Mission and outreach are always fraught endeavors. While they are hopefully rooted in altruism and good intentions, the history of the Church’s mission endeavors is a checkered one. Perhaps the most significant danger lies in avoiding any personal contact or relationships with those to whom one ministers. Ministry, after all, is really a two-way street. As we minister to others, we must be prepared to be ministered to by them.
But decades of well-intentioned youth mission trips and parish service projects have disturbed healthy balances in mission. Privileged youth from wealthy suburbs spend one week in a third world country and mistakenly think they have changed the world, while at the same time neglecting the real poverty in their own neighborhoods back home. This does not, of course, deny real good that is done by going to other countries. But it takes a lot of work to maintain a healthy perspective in such efforts. In many cases, the privileged who undertake ministry are taking the initiative, maybe without even asking what is needed of those to whom they minister. Spiritual pride runs rampant unless the more privileged do their own prayerful work in discerning how they are also poor.
Thanks to our growing and strengthening Social Concerns Committee at Good Shepherd, we are expanding our own parish’s efforts in outreach. Our first major initiative was the Rosemont Community Retreat House, and there are still many ways in which this ministry needs to be stabilized and set up for sustainable ministry. Many possibilities for outreach through the retreat house remain unexplored, which can add to our existing partnership with Hosts for Hospitals. Our Social Concerns Committee has also been quietly providing assistance for immigrants and refugees, collecting items for the Ardmore Food Pantry, and considering ways in which we can partner with Family Promise of the Main Line. Speaking of the Ardmore Food Pantry, please note the envelopes at the back of the church. In each envelope, you may 1) place a previously-purchased $25 gift card to Acme, Trader Joe’s, or Giant; 2) $25 in cash towards the purchase of gift card(s) to any of those stores; 3) cash towards purchase of gift card(s); and 4) a check made payable to Good Shepherd (memo line: Ardmore Food Pantry) for the purchase of gift card(s). All donations must be received by this Sunday, December 14.
And as we enter the bitterly cold winter months, two of our youth, who were recently confirmed, are leading an effort (in partnership with the Social Concerns Committee) to collect items for the Clare Project, a ministry to those living on the streets of Kensington in Philadelphia who are suffering from the opioid epidemic. Through January 6, we are collecting the following items:
white tube socks;
beef jerky (Slim Jims); and
hot hands (chemical warmers, two each).
You can either bring any of these items to church and place them in the baskets in the Tower entrance and retreat house, or you can purchase them online through our Amazon wishlist, and they will be shipped directly to the church. Items will be blessed at Sung Mass on the Feast of the Epiphany, assembled, and then given to the Clare Project for distribution to those living on the streets of Kensington.
In this time of the year, as our 2026 pledge campaign continues, we must remember that when we give money to the parish, we are giving not only to support the parish’s operations but also to enable the parish’s ministries. While your generous gifts do ensure that we can heat the church, keep the lights on, and pay our staff, by doing all those things, we are able to move outwards from the walls of the church to bless our neighbors in the name of Christ and, maybe most importantly, to receive their blessing on us. Our several ongoing outreach ministries are visible reminders that giving to the Church and giving to outreach are not competing endeavors; they work together! It’s both/and, just as we are called to give generously of our time and our money to support the ministry that God has called us to do.
During this time, while we continue to receive pledges to support ministry in 2026 and while we work to collect donations to minister to the poor and needy among us, we are reminded of the balance required of us in the Christian life. We gather to worship our Lord, and then we are sent from that worship, energized to greet those whom we meet in the name of Christ and ready to be touched by their lives. Thank you for your generosity during this time of year! This Sunday, please plan to attend another Parish Conversation immediately after Sung Mass. A robust coffee hour should help placate your hungry stomachs so that you can stay on to attend Advent Lessons and Carols at 3 p.m. While you are in the church and retreat house this Sunday, please offer your own tangible support of the Ardmore Food Pantry and Clare Project. I will look forward to celebrating Gaudete Sunday with you, as we rejoice in God’s many blessings.
Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle