G
gilliam
Guest
WASHINGTON — A van pulls up in front of Catholic Charities around 4 p.m. on a sticky afternoon. Strolling tourists and harried office workers spill down the sidewalk past a few of the city’s needy sitting on a bench with a “homeless Jesus” statue, waiting for something to eat.
“Together let us do something beautiful for God,” read the words of Mother Teresa emblazoned in green on the side of the white St. Maria’s Meals van.
Within 45 minutes, tents are erected, food trays positioned and a couple hundred of Catholic Charities’ clients — most living in shelters or on D.C. streets — line up for what might be their only meal on this late-summer day.
On Sept. 24, some of those clients may be among the ones chosen to share a meal with a man who famously embraces the less fortunate: Pope Francis.
It is only natural that Francis would want to stop at Catholic Charities and meet with people on the margins, says Monsignor John Enzler, CEO of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington since 2011. “The church is where you go on Sunday,” but the pope wants people to “experience” their faith every day, he says. The pope is coming to Catholic Charities “to spend time with the most vulnerable.”
usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/09/16/catholic-charities-pope-visit/32190513/
“Together let us do something beautiful for God,” read the words of Mother Teresa emblazoned in green on the side of the white St. Maria’s Meals van.
Within 45 minutes, tents are erected, food trays positioned and a couple hundred of Catholic Charities’ clients — most living in shelters or on D.C. streets — line up for what might be their only meal on this late-summer day.
On Sept. 24, some of those clients may be among the ones chosen to share a meal with a man who famously embraces the less fortunate: Pope Francis.
It is only natural that Francis would want to stop at Catholic Charities and meet with people on the margins, says Monsignor John Enzler, CEO of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington since 2011. “The church is where you go on Sunday,” but the pope wants people to “experience” their faith every day, he says. The pope is coming to Catholic Charities “to spend time with the most vulnerable.”
usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/09/16/catholic-charities-pope-visit/32190513/