Latest Blog Posts

Return of the Sun

I greeted Monday March 20th by placing Neil Young & Crazy’s Horse’s “Rust Never Sleeps” on my turntable. It along with many other albums I find too depressing had been vacant from my listening routine for the last six dark months.  With Monday’s return of equal day and light; the vernal equinox, I enjoyed my breakfast while listening to “My My, Hey Hey.” Certainly even with the return of the sun Mr. Young can be pretty bleak listening, but I always look forward to the return after his exile. Much as I might enjoy living in a place like California, I wonder if I would enjoy the sun as much, if it had not been banished for so many months, would the sun feel as warm if I didn’t have the contrast of the low dark days of winter.

Joyful Service

As you know one of the values of the Capuchin Mission is that of “joyful service”.  It may mean different things to different people, but I like what it says it means, “Respectfully addressing people’s needs, transforming all.” The Apostle Paul writes to us in 2 Corinthians 9:7, “God loves a cheerful giver.” This is one of my favorite passages of Scriptures, because it reminds us that when we give of our time, self, money or whatever, we should be happy to do it. Not grudgingly or unhappily, but pleasing God by being happy to give.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

For several years now at the Meldrum site of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen we have tried to really focus on the weeks of Advent (the forty days leading up to Christmas) as a time of expectancy, hope, and waiting. The tree enjoys a place of prominence in the dining room, but undecorated and unlighted. The scripture readings from the Prophet Isaiah used at prayer sessions are filled with hope and longing for a better life, not only for the people of biblical times, but for our Soup Kitchen guests as well.  We try to counter the commercial frenzy of the season with an emphasis on cleansing our hearts and making room for the coming of our God.

Happy Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving season as I enter into my final weeks as Executive Director of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, my heart is filled to overflowing for all I have experienced in this position during the past eleven and a half years. I have been forever changed by the people I have met.

First of all, I am grateful for the guests of the Soup Kitchen, who have taught me about poverty, racism, faith, and gratitude. (“How are you this morning?” I ask, as I arrive for another day of work.  “I’m blessed,” is the inevitable response. “I woke up this morning.”  I know full well that they might have woken up in a cold, abandoned house—but they are “blessed.” What a lesson for me.