Spring 2 - Option for the Poor and Vulnerable

Spring 2 - Option for the Poor and Vulnerable

‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Matthew 25:35-40

The common good means that the fruits of the earth belong to everyone. No one should be excluded from the gifts of creation. Pope Paul VI spoke about this 50 years ago in his encyclical Populorum Progressio.

Chosen saint - Saint Rosa Maria Sgorbati

Rosa Maria Sgorbati was born in 1940 in Italy near Milan. From the time she was young, she wanted to be a missionary. After college, she joined the Consolata Mission Sisters and took the name Leonella.  She studied nursing in England and then was offered the opportunity to work in Kenya. For thirteen years, she served and worked in Hospitals in Africa. She went on to start nursing schools where she would teach local people to care for the sick. She oversaw the Registered Nursing school recognized internationally in Africa. She is learning many of the languages of the people so that she could teach them to care for others. Many of the areas and countries she worked in Africa had much political and religious turmoil and unrest. In 2006, she had just finished teaching a nursing class at a local children’s hospital when she was shot and killed. Her final words were “I forgive; I forgive; I forgive.” Leonella once said, ‘I cannot be afraid and at the same time love. I choose to love.” Pope Francis declared her blessed and a martyr killed for her faith in 2018.

Examples of what Option for the Poor and Vulnerable looks like at Saint James'

We work with the SVP to ensure that the most vulnerable in the local area have enough food.  We help with the local foodbank.

The Caritas Ambassadors have worked to ensure that people living with dementia are shown that we love and care for them. 

We have created parcels for the homeless at Easter (Tabor House) and worked with Saint Catherine's Church to provide for a temporary Shelter (Christmas)

We work with the Over 60s group at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour to ensure that they feel welcome and loved in school.