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Lenten Outreach

Lenten Outreach

This Lent, SSJ is partnering with local Huntington Beach charitable organizations to collect items that will make an impact to their mission. Please prayerfully reflect about directing your Lenten almsgiving to our neighbors in need. Look to the SSJ Lenten Outreach flyer and future bulletins for information on the Lenten organizations we are supporting, their specific needs and the help they provide to our community.

1st Week of Lent

Organization & Mission: Robyne’s Nest in Huntington Beach, www.robynesnest.org, is the focus for this week’s Lenten Outreach collection. Robyne’s Nest’s mission is to: provide at-risk and homeless high school students, who are alcohol and drug free with little to no parental support, with the resources and support to complete high school and pursue a path to self-sufficiency through college, trade school or military options.

Collection: As part of our Lenten Outreach program, SSJ has pledged to provide meal kits (Hamburger Helper, taco kits, etc.), canned fruit and plastic applesauce cups (no glass items) to Robyne’s Nest for their clients. On the weekend of March 5 and 6, there will be a Lenten Outreach collection table on Mondor Plaza to receive your gifts.

Listen & Learn: To understand more about the vital services provided by Robyne’s Nest, please attend the HB Ecumenical Outreach Listening and Learning Event, Monday, February 28, at 6;00 p.m. in Colman Hall. Robyne Wood, founder of Robyne’s Nest, will share her insights how our local youth need our community’s help and how, as a group, we can make an impact.

If you have questions, please reach out to Susan Kadota or Sue Spector at ssj@ssj.org .

2nd Week of Lent

Prayer: Lord, Father of our human family, you created all human beings equal in dignity: pour forth into our hearts a fraternal spirit and inspire in us a dream of renewed encounter, dialogue, justice, and peace. Move us to create healthier societies and a more dignified world, a world without hunger, poverty, violence, and war. May our hearts be open to all the peoples and nations of the earth. May we recognize the goodness and beauty that you have sown in each of us, and thus forge bonds of unity, common projects, and shared dreams. Amen.  Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti

Partner Organization & Mission: HOPE in Huntington Beach, https://www.stbonaventure.org/ministries/hope. Hope is an all-volunteer program that provides food, clothing, household items, and limited health supplies to those in need – senior citizens and families living in Huntington Beach. Keep this important ministry and our brothers and sisters, who are in need of the essential items from HOPE, in your prayers.

Almsgiving / Collection: This Lent, HOPE has a need for laundry detergent, toilet paper, baby food (all ages), cooking oil, snacks and cereals. On the weekend of March 12 & 13 there will be a Lenten Outreach collection table in Mondor Plaza to receive your gifts. If you have questions, reach out to Elaine Smith at ssj@ssj.org.

Reflection: “Fasting, prayer, and almsgiving as preached by Jesus enable and express our conversion. The path of poverty and self-denial (fasting), concern and loving care for the poor (almsgiving), and childlike dialogue with the Father (prayer), make it possible for us to live lives of sincere faith, living hope and effective charity.” Pope Francis Message for Lent 2021

3rd Week of Lent

Prayer: Loving and gracious God, bless the women, mothers and children who need rest, healing, and hope. Give those that help them the resources, skills, and compassion to serve the women and children who need their services and compassion. Give the women and children the strength to work through issues and hurt to find the light that will illuminate their path to a new life and new beginnings. We pray that we may be your ears to listen to them and hands to reach out and be with them on their journey. Amen.

Partner Organization & Mission: Colette’s Children’s Home, www.coletteschildrenshome.com provides homeless single women and mothers with children a safe, nurturing environment of compassionate support and services to achieve self-sufficiency.

Almsgiving / Collection: This Lent, Colette’s Children’s Home has a need for household cleaners of any kind; wipes for babies and adults; paper goods (e.g. towels, plate). On the weekend of March 19/20, there will be a Lenten Outreach collection table in Mondor Plaza to receive your gifts. If you have questions, reach out to Marcelle Capps at ssj@ssj.org.

Fast / Reflection: How can you change your habits to free up time for you to volunteer for Colette’s Children’s Home or one of the
other organizations that Saints Simon and Jude are supporting this Lent?

4th Week of Lent

Prayer: O Lord, to whom no one is a stranger and from whose help no one is ever distant, look with compassion on those without a place to live; restore them, we pray, to a home of their own, and give us a kind heart to help the homeless in their need. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Catholic Charities, Year of Mercy Prayer

Partner Organization & Mission: Huntington Beach Navigation Center, www.hbhomelesssolutions.com, and their partner Mercy House. The heart of the Navigation Center’s mission is to find permanent housing, in a timely manner, for the un-housed by providing meals, showers, access to life skills, and other support services.

Almsgiving / Collection: Ankle-length socks, men’s boxer shorts, sports bras, bath towels/wash cloths, new/used backpacks, and hygiene items. On March 26 & 27, the Lenten Outreach team will gratefully receive your gifts. If you have questions please contact Sue Spector at ssj@ssj.org.

Fast / Reflection: “We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked, and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted,
unloved, and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes

5th Week of Lent

Prayer: “To caress an elderly person expresses the same hope as caressing a child, because the beginning of life and the end are always a
mystery, a mystery that should be respected, accompanied, cared for, loved.”
–Pope Francis. Let us all pray to embrace our elderly as we embrace our children.

Partner Organization & Mission: Care Management of Older Adults in HB provides services to under-supported older adults in HB so they can age safely and independently in the community. Services can include education and support in the areas of nutrition, transportation, mobility, home safety and social support. More can be found at www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/residents/human_services/SeniorsOutreachCenterCareManagement.cfm

Almsgiving / Collection: Please support the older adults served by Care Management by providing one or more of the following items: Reachers/grabbers, shower chairs (new only), non-skid socks (with grips on the bottom), nutritional liquid supplements (Ensure,
Glucerna), remote doorbells, gift cards for 99 Cent Store or Dollar Tree. Please bring your gifts to the collection table in Mondor Plaza on the weekend of April 2nd/3rd. Questions? Email Louise at ssj@ssj.org.

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