By Jessica Easthope

Wilfredo Gonzalez, Jeanne Shannon, and Mirna Roman come from completely different walks of life, but they all have something in common, or rather someone.

“I remember she always had candies on her desk,” Gonzalez said.

“Every time I’d come to the office she would say help yourself and just talk to her,” Roman said.

Marie Scarpelli sat at this desk for nearly 40 years as the parish secretary at St. Elizabeth Church in Ozone Park.

Gonzalez, the church’s bookkeeper and director of religious education, said nothing stopped Scarpelli from doing her job, not even colon cancer, and definitely not chemo.

“She never complained about her sickness,” Gonzalez said. “She would go to chemo at 9 a.m., and she. She would tell father, I want to go back to work after my chemo.”

Scarpelli passed away on April 19 after keeping her illness a secret from the larger parish community.

“There’s many people that never knew, never found out that she was sick,” Gonzalez said.

“Because there was never a change in her demeanor or her attitude, or her friendliness, or her smile,” Shannon said.

For Roman, an employee at the parish and St. Elizabeth Catholic Academy, Scarpelli’s absence has left a void.

“It’s hard to get used to, you know, not seeing her beautiful smile,” Roman said. “There’s no words about it. And you can never replace someone like Marie.”

Shannon, the principal of St. Elizabeth Catholic Academy, said she misses their talks when she would run errands that brought her away from her post and into the rectory.

“I’d sit down and we would just chat for 15 or 20 minutes,” Shannon said. “And to be honest, it was a great, sort of respite from the struggles of the job. I knew Marie would be here and I could sit and chat with her.”

In the parish calendar, in a spot reserved for the day’s Mass intentions, Scarpelli jotted one down on her birthday this year.

It’s since been replaced with ‘remembrance’.

“If I learn one thing from her, it’s when you are suffering, you always look at God,” Gonzalez said.

“I think Marie’s legacy is just immeasurable,” Shannon said. “The way she did her job was a way to serve God because her faith was very, very important to her.”

Scarpelli remembered everything, every birthday and every anniversary, and it’s part of why she’ll never be forgotten.

By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Meeting members of the Swiss Guard, including 34 new recruits, Pope Francis thanked them for their dedication and generous service protecting the pope every day.

He told them they stand out for their professionalism and their “kind, attentive, indeed scrupulous style,” during an audience at the Vatican May 6, ahead of the swearing-in ceremony for the new guards later that day. Family members of the new recruits were also present at the audience.

The men have built “a positive and respectful atmosphere in the barracks,” the pope said, and they show great courtesy toward “superiors and guests, despite sometimes long periods of intense and strenuous service.”

Pope Francis encouraged them to continue to foster friendships and camaraderie.

Serving in the Swiss Guard, an enlistment that lasts at least two years, means it is “an important and formative time for you,” he said. “It is not just a period of work, but a time of living and relating, of intense fellowship in a diverse company.”

“I urge you to actively cultivate community life,” the pope said, asking them to reject the habit among many young people today of spending their free time online and alone.

“It is better to use your free time for activities with others, for getting to know Rome, for moments of fraternity in which you talk about yourselves and share, for sports,” he said.

“These experiences build you up from within and will accompany you throughout your life,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, celebrated Mass with the guards in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The colorful swearing-in ceremony of new recruits is held May 6 to mark the date in 1527 when 147 Swiss Guards lost their lives defending Pope Clement VII in the Sack of Rome. Only 42 guards survived. Holding the ceremony on the anniversary is meant to remind new guards of the seriousness of their commitment.

New recruits pledge to “faithfully, loyally and honorably” serve and protect the pontiff and, if necessary, sacrifice their lives for him.

Today, the more than 130 Swiss soldiers are responsible for guarding all entrances into Vatican City State as well as keeping watch over the pope and his residence in the Domus Sanctae Marthae. They also provide security and ceremonial services during liturgical events and visits of heads of state and other dignitaries to the Vatican.

A nonprofit organization is awarding creatives who affirm the highest values of the human spirit.

“The Christophers,” founded by Maryknoll priest Father James Keller, is rooted in service to God and humanity.

The awards were created in 1949, but since then, the people behind more than 1500 films, books, and TV programs have been recognized.

The 75th Annual Christopher Awards recently announced their winners.

Brooklyn author Torrey Maldonado was one of those creatives.

It’s actually Maldonado’s second time winning this prestigious award.

His most recent award-winning book is called “Hands.”

Maldonado joined Currents News to talk more about it.