ~The St. Matthew Little Flowers group~ (grammae was able to come with us on this field trip, too) |
The guests must register at the beginning of the season, and once approved they can come each night through the 3 months. They each get a sleeping bag that stays on site, and lots and lots of food. Most of the guests must skip any kind of lunch, so they eat a lot for dinner (always 2nds!) and breakfast, and take some food with them for the daytime. Our tour guide was excellent in describing what a day would be like for these homeless people...walking around town, hanging out in the library, etc. She really painted a clear picture what it would be like to be homeless. She explained that it is a ~choice~ for many of the guests, but not for all of them. There were also some "success" stories of guests who got back on their feet and now are volunteers at the shelter!
 |
 |
| The large common area where the meals are served, and for social time before and after dinner. |
What: A club for Catholic girls centered on learning and applying the virtues through the lives of the Saints and outreaching the community through service work.
Why: To provide Catholic girls an opportunity to gather and learn about their Catholic heritage, faith and traditions. To give them tools to better ascertain themselves as they develop into Catholic women.
The Program:
Each meeting is centered on the teaching of a virtue, to each virtue is associated a flower and a color, think of the colors as threads that are used to make a cloth of virtues.
During the meeting the girls will hear, read, share and learn about our role model -- the Blessed Virgin Mary, our patroness—St. Therese of Lisieux and Conchita (Concepcion Cabrera de Armida) our co-patronesses; saints of the Church, women in religious life, and their own mothers.
The girls will gain a strong self-esteem in being young Catholic girls as well as gain friendships that will support their own beliefs.
Why: To provide Catholic girls an opportunity to gather and learn about their Catholic heritage, faith and traditions. To give them tools to better ascertain themselves as they develop into Catholic women.
The Program:
Each meeting is centered on the teaching of a virtue, to each virtue is associated a flower and a color, think of the colors as threads that are used to make a cloth of virtues.
During the meeting the girls will hear, read, share and learn about our role model -- the Blessed Virgin Mary, our patroness—St. Therese of Lisieux and Conchita (Concepcion Cabrera de Armida) our co-patronesses; saints of the Church, women in religious life, and their own mothers.
The girls will gain a strong self-esteem in being young Catholic girls as well as gain friendships that will support their own beliefs.
It is a special group indeed! My girls have moved up to little women :)
ReplyDelete