By Cindy O’Connor
‘Whoever cares for the poor lends to the LORD, who will pay back the sum in full.’ —–Proverbs 19:17
In just a few weeks we will be celebrating Easter, what a blessed time of the year! Bright wonderful colors will reappear, beautiful flowers and landscapes of green will soon be in our gardens and yards.
The Lenten season provides us 40-days of spiritual preparation before Easter and is an opportunity for us to do a ‘spring cleaning of our souls’ as we take time to reflect, repent, and renew the intentionality of our Christian lives.
During this time of year, we not only strive to revive our spirituality, but we also focus on tidying up our physical spaces. Nothing makes me feel more alert than sitting near a window and seeing the sun shining. However, as the sunlight brightens up our homes, offices, and classrooms, we see all the dust and clutter that needs to be removed, thus our spring cleaning begins!
When we declutter items that hinder our spiritual growth we get to see the Light of Christ. Cleaning our physical spaces where we live, work, and play allows us to make room for new experiences, and it feels good to be free of soiled distractions.
Catholic Charities is encouraging churches, schools, and parish ministries to participate in our annual Spring Supply Drive to help our community neighbors, friends and senior population that are struggling financially. A few examples of in-kind items would include toilet paper, paper towels, dish soap, hygiene and cleaning products. Make the best of your BOGO (buy one, get one) deals by giving one and keeping one.
Please check out our Flyer that includes suggested items and an Information Sheet to return to Lisa Fellabaum (lfellabaum@dioceseaj.org), Outreach Program Director for Catholic Charities. As always, your generosity is so much appreciated.
Cindy O’Connor is the Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.
