Former Professional Chef Tackles Hunger as Emergency Food Director at St. John’s Bread & Life

By Jessica Easthope

Millicent Souris is always pushing to do more. As the Director of Emergency Food at St. John’s Bread & Life food pantry, she brings an unwavering drive to everything she does.

“I’ve always been drawn to feeding people,” she said. “There’s something very intimate about feeding people and that was always my point of view in working in restaurants.”

Millicent is a professionally-trained chef, but she ditched her white coat for a Bread & Life sweatshirt. As a chef, she aimed to please the palates of her wealthy customers – but these days, pallets of a different kind are one of her biggest concerns.

“We have figured out how to maximize space in this building,” said Millicent. “Our chapel holds pallets. Our old pantry waiting area holds pallets. Our old dining room is where we put pantry bags and pallets. We’ve altered this entire building.”

Inside the Bedford-Stuyvesant soup kitchen, pallets are everywhere. Though Bread & Life feeds thousands of people a day, the pandemic has taken food insecurity to unimaginable heights – a mountain Millicent climbs every day.

“Food right now to me is a movement of palettes,” she said. “Moving things around, understanding how we can store things best, trying to understand how we can be the most efficient place so we can feed people because the numbers keep going up.”

Bread & Life has served more meals than ever before this year and it’s on track to serve more than 1 million in 2021. For Millicent, her work isn’t only about giving back but it’s also helping others move forward.

“Seeing other people get involved and involved and committed in a real way, not just volunteering on Thanksgiving but in a real way,” she said.

Leading by example is what she’s known for.

“She really has a way about her that she gets people involved and committed and that’s what we want,” said Sister Caroline Tweedy RSM, the executive director of the soup kitchen. “She felt called to do this work and she’s made Bread & Life a better place.”

Millicent gave up a career of feeding few to feed many and she’s never looked back.

“There are so many people who know the work that has to happen,” she said. “And to switch it up to meet the needs is incredible.”

‘Angels Unawares’ Sculpture Depicting Migrants and Refugees Finds Temporary Home on Grand Army Plaza

By Emily Drooby and Bill Miller

PROSPECT PARK — It’s crowded on the deck of this boat — 140 souls with not much in common except for their humanity and that they are all refugees.

But these characters aren’t contemporaries of each other — a Muslim fleeing modern-day war-torn Syria, a European Jew trying to escape the Holocaust of World War II, and a German Catholic running from religious persecution in the 16th Century.

But look closer into the crowd. Notice the man with a toolbox? That’s St. Joseph; with him are his wife, Mary, and the boy, Jesus.

“Angels Unawares” is a 20-foot-long, three-and-a-half-ton bronze sculpture depicting immigrants and refugees throughout human history, from ancient times up to today. The Vatican commissioned this work by Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz.

A duplicate rendering is touring the U.S., with a stop in Brooklyn to serve as the Nativity scene for the Diocese of Brooklyn in Grand Army Plaza of Prospect Park. Its unveiling is set for early Tuesday evening, Dec. 8, along with the annual Christmas tree lighting, also in the plaza.

“It’s an appropriate Nativity scene,” Schmalz said in an interview on Dec. 7 from his Toronto studio. “The Holy family is embedded within people from around the world, sharing the same experience about having no place at the inn.

“Christmas is absolutely a time where we should think about loving our neighbors. This sculpture is filled with our neighbors.”

Included is an angel of God. The spiritual being is hard to see, being surrounded by the other characters. But its presence is given away by a set of wings above the group, dramatically reaching toward Heaven.

This feature helps define the sculpture’s title, which is taken from Hebrews 13:2: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

The omnipresence of Father God, and his unfathomable love for humanity, is a theme that reappears in Schmalz’s sculptures.

His 2013 bronze, “Homeless Jesus,” is a figure shroud in a blanket sleeping on a bench. The person is unidentifiable except for a single uncovered foot showing a puncture wound from a nail.

Schmalz’s Dec. 7 studio interview was conducted by video messaging with The Tablet and Currents News.

The artist gave a brief tour, sharing his latest work in progress, “Let the Oppressed Go Free.” It is a statement about the age-old scourge of human trafficking.

In this piece, multiple figures of all ages and genders emerge from a trap door in the Earth. The trap is held open by St. Josephine Bakhita, a former slave from Sudan in the mid-to-late 1800s, who became a nun in Italy and patron saint of human trafficking and slavery.

Schmalz called himself an “artistic soldier” for Pope Francis. He described how the Holy Father famously reminded Catholics at Christmastime a few years ago that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were themselves refugees as they fled to Egypt from King Herod. That made him think of Hebrews 13:2, and the three-ton sculpture was conceived.

In his column this week, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio wrote that “In many ways, Mr. Schmalz is just as good a theologian as he is a sculptor.”

The bishop also wrote that the diocese is honored to host “Angels Unawares” on its U.S. tour.

“The Diocese was offered the opportunity to showcase the statue here in Brooklyn because we truly are a diocese of immigrants,” Bishop DiMarzio wrote.

Indeed, Schmalz did a lot of research for “Angels Unawares” in the Ellis Island photo archives. People in those images became models for some of the characters in the sculpture.

He also relied on family photos, like the picture shared by Cardinal Michael Czerny, a fellow Canadian, who is the Vatican’s undersecretary of the Migrants and Refugees. The image is of his grandparents, who fled Communism from their native Czechoslovakia.

Or, Schmalz added, he would have actual refugees from Africa pose in the studio.

“It made me, as a sculptor, have a very emotional experience,” he recalled. “One of the most haunting figures is right on the front, the Muslim woman; most of her head is obscured with her garb, but you could see her eyes coming out.”

Of course, there are no photos from the 16th century, but Schmalz found a solution to model his persecuted Catholic in Germany.

“I used etchings (from) cool woodcuts that were done during the period,” he explained. “So in all cases, I had a photograph, or an etching in my hand, or an actual person in my studio that I could sculpt and work from. And it became very, very much an exciting process and a real process for me.”

Schmalz said the characters and their plights depict the “hardcore” nature of the Gospel, which makes no secret of human suffering, yet offers the hope of a loving creator.

“You can see throughout the piece, despair, sadness, but also joy and hope,” Schmalz said. “I believe it will resonate, especially this year when you have so many displaced people (and) a pandemic that is taking the least of our brothers and sisters and smashing them and grinding them deeper into the ground.

“Well, this sculpture puts it in context, and I don’t think one can look at this Nativity set without being aware of the people around the world that are in need. And isn’t that what Christmas is for?”

The unveiling and Christmas Tree lighting on Dec. 8 will be 4:30-6 p.m. in Grand Army Plaza. The event is sponsored by DeSales Media Group, the parent company of The Tablet and Currents News.

Currents News full broadcast for Fri, 12/04/20 (Catholic news)

Currents News reports secular and religious news from the Catholic perspective.

Some of the top stories on this special edition of Currents News:

The battle over religious freedom. A high court victory in the Diocese of Brooklyn and in the state of California, but what’s next?

A Christmas tradition with a twist — how you can safely watch this year’s Brooklyn Diocese tree lighting ceremony at Grand Army plaza.

An amazing glimpse into the rich history of the Catholic Church, beneath the streets of New York.

Plus, why Saint Francis College in Brooklyn Heights is seeing record enrollment.

How Catholics Can Stay Connected Through Advent With Ascension’s Guided Meditations Program

Currents News Staff

The Advent season has begun and although this year is not typical, it can actually be more meaningful.

Ascension, which creates faith formation programs, is holding its Advent series online this holiday season and is inviting you to join them.

Father Mark Toups, Vicar General for the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, joined Currents News to discuss the Advent program.

If you’re interested in the Rejoice series, head on over to RejoiceProgram.com. You can use the promo code Art10 to get 10% percent off any of the art prints in the Rejoice! collection.

Currents News full broadcast for Thurs, 12/3/20 (Catholic news)

Currents News reports secular and religious news from the Catholic perspective.

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

President Trump takes to social media with his fight for a second term.

The U.S. records the highest number of deaths from coronavirus since the pandemic began.

A Mass commemorating the missionaries murdered 40 years ago In El Salvador is held at Saint Michael’s in Flushing, Queens.

After being wrongly imprisoned, Cardinal George Pell is now looking to the future with the help of faith and family.

http://netny.tv

Salvadoran Parishioners at St. Michael’s Church in Flushing Remember Slain Missionaries

By Jessica Easthope and Paula Katinas

In a moving tribute to four American women slain in El Salvador during the height of that country’s civil war in 1980, Auxiliary Bishop Raymond Chappetto led a memorial Mass marking the 40th anniversary of their deaths on Dec. 2.

The women — Maryknoll Sisters Ita Ford M.M. and Maura Clarke M.M., Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel O.S.U. and lay missionary Jean Donovan — “gave their lives for the sake of the church, for the sake of the Gospel,” Bishop Chappetto said.

“It’s important that we never forget them,” the bishop added.

The Mass at St. Michael’s Church, Flushing, took place 40 years to the day the women were beaten, raped, and shot to death by members of the military in El Salvador, where they had been working as missionaries and helping the poor. The victims’ bodies were buried in shallow graves by a roadside.

The civil war in El Salvador started in 1979 and dragged on for more than a decade, until 1992. “It was a different time,” Bishop Chappetto said. Unarmed civilians were routinely rounded up by military troops, brutalized, and killed.

Two of the slain martyrs, Sister Ita Ford and Sister Maura Clarke, had connections to the Diocese of Brooklyn. Sister Ita grew up in St. Ephrem’s Parish, Dyker Heights. Sister Maura grew up in the Rockaways and was a parishioner of St. Francis de Sales Church.

Bishop Chappetto called the women “a wonderful example of how to serve God.”

Sister Ita was the niece of Bishop Francis Xavier Ford, a Maryknoll missionary killed in China in 1952 and the man for whom Bishop Ford High School was named.

Two poster boards — one showing pictures of the four women and another containing their biographies — were placed on an easel on the side of the altar.

The Mass was primarily conducted in Spanish. Flushing has a sizable population of immigrants from El Salvador, according to Msgr. John Vesey, the church’s pastor.

It was Msgr. Vesey, who had served as a missionary for more than 30 years in places like China, Guatemala, and Paraguay, who suggested holding the Mass to honor the women on the anniversary. During his homily, delivered in Spanish, he pointed out that the four women bravely traveled to a dangerous country to do God’s work.

He noted that the women “risked their lives during a war to serve people. They knew the risk they were taking.”

Msgr. Vesey told The Tablet after the Mass that he had traveled to El Salvador and visited Sister Ita and Sister Maura’s graves.

“The Maryknoll custom is you’re buried where you die,” he said.

Sister Jane Ann Scanlon, C.N.D., delivered one of the readings at the Mass. She did not know the victims personally but said she remembered the shock and horror felt across the religious community when the murders took place.

“We were all shocked, but we also felt very proud of the work they were doing,” she said, calling the four women role models.

“It was very sad, what happened,” said María Rodríguez, a native of El Salvador.Parishioners of St. Michael’s said they were deeply moved by the Mass and by the memory of the martyrs.

Another immigrant from El Salvador, Georgina Ramírez, recalled the strife in her home country during the civil war.

“Nobody was happy or felt safe. It was scary. Everywhere we went, we were uncertain,” she told Currents News.

Law-abiding citizens could be stopped by police or military troops at any time and forced to present documents proving their citizenship.

The murders of the four women were shocking, she said. “Nobody expected this to happen,” she said.

Still, immigrants from El Salvador have a deep love for their home country, Ramírez said.

“We, all of us, love our country no matter what. The people of my country are very hardworking,” she said.

Trump Posts 46-Minute Speech to Social Media, Claiming American Elections Are Under Assault

Currents News Staff

In a 46-minute speech posted to Facebook and Twitter, President Donald Trump reiterated claims of voter fraud and irregularities that he says took place during what he called a ridiculously long November 3 election.

“If we are right about the fraud, Joe Biden can’t be president,” he said Dec. 3.

“We used to have what was called Election Day,” he continued. “Now we have Election days, weeks and months, and lots of bad things happened during this ridiculous period of time.”

At one point President Trump used a chart to show how he went from leading by a lot in Wisconsin, to losing by a little. He claims there’s evidence that the election results are wrong, particularly in swing states.

“Dozens of counties in the key swing states have more registered voters on the rolls than they have voting age citizens,” he said.

This speech also took place on the same day President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani appeared before the Michigan House oversight committee. Giuliani is alleging that Democrats led a concerted effort to steal the election across the country, including in Detroit where Biden won by a large margin.

“This is a swindle. It’s a con job. It’s a theft of an election,” he said, “and it was carried out by the same method in the city of Detroit. It’s not the first one they stole. And it’s not the last one they’re going to steal unless we do something about it.”

Meanwhile, on Dec. 2, Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department had, so far, not seen fraud on a scale that would change the outcome of the election. Recounts in Wisconsin and Georgia also didn’t change the results.

Georgia’s election implementation manager Gabriel Sterling, who is Republican, had this to say:

“I mean it’s looney tunes. It’s the president’s literally coming to Georgia to campaign for the same two senators that his two former lawyers were filing lawsuits to contest the election with the same claims the president made in his very long, 46-minute video yesterday that have already been debunked. I’m speechless. That’s the best I got right now.”

How the Martyred Maryknoll Sisters Inspired This Woman to Become a Missionary in El Salvador

Currents News Staff

Pope Francis spoke about the four missionaries from the United States who were brutally murdered 40 years ago in El Salvador. Just as the Holy Father said, one woman from Pennsylvania did transform her life and that of her family.

Melissa Altman moved her entire family down to El Salvador to continue their work as a lay missioner, since she was so inspired by the good work of Maryknoll Sisters Ita Forde and Maura Clarke, Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel and lay missionary Jean Donovan.

Melissa joined Currents News to discuss her ministry and life in the Central American country.

If you’re interested in learning more about how you can get involved with the Maryknoll lay missionary work, head on over to MKLM.ORG

Cardinal George Pell Reflects on Life in Prison and Forgiveness After Release

By Jessica Easthope

Cardinal George Pell is back in Rome after being released from prison in April.

For 404 days Cardinal Pell sat, isolated in a prison cell, wrongly convicted of sexual abuse based on a single testimony against him.

“I was quite incredulous initially because I never believed that would happen, and not just my people, but many independent lawyers also told me. The case that was referred to the judges, I thought, was ridiculous. Totally implausible in a great cathedral,” Cardinal Pell said of the case.

During his time in prison, Cardinal Pell wrote of his suffering in a diary he has decided to make public. He also wrote to other prisoners about their shared experiences.

“I tried to write to all the prisoners, respond to all the prisoners, and hardly anybody else. One or two others I replied to,” he said.

Reflecting on the worst period of his life Cardinal Pell says what got him through was the support from his family and his church.

“Pope Francis supported me strongly through all these troubles. I had a very pleasant meeting with him, and I’m very grateful for his support and for the support of Pope Benedict,” Cardinal Pell said.

While in prison, Cardinal Pell’s reputation was shattered, his future was uncertain, but his faith never wavered.

“The Christian package works. Jesus’ teachings are true and bear fruit and give life, give you strength. The importance of forgiveness, of struggling to forgive, is good for peace of heart and peace of mind,” said Cardinal Pell

The first volume of Cardinal Pell’s diary, “Prison Journal” will be released on December 15.

Currents News full broadcast for Wed, 12/2/20 (Catholic news)

Currents News reports secular and religious news from the Catholic perspective.

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

A grim warning from the White House corona taskforce as we find out when the first vaccine batch will be delivered to New York.

Marking World Aids Day and remembering those we lost at a Mass at Saint Augustine’s Church in Park Slope.

A hidden treasure trove of history and faith inside a warehouse in Bushwick, Brooklyn.