University Chaplain Fr. Kevin Stolt, IVE and 12 Saint Mary’s University students returned yesterday from a week of serving the homeless with Christ in the City in Denver, Colorado. With the Christ in the City missionaries, the Saint Mary’s University students brought the love of God to the homeless and abandoned in the streets of Denver. The week followed the mission of Christ in the City to pour out God’s love to a world hungry for hope and encounter.
The daily schedule included street ministry, in which we walked the streets of Denver, seeking out the homeless and abandoned. The goal was to build relationships by offering the tangible love and profound joy of Jesus Christ through simple acts of friendship, listening ears, and compassionate presence. Each day also included Holy Mass, Eucharist Adoration, and common prayer for spiritual nourishment for the encounters and events of the day. Throughout the week, the Christ in the City missionaries also gave talks on poverty, mercy, and prayer. We also shared wonderful times of fellowship with the 30 Christ in the City missionaries and took part in the cooking and cleaning duties with the community.
Junior Natalie Esboldt, majoring in Elementary Education, reflected upon what this mission trip meant for her. “Throughout our service with Christ in the City, I saw how the face of Christ can be found in every person, including those on the outskirts of society. Each person that I interacted with on the streets of Denver showed me a small piece of who Christ is and taught me both how to love and how to be loved. Even in such devastating circumstances, I saw the face of Christ through the joy, generosity, love, perseverance, trust in God, and humility of the poor. As I encountered people in the streets of Denver—friends of Christ in the City—it was evident to me that they were also children of God longing to be seen and loved. What a gift it was to be able to enter into the relationships with friends on the street, being a witness of God’s love for them.”
One of the most memorable moments for Fr. Kevin was the visit with “Mama Jerri,” who has known the Christ in the City missionaries for nearly 15 years since its beginning in 2010. She lived on the streets of Denver for the first ten of those years, before finding housing. During our visit, “Mama Jerri” (who is in her 80’s, blind, and almost completely deaf) mentioned with fondness the community she had on the streets and how she would like to be back out there if not for the friendships she made with the Christ in the City missionaries, who visit her regularly. It is a reminder of the poverty of loneliness that Saint Mother Teresa spoke about: “The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty — it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There’s a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God.” The visit with “Mama Jerri” was a powerful witness of the Christ in the City missionaries bringing the love of God to those most in need.
Joe Hakanson, who is serving as a peer minister this year for Campus Ministry, reflected on his experience on the mission trip: “It was a moving experience to examine our own poverty of spirit, and to see that we are not that different from the homeless we were serving: We all desire human connection. This mission trip lasted a week, but what the mission taught us, that is, to engage the poor and lonely, is a long lasting call that will transform our lives. Both among the homeless in the streets, and among my closest friends and family, we can be remedies for the loneliness and rejection of others.” His reflection is a reminder that the mission of sharing God’s love does not end with our return to Saint Mary’s, but continues in the communities we are a part of.
The nearly 2,500-mile drive to Denver and back was also filled with adventure. Fr. Kevin celebrated Mass at the House of Mary Shrine in Yankton, South Dakota. We also stopped at Chimney Rock National Historic Site, Scotts Bluff National Monument, and Rocky Mountain National Park (including a visit to the Chapel on the Rock). During the one free afternoon in Denver, we also visited Joanna’s home parish, the Red Rocks Amphitheater, and the Mother Cabrini Shrine overlooking the city of Denver from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
SOUL (Serving Others United in Love) spring break service trips are held each year at Saint Mary’s University. In the past few years, students have helped at food and clothing centers for the needy in Milwaukee, repaired houses for the poor in West Virginia, assisted at a school on the Blackfoot Indian Reservation in Montana, and worked with migrants and refugees in El Paso and Ciudad Juarez. This years’ participants were Brooke Schilling, Emma Kasella, Ifeoluwa Alese, James Bickerstaff, Joanna Buch, Joe Hakanson, Luke Rickert, Mary Hakanson, Mauriasha Burton, Natalie Esboldt, Princess Sheriff, Rylee Stoltz, and Fr. Kevin.
Christ in the City invites students to join them on their mission to bring the love of God to the homeless and those in need. Summer mission opportunities are available for either 3-week or 2-month periods and year-long missions are also available for recent graduates. If you are interested, more information can be found at this link.
