A Personal Reflection by Fr. Brian:

I spent 11 years at our mission in New Mexico and during those years, I experienced many cases of poverty. The State of New Mexico has one of the highest per capita poverty rates in the country.

We served 3 parishes and 2 missions as kind of a cluster of churches spread out over 30 miles of barren landscape.

The main parish, Our Lady of Grace, had a small room for a St. Vincent de Paul food pantry & clothes closet. They distributed one morning a week for a couple of hours.

As I discovered a much greater need in the surrounding area, I decided to break the SVDP away from the parish and establish it as its own non-profit corporation to serve a more regional clientele. So, I found a building to rent and we formed the St. Vincent de Paul Society of the Pecos Valley, Inc. We were then able to obtain, as a tax-exempt organization, grants and funds from a variety of sources.

Our ministry included feeding the needy and providing emergency assistance to those struggling financially. I also had a counselor come in every week to provide free counseling for clients.

Our clients were a mix of people on welfare, newly released prisoners, drug addicts, alcoholics, homeless, abused women, pregnant teens and many others who found themselves in dire need of help. It really opened my eyes to the great needs of people in just our area in one of the poorest states in the U.S.

My heart goes out to people who struggle to exist day to day. If we can’t help our neighbor with the basic necessities, then we are not being good and faithful followers of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I give thanks for all the organizations who help people with their needs, especially at this time.

I had the opportunity when I was in New Mexico to be a part of the Board of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Las Cruces and had a chance to participate in the annual Catholic Charities Conference in Washington, DC one year, when Pope Benedict XVI made a papal visit to the US. What an experience to be on the south lawn of the White House and see President & Mrs. George W. Bush greet the Pope and we all sang happy birthday to Pope Benedict!

Blessings, pono and pule!

Fr. Brian Guerrini, ss.cc.
Priest
Molokai