‘From the earliest times at St. Matthew the spirit of mercy has been here’
‘From the earliest times at St. Matthew the spirit of mercy has been here’CHARLOTTE — In a joy-filled joint celebration, parishioners, staff and clergy of St. Matthew Church gathered Sept. 21 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the parish and to recognize the Sisters of Mercy and their contribution to the Church and the diocese.
Eighteen Sisters of Mercy made the trip from the convent in Belmont to attend Mass and witness the dedication of the parish banquet hall in the name of the late Sister Jeanne Marie Kienast, who served the parish from its humble beginnings.
“Today, we as the community of St. Matthew celebrate 30 years,” Monsignor John McSweeney said at the beginning of his homily.
He reminisced about the past, sharing that back in 1984 the diocese was looking around the greater Charlotte area for land to establish new parishes in the future.
Pictured: Monsignor John J. McSweeney, pastor of St. Matthew Church in Charlotte, celebrated the parish’s 30th anniversary Mass Sept. 21. Honored guests included the Sisters of Mercy South Central Community of Belmont. The late Mercy Sister Jeanne Marie Kienast (left), who served the parish for three decades, was honored posthumously with a donation of $75,000 from the parish to Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte to further her commitment to assisting the poor in the community. The banquet room in the parish’s New Life Center was also dedicated in her name. Her longtime friend and co-worker in parish ministries, Sister Therese Galligan, is pictured (left) with the memorial plaque in the parish banquet room. (Photos by SueAnn Howell | Catholic News Herald)
“They would be named after the evangelists,” he explained.
“Bishop (Michael) Begley, Father (Joseph) Kerin and myself got in the car. I had gotten a survey of this land. Their tradition, which I never agreed with,” he joked, “was to walk the property. I am deathly afraid of snakes! So we came here. This property was purchased in 1984.”
The Sisters of Mercy were simultaneously in the process of building a new Mercy South hospital in Matthews, which was also a very rural area at that time, Monsignor McSweeney said.
“Sept. 21, 1986, it was announced there would be a new parish and the new parish would be St. Matthew, located in this part of town,” he recalled. “From that day on, the journey begins.”
“This parish was always built on the idea that was established in the Vatican II spirit of the baptismal commitment of each person and that each person is welcome, no matter what. You are welcome here because we are all sons and children of God. We come around this altar to give honor and glory to Almighty God.”
He shared that the trees planted on the property over the years serve a purpose: to create a spiritual oasis, so that all who come to the parish grow in spirituality and in service to the community.
“We always work with the idea of living stones. That’s why this building has so many cinder blocks in it. Every block in this building represents somebody, and everyone is different. (We are) always understanding the sense of mercy and how we are all in it together.”
Monsignor McSweeney noted that when the parish began, it comprised only 200 parishioners. Today there are more than 11,000 registered families.
”The parish is grown up now,” he said. “We have about 34,000 people who say they are a part of the community of St. Matthew. In that is a philosophy of spirituality, of service and social. It’s still going.
“When we look at the spiritual life here of our parish, I am sort of proud to say that every day we have 300 to 400 persons attending daily Mass. The day begins with daily Mass. The day begins with another group that gathers for the Divine Office… Another group prays the rosary praying for peace, vocations, etc. The Divine Mercy Chaplet (is prayed), too.
“Why? Because at St. Matthew we give honor and glory to Almighty God first and foremost.”
Carol Vincent, her late husband Jerry, and their children were some of those original parishioners. She recalls attending daily Mass in the rectory during the parish’s humble beginnings.
“All the hospitality, all the ministries have grown,” Vincent said. “There isn’t anything here that somebody can’t grasp. I think that that brings community. That’s what we need – community. We started out with community.”
Later in his homily, Monsignor McSweeney said, “From the earliest times at St. Matthew the spirit of mercy has been here. Here we are in this Jubilee of Mercy. (There is) that whole understanding that we have to reach out to do something different.”
One of the things the parish and staff at St. Matthew wanted to do was to honor the late Mercy Sister Jeanne Marie Kienast, who spent decades serving the parish. She died in December 2015. She helped found ministries, lead Bible studies, counseled parishioners who needed a listening ear, and reached out to the poor and less fortunate in the community. She was known for her keen wit, a wonderful sense of humor and infectious smile.
“Jeanne Marie isn’t with us physically,” Monsignor McSweeney said, but “she is very much here. The Mercy presence is still very much physically alive in this parish.”
After his homily, Monsignor McSweeney presented a $75,000 donation from the parish in her honor to Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte Executive Director Dr. Gerard Carter to help the poor throughout the diocese.
Sister Ann Marie Wilson was among the Sisters of Mercy at the Mass.
“Sister Jeanne Marie worked with the first pastor, Monsignor Kerin, and he always was very pleased to have her,” she noted. “He said he would administer the sacraments and she would minister to the family. He said it was like hand and glove. So this is a beautiful tribute not only to all the Sisters of Mercy, but a beautiful tribute to her.”
Mercy Sister Therese Gallagher was Sister Jeanne Marie’s longtime roommate and coworker in the parishes with her, helping to spearhead new ministries and outreach programs around the diocese.
“I am thrilled to be a Sister of Mercy. It has been a wonderful life. I am also thrilled about Jeanne Marie, that they are honoring her in this way. And I know she is with us in spirit,” she said.
Sister Jeanne Marie’s niece, Jean Kienast Culbreth, came from California to be present for the dedication of the parish banquet room in her late aunt’s honor. She was wearing a small, gold crucifix that St. Matthew Church had given Sister Jeanne Marie years ago.
“I am stunned. I can hear her voice saying, ‘I didn’t do that much. I didn’t deserve this.’ She was very humble. I honestly didn’t know all that she had done,” Culbreth said.
Longtime parishioner Carol Vincent also shared her thoughts on Sister Jeanne Marie’s contributions to the parish.
“She started the HOPE program at St. Matthew, reaching out to people in need. It just took off from there. The ministries (at the church) all started with HOPE,” Vincent said.
Monsignor McSweeney also elaborated during his homily on the why the parish wanted to honor the work of all the Sisters of Mercy, following in the footsteps of their foundress, Catherine McAuley.
“The Knights of Columbus are here today because they asked to be here, sisters, to honor you,” Monsignor said. “We are going to be honoring the Sisters of Mercy, to honor that sense of health care, that sense of education, that sense of parish ministry, that sense of caring for the poor in all different ways.”
He asked Mercy Sister Mary Hugh Mauldin, who still serves the parish, to join him at the top of the sanctuary steps so as to recognize her and the Sisters of Mercy for their contributions. He presented her with a certificate of appreciation for all she has done and continues to do for the parish and the Church.
“It’s our privilege to honor the Sisters of Mercy. It plays out with the Mercy Associates who are here today in the sense of this idea that we care for each other… Mercy is about relationships and how we take care of each other. We learn to take care of each other through education,” Monsignor McSweeney explained.
Deacon Daren Bitter, a parishioner at St. Matthew for the past 10 years and a deacon for more than five years, assisted at the Mass.
“The thing that impresses me the most is the sense of the Holy Spirit that courses throughout the parish,” Deacon Bitter said.
“There’s this notion that it is the largest parish in the country, and it probably is. It’s still an intimate environment where people can find their home in small groups and journey with Christ in a small environment. The charity out of this parish is mind-boggling. It’s a joy!”
Monsignor McSweeney reflected on what he has seen happen at the parish over the past three decades.
“In 30 years this place, not this building, has become a witness to what Pope Francis is asking all of us to be: to be people of mercy.”
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
'I said to myself, "The Holy Spirit is in charge. Go be Christ to these children."'
CHARLOTTE — A deacon's life is one of service. Service to his Church, his family, his employer – and through his service he vows to provide an exemplary witness to the Gospel with his life. Deacon Daren Bitter, 49, ordained in 2011 and now serving at St. Matthew Church, is one such deacon.
Married to Michelle, and a father of two daughters, he works full-time as a sales executive in the technology recruiting field besides serving as a deacon at the largest Catholic parish in the country. Deacon Bitter had been feeling a call to go on mission for a long time, to see first-hand how the Missionaries of the Poor, whom he'd come to know through their mission in Monroe, also serve those most in need at missions outside the U.S.
Pictured above: Deacon Daren and Brother Patric having fun with students at the Tremesse School in Tremesse, Haiti. In the background is the community center where classes are regularly held. (Photos provided by Deacon Daren Bitter)
This past October, he and three others from St. Matthew Church headed to Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, to help a rural school sponsored by St. Matthew Church receive technology and also to work with the Missionaries of the Poor at their center in Haiti.
Deacon Bitter was familiar with the work of the Brothers, but never anticipated how much working alongside them caring for impoverished children, the elderly and the infirm would change his perspective on life.
"This was my first mission trip. I really didn't go into it with any expectations," he recalls. "I tried to remain open to the Holy Spirit. I tried not to pre-impose an image of what I would be doing or what that experience would be like. That was a blessing."
Brother Rodel, Brother-in-Change for MOP-Haiti, picks up Pascal from school. Pascal was given that name by the Brothers as he was left at their facility in Cap Haitien on Easter weekend, name unknown.
Tremesse School teachers see and use computers for the first time while being trained by Deacon Daren and others. Sixteen laptops were delivered to the school to be used by the children.
Two of his fellow missionaries are regular volunteers in Haiti, and Deacon Bitter says the reception they all received was wonderful. He believes the trip was smoother and even more special because of the men's familiarity with the people and their appreciation for the volunteers.
"They understand the people, the culture. It was so moving how we were received. The warmth, the appreciation. The Brothers were so warm, so hospitable. I felt like I had known them for years."
Deacon Bitter and the volunteers spent a majority of their time at the mission in Cap-Haïtien. They also spent time at a school that is heavily supported by the Charlotte parish.
"We've done a great deal for this school. This is in an area that does not have electricity. They do not have clean water – no plumbing or running water. The Haitians call that area 'the bush.' It's a remote area of the poorest country in the Western hemisphere."
Deacon Bitter and the volunteers traveled to the school to deliver 16 laptops, which will be powered by electricity coming through solar panels and a wireless router.
"We went down and configured those computers to work on their wireless network. We did an extremely elementary training with the teachers at the school so they could start working with the students. It was amazing. The teachers and the students had never heard of Google!"
To give them some hands-on experience, they typed in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti, and when the picture of their city and information came up on the screen, "their faces just lit up, they couldn't understand how it was happening," Deacon Bitter recounts.
He says the children stood there for over 45 minutes – speechless, just watching what was happening on the computer screens.
When Deacon Bitter and the volunteers were working with the Brothers, they had the opportunity to serve the poorest of the poor at their center. The Brothers serve the elderly, HIV-infected children and adults, mentally and physically handicapped children, and children who have been abandoned.
"The kids are beyond adorable!" Deacon Bitter says. "You just wanted to take them and hug and squeeze them. We got to feed and hold and play with them. It was such a joy."
Their days with the Brothers were also marked by prayer, which he says fuels the love and joy that exudes from them as they go about their work each day. One of the most profound things he witnessed was seeing the Holy Father's call to charity and serving those most in need in action with the Brothers and all those they serve.
"I don't see how there could possibly be any more need than the people I spent time with. It is truly the poorest of the poor there."
He was also moved by seeing the Brothers themselves living their vow of poverty.
Before Marco heads off to school, Deacon Daren give him a hug. Marco is a full time resident in the St. Joseph Center (where HIV children and adults are cared for by the MOP Brothers) at the MOP Compound in Cap Haitien, Haiti."The Brothers have taken that vow, so you literally have the poor feeding the poorest of the poor. They are dispensing medication. They are doing things the Haitian government cannot or will not do."
The Haiti center also places the living quarters of the Missionaries of the Poor right next to those whom they serve.
"So they literally pray, live, eat and sleep – that prayer and action, that dynamic, that interplay is 30 yards apart," he explains. "They live out the spirituality of being Christ to one another. The simplicity of prayer in action was profound... They live what they believe!"
Deacon Bitter says he was spiritually fed during his time there by the Brothers' work ethic and their joy. He loved watching them play a rousing match of soccer and the friendship among them. He also loved their detachment from material things.
Most of all, he was moved by the love the Brothers have for the children and people they serve.
"I was fed by that, deeply. To see their love and their joy... These kids and these Brothers are like family. The love of the children for the Brothers and the love of the Brothers for those they serve are obvious. The kids come out from school skipping and laughing and the Brothers are there to pick them up smiling."
During his service in Haiti, Deacon Bitter felt the call to work with the disabled children.
"I remember walking towards the centers, not knowing what I should do. I just felt a pull to go spend time with the mentally and physically disabled children. As I was walking in the door, I'm thinking, 'Now what are you going to do?' I just said, 'The Holy Spirit is in charge. Go be Christ to these children.'"
He didn't speak their language and some children were severely disabled, so what Deacon Bitter did to show his love was rub their necks and show his love through that physical touch.
"I'd go up and start touching them, and they'd give me the biggest smile I had ever seen. That's how I connected with them. That was my way, through touch, to let them know they are loved."
He learned many valuable lessons during his visit to Haiti.
"I need to reconsider what it truly important in my own life as a husband, father, deacon. And also what is important in life. And how do I take the time and place where I am in my life and use that. And keep it in balance with what is important in life, which is relationships and helping those in need.
"That's easy to say, but when you see it, feel it and touch it, it brings it to life."
He was thankful to see the tangible results of the work of St. Matthew Church in providing meals, food and other needs for the Missionaries of the Poor. At one point he was standing in a room stacked with boxes and bags of rice for families, workers and the poor who are served at the center. He realized those boxes had come from St. Matthew Church in Charlotte.
"Those were probably some of the boxes I had personally moved. That was a poignant moment for me," he says.
"The people of Haiti need us. Don't underestimate the impact of what we are doing and what we can do. If it were not for St. Matthew, those who give and the Brothers, I don't know what the people would do. There would be a substantial loss there."
Deacon Bitter also believes that some people may go on a mission trip for themselves, to feel good. But they end up coming back fed, changed more than they could ever have imagined.
"I had no idea why I was going. I believed the Lord was calling me to go. I've been to the Holy Land, and (the mission trip) spoke the message of Jesus much more than the Holy Land. The Holy Land is a physical representation of the Lord's life. This (mission) is a presentation of Our Lord's message, the spirit of what Jesus preached."
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter