Fruitful Fridays

Life in Flint has not ceased to be fantastic. Even our days off (Fridays) are filled with fruitful transformation. Two weeks ago, we joined the Ypsilanti cousins in Detroit for the day. To start off, Ed Conlin allowed us all to sit in on an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting at the Capuchin Soup Kitchen. Very moving stories were shared, which made for a very amazing experience. One woman absolutely blew my mind and I am so grateful that she was able to share her story with us and others. She could have produced a touching story relying solely on her experiences being abused as a child, I’m sure, but the fact that it happened was all that was mentioned. Previously a crack addict, one night she was hit in the back with a fire bomb; pronounced dead for 36 minutes. I can’t even imagine how the medical examiner felt when she sat up on the table in the morgue. 76% of her body had been severely burned. After returning back to life, she was in a coma for 2 ½ months. They were not expecting her to survive, and thought if she did, she’d be a vegetable. What a miracle! Although she got out of a fatal experience alive, she resorted back to the crack. Then, four years later, she was tortured. Someone intended to kill her via fire and she was lit up for quite some time. In response to her calm reaction, the torturer eventually put it out and apologized. Her feelings of shame for being treated in the hospital for burns a second time woke her up and she has been clean for the six years since the incident. This woman gave so much hope to all of us. She had gone through so much and found what was really meaningful in life. Finding a relationship with God enabled her to work through her struggles and use her story to inspire others.

After the meeting, we were able to join the community for the lunch that was served. After asking permission, I sat with a woman sitting alone at a table. She said she was doing well, but proceeded to close her eyes and they were fluttering a bit. Her mouth was also pursed. It was apparent that she was struggling with something, so I again asked her if everything was all right. She admitted that it wasn’t, but that she just wanted to get her food and leave. I didn’t want to push her to share, but made sure she knew I was more than willing to listen if she changed her mind. I was hopeful that she would change her mind, but that never happened. A man came to sit at the table and the three of us conversed a little bit. The guy was hesitant, but she did manage to get a dollar from him. When it was our turn to get food, the guy didn’t return right away and I saw him standing next to various different tables across the room. Because of this, I was feeling nervous; for I told another person in line planning to sit there that someone was already sitting in that place. I felt like a liar for a while, but he did ultimately return. When he did come back, he had no tray, but three pieces of [delicious] cake wrapped up. He informed us that he had sold his meal to someone else for $2.50. This blew my mind and I did not want this man to go without food. Because I’m spoiled with food access and I was concerned, I offered him what was left on my tray. I’d only already eaten the salad and about half of the vegetable salad. He declined my offer and half-mumbled something about planning to eat at home. I wasn’t convinced, but we were abruptly interrupted. The woman had gotten upset and said to the man, “I don’t know who this person is, but if you sat at my table you can talk to me. But if you two are going to talk to each other, you can go sit somewhere else.” Somewhat shocked, we quieted down and continued eating. He eventually left, so it was back to just the woman and me. When I was ready to dump my tray, I still had a piece of bread I wasn’t planning to eat. Although afraid to talk to her at that point, I offered the slice to her. She pulled out her bag of pens and asked if I wanted to buy one for a dollar. I didn’t. She told me, “If you don’t want a pen, then I don’t need your bread.” I had no idea how to respond and can’t really remember how I actually did. After dumping my tray, I awkwardly returned back to my spot and drank my Capri Sun.

At that point, two men at the table next to me started talking to me. It was difficult to hear across the tables and I was afraid to upset the woman again, so I moved over to their table. I was able to share information about CUP with them and they made fun of me for being from North Dakota. It was a lot of fun and a relieving change of environment. Although the experience with the woman was difficult and I had no idea how to react the whole time, I’m glad it happened. So many of the people we have encountered so far have been incredibly open, but we can’t forget about those who aren’t. They are in much deeper need for our love, so we surely can’t exclude them because they are more difficult to reach. From this whole experience, I have gained a greater appreciation for people. Everybody has endured so much in their lives and all of our experiences are so different. You can never tell where anyone is coming from and we are in no position to judge where they might be coming from.

--Mikayla

Urban Renewal

Father Gary McGinnis presided over Mass today at St. Michael's. He also presided over the Mass we attended on Friday at the Genesee County Jail. When he ministers at the jail, he uses the readings from the following Sunday. So on both Friday and today, our group heard the readings for the fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time. For that reason, Fr. McGinnis told us on Friday that the homily for Sunday would be similar, almost the same -- so it would have been easy to be inattentive because of the familiarity.

The readings are about hope and renewal, and our growth in faith (Isaiah 55:10-11, Romans 8:18-23, Matthew 13:1-23). Those themes were wonderfully apparent throughout today's Mass, beautifully relevant for the St. Michael parish, and thoughtfully related by Fr. McGinnis in the homily. In fact, I would say even my understanding of his homily was renewed; even though I heard it just on Friday, the message was completely renewed and I was re-inspired. I can't say enough how beautiful that is.

St. Michael's has a reputation as a dying parish in Flint. It's the mother parish of Genesee County, founded in 1843, and the popular prognosis is that a shrinking congregation and the absence of a dedicated pastor signal the end of the parish, like several others in Flint that have already closed. Fr. McGinnis emphatically challenged that notion, intertwining Christ's parable of the Sower and the Seed with his assertion that St. Michael's can begin anew. And he pointed out that renewal at St. Michael's can't happen without the congregation's willingness to change.

At this point in the homily, Fr. McGinnis asked something of the parish that was an astonishingly simple request, an obvious suggestion, but something that threatens the comfort of one's habits -- something that was challenging and uncomfortable to put into practice. He asked the congregation to move closer together -- to congregate. To sit with each other, as a community, in the first few rows of pews.

There were perhaps sixty people spread throughout the sanctuary. They looked a little astonished, and but almost everyone agreed to move. And the sense of community, of togetherness, immediately increased.

In today's Gospel, Christ says the the seeds in rich soil "produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold" (Matthew 13:8). After the congregation moved together, its "Amen" and its other responses through the rest of the Mass resounded louder and longer throughout the sanctuary -- as if the community, or at least its sense of togetherness, had increased thirtyfold. The rest of Mass felt noticeably more joyful, more intentional. It was beautiful. Hopefully it's another step toward renewal at St. Michael's.

At the conclusion of Mass, a couple celebrating forty years of marriage received a blessing for the anniversary. The husband and wife professed their vows again, firmly promising their continued love, and demonstrating that today's message of renewal carries hope not only for a parish community, but also for two individuals.

You should come to St. Michael's some time.

Completed Puzzle

These past three and a half weeks have been unreal, but we’ve finally gotten a taste of every aspect of the program. The last piece of the puzzle, children’s camp, began for us on Tuesday. We arrived at Saint Mary’s just after 8am and joined the campers who had already arrived. A handful of kids opened up to us almost immediately and gruesome injury stories were shared over breakfast. After a time of open gym and a game of sharks and minnows, the campers split up into two groups. They then rotated amongst Greg and Michelle’s sports and games, Nick and Linda’s classroom, and the mystery activity led by James and me. We chose to start the camp off with oobleck, a gooey liquid substance that becomes a solid once pressure is applied. If you’ve never made it, you must! All you need is corn starch and water; and food coloring if you get extra adventurous. It went over very well. The kids, and even the teen leaders, were pretty amazed by it. Before we had started, we warned them that we were going to be making a mess. One of the girls said she didn’t want to do it because she didn’t want it on her clothes, but by the end, she was requesting that the oobleck be poured on her. Overall, it was a great activity to start out with and I think we gained the kids’ trust that our session will entertain them. When all of the sessions were completed and all remnants of oobleck had disappeared, it was time for their lunch. One of the girls taught me a clapping game and we sang some Justin Bieber together. When it was time for us to leave, she gave me a hug and would not let go. It took me a while to release from her grip, but it was so precious.

We work at the children’s camp in the morning hours every Tuesday-Thursday. As our bonds with the children grow, camp becomes more enjoyable each day. After their lunch, we attend mass at Saint Matthew’s, go home and eat our own lunch, and then go off to our respective non-profit organizations. Every part of the program has been going very well and I can’t wait for all that we’re going to experience this summer. It’s never been more apparent to me that I’m doing what God has asked of me. This confidence stemming from my trust in God has assisted me in making it through the struggles I have faced so far this summer. Another big help has been my fellow community members, so wonderful and caring. I’ve never been one to open up, but I think these four may know more about me than I do. Each of them has, in some way, helped me deal with issues I’ve been struggling with for years and I am very grateful for their help. I’m a pretty joyful person, but I don’t think I’ve ever been happier. My hometown was just attacked by nature, which has added some stress, but I know that God will take care of my people. If you’ve been watching the news at all, you may have heard of Minot, North Dakota. That’s where I’m from. Please, pray for the city of Minot. Thank You and God Bless!

--Mikayla

Food for Thought

Last night, Mikayla and I wrapped up our first week on cooking duty. I've found that one aspect of community life that I particularly enjoy is preparing food for each other, and getting to enjoy the food that others have made. For me personally, enjoying food offered by others is a way for me to learn to accept more graciously and humbly what others offer me in general. I also find preparing food for someone else to be another avenue of service to others.

Given our schedule, each cooking team prepares four meals -- dinner on Monday and Wednesday night, lunch on Saturday, and brunch on Sunday. Breakfasts are generally on one's own, as are weekday lunches and dinners on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Dinners on Tuesdays and Thursdays are brought to us by parishioners at St. Michael's.

Every meal we've had so far has been delicious.

There's nothing like a home-cooked meal, and there's nothing like cooking, in order to make a place feel like a home. At least for me, that's been a huge part of becoming more and more comfortable in the old rectory, here at St. Michael's. James and Michelle prepared roast chicken and pasta, homemade pizza, and scrambled eggs and toast. Mikayla and I made wet burritos, grilled chicken and pasta, and eggs and biscuits and gravy. (Saturday's lunch typically includes sandwiches, since we take those with us to the homes we fix up.)

James and Michelle are up for round two this week -- and they say there's no chicken on the menu, since we've had a lot of it so far. We're also excited for Tuesday, when we plan to visit a community of Franciscan friars just north of Flint, who grow all of their own food and have offered to serve us dinner.

The fact that James and Michelle are up for their second week of cooking duty means we start our third week of missionary work with Catholic Urban Project. It still seems like there's an entire summer ahead of us, but we've already finished a little more than a quarter of it.

I think everyone here is excited to see what remains in store.

Outreach: Day 1

We experienced our first day of door-to-door outreach today. We spent our time in a neighborhood on the east side of the city -- in terms of socioeconomic status, neither the worst neighborhood, nor the best. Neither is it the safest neighborhood, nor the most dangerous. There is poverty in this area, and there are abandoned houses, and in the several blocks we walked, covering less than a square mile, there were three burned-down houses -- burned down most likely by arsonists. These characteristics fit with the picture of Flint that's commonly painted by the news.

But there are people here, too -- people with hope and the desire to reclaim a city from violence, injustice, and a slow economy. And no picture of Flint could be complete without considering these people. They're moved to pray for the city's recovery, for the safety of its residents, for guidance for its children, and for jobs. But at least one man we met described common feelings among his neighbors -- the feelings of having no representation in municipal government and of being inadequately served by police and fire departments. We'll call this man J.

At the end of J's block, a telephone pole lays across the sidewalk. It was struck by a car, the driver of which staggered around the accident scene, smoking marijuana after the collision. J said it took two hours for police to arrive; in that time, the driver abandoned the scene. J says police response was similar when several neighbors reported vandals stealing aluminum siding from one house. And so the neighborhood feels overlooked -- like no one cares.

Enter our door-to-door outreach. We're not expressly encouraging conversion to the Catholic faith; instead, we're letting people know that someone cares about what's going on. We missionaries can't right the wrongs that have occurred here, but we can let people know that we're praying for them, and that we'll pray for whatever concerns them.

This is a neighborhood where people answer the door with looks of suspicion on their faces, often greeting us from behind screens, within the safety of their homes. With everything that's happened here, that's not surprising. But it's truly amazing to see that suspicion turn to relief. I'm convinced that these may be the most authentic facial expressions I've ever witnessed, in that the people we've met have been so surprised, but so relieved, that someone cares about their concerns, that they become willing to acknowledge, to admit that they're concerned. Their surprise overtakes their guarded suspicion, offering respite from the reservations they may have about anyone who knocks at their doors.

And so an experience that began with some anxiety ended very fruitfully. Sure, some people refused to answer the door, or turned us away. But we left the neighborhood with a long list of intentions, and prayed for each one in the chapel at St. Michael's.

It's worth noting that before we left, J found us again -- an hour or so after we first talked with him. He invited us to a neighborhood Bible study, held in his neighbor N's yard. N's fences

are covered with a wide range of sports and motorcycle memorabilia, as well as some of the hot-rod art of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth (including the famous Rat Fink). N welcomed us, along with J, and their friend M, and we talked for an hour or so about how God moves through Flint -- and about the wonder that brought these three neighbors together with five missionaries, all of whom hope to see this city renewed.

Living Simply

We Catholic Urban Project missionaries in Flint have a week under our belts now, and we can't have imagined a more satisfying introduction to this faith-filled summer of service and simple living. We're doing all of this in pursuit of deeper Catholic faith -- to grow with each other in our relationships with Christ. And so Christ has been at the forefront of everything we've done together, including our opening retreat with CUP's Ypsilanti missionaries, our daily recitations of morning and night prayer, and door-to-door outreach to people on our neighborhood.

Despite being merely a week into the program, it's hard to write concisely about everything we've so far experienced. Each one of has so far served at local non-profit organizations, helped clean the rectory basement, and worked to fix up a house. Those experiences will continue throughout the next eight weeks, but there's still more to come, including a children's camp, among other plans. Blessings and challenges await along the way.

There are five of us here, living in the rectory at St. Michael's Catholic Church. Nick is our site director; he coordinates service opportunities and lends calm, confident leadership to our crew. The remaining four of us come from all over the country: Mikayla, a student from North Dakota State University; James, a student from Washtenaw Community College, an hour south of Flint; Michelle, from Gonzaga University, way out west in Washington; and me, Greg. I've just finished my degree at Central Michigan University. Each one of us is excited about the weeks ahead.

Expect future posts to detail our service experiences, to describe how we encounter Christ throughout the summer, and to tell the stories of some of the people we meet. We'll also write about community life, as we have fun together, encourage each other, and battle the Michigan heat and humidity.

This is Catholic Urban Project, Flint-style.