For those of you who are not familiar with Buffalo, New York, the east side of the city can be a rough place. The east side has been hit hard by change and, where once stood many vibrant ethnic neighborhoods, now stands a bleak series of beaten down and boarded up homes. There are good people on Buffalo's east side, to be sure, but even a quick drive through the neighborhood makes it clear that times are tough.
Located in the heart of that tough neighborhood is a small Roman Catholic mission called St. Luke's Mission of Mercy. The mission is based at the former St. Luke's parish/school complex on Walden Avenue. It was founded in 1994 by Norm Paolini and Amy Betros, two local Catholics that had the courage to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit and (after purchasing the abandoned St. Luke's premises) opened their doors to the people that society had all but forgotten. Their primary mission was (and still is) quite simple: to perform the corporal works of mercy of the Church (i.e., feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc...) in a Christ-centered environment.
I was down at the mission tonight as a guest of Michael Taheri, a local attorney who now dedicates most of his time to volunteer work at the mission. The mission treated me, and a number of other guests, including the President of Canisius College, to Mass in the stunning (and currently being restored) St. Luke's church, and then dinner in the mission's dining hall. After dinner, they put on a brief presentation about their latest venture- a school called Our Lady of Hope Home School, which offers loving, Christ-centered instruction to some of Buffalo's neediest children- and then gave us a tour of the facilities. Simply put, it was an eye-opening experience. St. Luke's is the kind of place where love and the presence of Christ are palpable- the kind of place that we need more of in our too often selfish and secular world.
More information about St. Luke's Mission of Mercy and the remarkable work being accomplished there is available on their website: http://www.stlukesmissionofmercy.org/.
For any of you reading this blog in the Buffalo area, I highly encourage you to get down to the mission and check it out for yourself- you will not be disappointed. For those of you out of the area, please remember the mission in your prayers.
Praise God!!
1 comment:
I have been helping out at the after-school program at St. Luke's school, Our Lady of Hope, for my Community Based Learning at Canisius College. Helping the students at Our Lady of Hope has made my first semester in college amazing. Being able to help others has blesses me greatly and I strongly encourage anyone to help in anyway that they can, be it time, donations of money, or donating clothing.
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