On March 7-13, three independent organizations demonstrated a unique and successful model of ecumenical partnership to support and serve the poor and sick. The Order of Malta-Charlotte Region, Wingate University Campus Ministries, and members of Our Lady of Grace Church in Indian Land, S.C., independently support Missionaries of the Poor both in the Monroe monastery and in Kingston, Jamaica.
In North Carolina, the brothers work with the local poor and disadvantaged. They also collect food, clothing, diapers and other necessities that are sent to MOP centers in Jamaica, Haiti, Africa, and Indonesia.
During Wingate University’s spring break the second week of March, members of the Order of Malta and Our Lady of Grace Church traveled to Kingston with 10 students from Wingate University to work with the MOP brothers in their ministry to the poor and sick. The Order of Malta-Charlotte Region sponsored room and board for the students as part of its faith initiatives and service to the sick and the poor.
All three organizations collaborated to collect clothing, vitamins, diapers and other supplies for delivery to the MOP brothers, who operate five centers in the ghetto of Kingston and one just outside of Kingston in the mountains. In these centers, they feed, clothe, shelter and give medical aid to approximately 600 physically and mentally challenged men, women and children. Each center operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Cameron and Natalie Jackson, members of the Order of Malta, and Deacon Robert “Doc” Donofrio, M.D., from Our Lady of Grace Parish, served alongside Wingate’s campus minister, Dane Jordan, and 10 university students in each of the five centers, supporting the brothers in a variety of tasks, such as feeding, brushing teeth, cleaning and providing residents of the centers with love and compassion. Students also participated in daily Liturgy of the Hours, rosary, Stations of the Cross, and Mass with members of the Order and MOP brothers.
“Serving with Missionaries of the Poor in Jamaica was, overall, truly the most challenging yet rewarding experience of my life so far,” student Ariel Ray said. “I had no idea what to expect. Initially, our intentions were to serve the poor and in need, but what I found in Jamaica was something that I myself was in need of: an abundance of joy. For people who have such little to offer, that don’t even own the clothes on their backs, they offered more love, light, and life than any that I have ever known. It is now my personal belief that everyone, from all social classes and backgrounds, should take the opportunity to serve in this way at some point in their lives. There is so much to learn about God and about life from the faces of these precious people. This was an experience I will never forget.”
“Our mission trip to Jamaica for me was like a retreat,” another student, Rosio Carbajal, said. “With our time spent with the brothers and residents, I had a lot of time to reflect on my life and grow my relationship with God. I feel like I came back stronger in my faith, and with new lessons learned from all the experiences we lived.”
The Missionaries of the Poor was founded by Father Richard Ho Lung, a Jamaican of Chinese parentage. A convert to Catholicism, Father Ho Lung began his priesthood as a Jesuit in academia. He taught at Boston College and the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. But during these years he could not forget his roots in the ghettos of Jamaica, and he began devoting his life to serving the poorest of the poor in his native country.
— Goodwill Publishers
Learn more
At www.missionariesofthepoor.org: Find out more about the Missionaries of the Poor and their work around the world
CHARLOTTE — Challenges to assemble and pray near Charlotte-area abortion clinics keep mounting as the city is set to review stronger noise rules outside medical facilities.
Charlotte City Council will soon hear and decide on changes to its noise ordinance, which would limit amplified noise within 200 feet from the property line of schools, houses of worship and medical facilities when they are open.
The Neighborhood Development Committee is recommending these changes, and council members acknowledged in an April 17 committee meeting that these proposed changes are targeted toward those assembling near abortion facilities. A Preferred Women’s Health on Latrobe Drive, Charlotte’s busiest abortion mill, performs several thousand abortions each year, and city officials have noted the amount of resources spent policing those gathered and praying outside the facility.
The proposed changes to the noise ordinance, which should be open for community discussion at the June 3 City Council Strategy Session, would require the designated places to put up signs explaining they are quiet zones. These changes would not restrict the distribution of literature or other quiet activities.
Pro-life advocates are concerned that these changes would limit free speech, as many pro-life groups pray, witness, counsel and sing outside the abortion clinics.
St. Michael Church in Gastonia parishioner and LifeChain of Gaston County member Linda Mooney attended the April 17 city meeting along with others involved in the pro-life cause.
“These changes tread on our First Amendment right to free speech,” Mooney said. “Our country was founded on differences of opinion and being able to express those freely.”
Mooney spends many Saturdays outside the Latrobe Drive abortion facility praying for life.
“I’ve been involved in pro-life activities for a long time out of love for life, the women and the babies,” she said. “I do believe that women deserve better than this.”
Recently, “on street” parking was limited near another of Charlotte’s three abortion facilities, Family Reproductive Health. This South End facility, located off South Boulevard, performs 1,500 to 2,000 abortions a year. This move is also said to target pro-life advocates assembling to pray near the facility.
The noise ordinance changes are not clearly outlined, Mooney said. Instead of using a decibel level to determine sound levels, the ordinance would limit amplified and “unreasonably loud” noise.
“It’s not measured or well-defined,” Mooney said. “It’s not that the volume would need to reach a certain decibel. Someone would just need to say it’s bothering them.”
The buffer rules would extend to parades, bars and restaurants within 200 feet of schools, houses of worship or medical facilities. St. Peter Church in Charlotte on Tryon Street overlooks a popular parade route in the city of Charlotte.
There are also proposed changes that deal with construction noise. Fines would be $100 for the first offense, $500 for the second offense, and $1,000 for additional violations.
Depending on the outcome of the June 3 discussion, the council vote on this issue could happen June 24.
— Kimberly Bender, Online reporter
Want to get involved?
At www.prolifecharlotte.org: Learn more about pro-life activities. To learn how to have your voice heard on this issue, contact Linda Mooney, 704-589-3930 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Catholic Campus Ministry couple grows together in faith and love
Danny O’Malley and Alex Carpenter met and grew in their faith together through Catholic Campus Ministry at Davidson College. (Photo provided)HUNTERSVILLE — Some interceptions occur off the field.
Danny O’Malley and Alex Carpenter learned that reality four years ago at Davidson College, where both were on athletic scholarships. O’Malley had a hip-related injury playing football, which eventually caused him to drop out of the sport. Not much later, Carpenter suffered a concussion.
They met in French class, but, O’Malley says, it was the golf cart that drew them together. He was recovering from his hip injury, so he had the use of a golf cart around the Davidson campus. After French class, both went to the campus training facility for their respective sports, so O’Malley gave her a lift.
“Eventually we began doing homework assignments together and hanging out with each other outside of class,” he explains. “The rest is history.”
Then Carpenter suffered the concussion. Like O’Malley, she was out of the game. She looks back at that event as the impetus for her journey to the Catholic Church.
“Sports is like your job. (Without it) I don’t know who I am.” So began a deeper search for meaning. “I began to take a real interest in more spiritual matters.”
She began her quest, and soon O’Malley was part of it. O’Malley, a Catholic, and Carpenter, a Baptist, had different religious beliefs and practices.
Carpenter had never questioned her beliefs. Now a torrent of questions about religious viewpoints became the staple of their conversation. He answered many of her questions and came to build a small library in search of answers he didn’t have. They attended each other’s churches, while she continued her search for the truth about Jesus and the Resurrection.
When at O’Malley’s home in Cleveland, they met to discuss their faith with his parish priest. At Davidson, they worked with Father Noah Carter at St. Mark Church in Huntersville to prepare her to enter the Catholic Church. On campus, they sought advice and guidance from Catholic campus minister Scott Salvato and they attended campus Mass.
Carpenter’s journey, with O’Malley at her side, led to full communion with the Catholic Church in February. She was confirmed by Father Carter, with O’Malley as her sponsor and surrounded by his family and their Catholic Campus Ministry friends.
She recounts, “The Lord had never left my side and guided me toward the truth I had been desiring for so long. Once I was confirmed and able to receive Holy Communion, I felt so comforted. I was finally home and closer to Christ than I had ever been before. Each time I go to Mass, I experience just how much Our Lord loves us...”
Sharing life’s disappointments and celebrating the joy of their shared Catholic faith, the two look to the future together. They will graduate this month, marry in July, and then begin postgraduate work at the University of Missouri-Kansas City this fall. He is pursuing a career in law and she in dentistry. Together, they are forging a future on a new playing field – bound by a deep commitment to God and to each other. The goal is in sight, the end zone within reach!
— Ann Kilkelly, Special to the Catholic News Herald
Through illness, CCM student finds peace, joy, God
Alaina Swick was supported through a serious illness by her Campus Ministry family, and she deepened her faith in God throughout her suffering as well as her sudden and unexpected healing. (Photo provided)BOONE — “Heal my heart, Lord; the rest will follow,” Alaina Swick prayed before the Blessed Sacrament at St. Lawrence Basilica in Asheville a few years back. It became her mantra as she searched for a true and deeper faith.
She joined the Catholic Campus Ministry community and entered the RCIA program for people entering the Catholic Church while she was a student at Appalachian State University in Boone.
In her sophomore year, she became ill and was diagnosed with Chronic Lyme Disease. Even though her condition worsened, she felt a magnetic force drawing her to God. Despite the pain, she came to rest in God’s love for her.
She was forced to drop out of school but insisted on finishing her preparation to become Catholic. She describes her special 2017 Easter Vigil: “The glimmering candlelight, the swelling in my heart as I was anointed..., the complete ecstasy I felt when I finally received Jesus in the Eucharist – this was the culmination of everything my life had been working towards.”
Looking at the life of Jesus, the apostles and many saints, however, Swick realized that closeness to God brings both joy and suffering. Her health continued its downward spiral. Many days she couldn’t get out of bed.
“Most days that summer were shrouded in darkness. I remember how desolate, yet peaceful, I felt,” she recalls.
Then one Sunday in July 2017, Swick and her boyfriend Nathan went to Mass as usual, though this time would not be usual. She hobbled in on her cane with her boyfriend’s help. Mass began. “I suddenly felt a presence rush through me and hit me square in the gut, with a profound message blaring: ‘I am going to heal you now.’”
Her immediate response was praise and her mantra: “Heal my heart, Lord; the rest will follow.”
Swick continued to recount her story: “My heart responded in gratitude. I thanked God for the pain and for all the wisdom that arose from it.
“I felt heat where I was once numb, sweet relief where pain had gripped me. When it came time to receive Communion, I left my cane in the aisle and approached the altar, unaided for the first time ever.
“From that day onward, the healing that God began in me came to fruition. A renewed mind, body, and, most importantly, spirit serve as a testimony to God’s power, His love for us and His perfect timing.”
Returning to school that fall, Swick ran to see her friends at Catholic Campus Ministry. Together they cried and praised God for this miracle.
“It was within this community that I was nurtured into the faith, celebrated every step along this journey, and where I have found a home,” she shares.
Her Catholic Campus Ministry community and Erin Kotlowski, campus minister, had been there for her while other friends had drifted away. They prepared special foods for her, prayed with and for her, and helped however they could. When Swick had to drop out of school, they looked after her boyfriend Nathan, surrounding him with the support he needed. They held fundraisers to help defray medical expenses.
“I am so grateful for CCM and the role it has played in my life. I never could’ve imagined all those years ago where I would be now: a Catholic, a leader at CCM, and a witness to God’s redemptive healing power.”
Swick gives all the credit to God. “It’s not that God gets to be part of my story, but I get to be part of God’s story.”
Back at school, her advice to anyone willing to listen is: “Approach God as someone who really loves you and believe that any action from God is out of love for you.”
Swick admits that she is really shy and sometimes finds it difficult to share, but she knows this is not her private story. As Nathan had said to her back on that wonderful Sunday in July, “This is not just for us!”
— Ann Kilkelly, Special to the Catholic News Herald
BELMONT — Michael P. Warsaw, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EWTN, has been named the third recipient of the Benedict Leadership Award. The award, given by the Benedict Leadership Institute at Belmont Abbey College, was presented in a public ceremony at Belmont Abbey College March 29.
The Institute selected Warsaw above all for his leadership as Chairman and CEO of EWTN, the largest religious media network in the world, and for his commitment to bringing the truth of the faith across the mainstream media and into millions of homes throughout the world.
“While your life displays numerous reasons for being worthy of the Benedict Leadership Award, the committee wishes to honor and highlight your leadership as chairman and CEO of EWTN, as publisher of the National Catholic Register, and your personal witness as a man of faith,” wrote Executive Director Conor Gallagher in his selection letter to Warsaw.
The committee also wishes to highlight Warsaw’s vision for EWTN global outreach and its impact on Catholics in the heart of Africa.
The Benedict Leadership Institute was founded in 2016 to develop and inspire Catholic leaders to transform society in light of their faith. The Benedict Leadership Award is a key activity of the Institute.
The Institute confers the award annually, recognizing outstanding men and women whose achievements reflect the heroic leadership of St. Benedict. Last year’s recipient was Leonard Leo, preceded by Carl Anderson.
Recipients deliver a public address in their area of leadership and are presented with a $10,000 cash award. Warsaw graciously turned down the cash award, but asked that the money be donated to the work of EWTN.
Belmont Abbey College, home of the Benedict Leadership Institute, is a Catholic college located near Charlotte. Founded in 1876 by Benedictine monks, it is recognized by the Cardinal Newman Society as one of America’s top Catholic colleges.
— Saint Benedict Press