CHARLOTTE — Award-winning journalist Christina Lee Knauss, who has more than 20 years of experience covering faith and religion, has joined the diocese as a writer/content producer for a variety of print and digital platforms.
Knauss will cover news at the diocese’s parishes, schools and ministries for the Catholic News Herald’s print and online publications. She will also help manage other external and internal communication initiatives.
Knauss spent 15 years as the statewide reporter for the Diocese of Charleston’s newspaper, The Catholic Miscellany, and has written for Catholic News Service. She has also worked for numerous local, regional and national publications, including the Myrtle Beach Sun News, The State in Columbia, S.C., and most recently, the Columbia Regional Business Report.
CHARLOTTE — The Season of Creation begins Sept. 1 with the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ends on Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
Since 2015, Pope Francis has asked Catholics each year to start the month of September by praying for our common home.
“The annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation offers to individual believers and to the community a precious opportunity to renew our personal participation in this vocation as custodians of creation, raising to God our thanks for the marvelous works that He has entrusted to our care, invoking His help for the protection of creation and His mercy for the sins committed against the world in which we live,” Pope Francis said in his inaugural announcement for the World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation in 2015.
During the Season of Creation, Catholics are called to focus efforts to protect the planet for ourselves and future generations.
The theme for the 2023 Season of Creation is “Let Justice and Peace Flow.” This theme is inspired by the words of the prophet Amos: “Let justice flow on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.”
Pope Francis notes, “God wants justice to reign; it is as essential to our life as God’s children made in His likeness as water is essential for our physical survival.”
The five-week-long Season of Creation encourages and assists the faithful to respond to Pope Francis’ call to care for the environment – as individuals, as family, as parishioners and as members of community.
What can you do?
Consider reading Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si” –whether for the first time or to explore more deeply the pope’s message.
The full text is posted at www.laudatosimovement.org, along with more resources and the pope’s statement for the 2023 World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ webpage www.usccb.org/environment also focuses on environmental concerns – with resources such as prayers, educational videos, advocacy information, and Church quotes and statements about the environment. The webpage also includes links to the encyclical “Laudato Si’” as well as a “Laudato Si’” discussion guide.
— Joseph Purello is director of the Office of Social Concerns and Advocacy for Catholic Charities.
KERNERSVILLE — The Diocese of Charlotte’s annual Family Life Conference offers the faithful a chance to learn more about the Church’s teachings on marriage, family and the sanctity of life and how to apply them in today’s world.
This year’s conference, scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 30 at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Kernersville, combines powerful speakers with worship and fellowship.
“Every year the conference is different, focused on different aspects of the topics of family life and marriage,” said Jessica Grabowski, director of the Respect Life program for the diocese. “We try to bring in different national speakers each year who focus on topics that are very current.”
The day will start with Mass celebrated by Monsignor Patrick Winslow, vicar general and chancellor for the Diocese of Charlotte.
Two guest speakers this year will present timely topics, considering recent events in a culture that is rapidly becoming more secular and distancing itself from traditional ideas of marriage and family, Grabowski added.
Katy Faust will speak on “Defending Children’s Right to their Mother and Father.” Faust is founder and president of Them Before Us, a global movement defending children’s right to a mother and father. The movement promotes a child-centric perspective of marriage and family, and defends the rights of children in daily life and in the courts. Based in Seattle, Faust is an author whose articles have appeared in a wide array of publications including Newsweek, USA Today and The Federalist.
Grabowski noted that one of Faust’s concerns is the effect that in vitro fertilization (IVF) has on the relationship children have with their parents.
Mario A. Sacasa, a licensed marriage and family therapist with a Charlotte practice, will discuss “The Virtue of Hope in Family Life.” Sacasa travels the country lecturing on themes of marriage, relationship, sexuality, hope, and positive psychology, including appearances for the Theology of the Body Institute and the National Catholic Singles Conference. He also hosts the “Always Hope Podcast,” which focuses on helping listeners grow in emotional and spiritual health.
Grabowski said Sacasa’s talk will be useful for those who are seeking “where to find hope in today’s culture,” including ways to discover the hope intrinsic to the Church’s teachings on family life.
Dr. Faith Daggs, a Catholic OB/GYN based in Cary, will discuss “Pro-Life Laws and Women’s Health.” Father Noah Carter, pastor of Holy Cross Church, will offer a talk on “Christian Ordering of the Family.”
There will also be a discussion panel and a Q&A session featuring all the speakers as well as Father Peter Ascik, director of the diocesan Office of Family Life, providing attendees with a chance to more deeply explore themes discussed earlier in the day.
Holy Cross Church is located at 616 South Cherry St. in Kernersville. Registration is required, and the cost of the conference is $20 for students, $30 for adults and $100 for vendors.
— Christina L. Knauss
For details
At www.charlottediocese.org/2023-family-life-conference: Register and get more information about the upcoming Family Life Conference.
Sharing the earth’s bounty
The Catholic Charities community garden in Winston-Salem is run entirely by volunteers. WINSTON-SALEM — Every Wednesday, Maureen Irwin picks, washes and packs nutrient-rich produce from the garden she so carefully tends on the Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte property near downtown Winston-Salem.
Paired with the Catholic Charities food pantry, the effort feeds 60 to 80 families each week. Irwin, a volunteer who runs the garden, sets up a table each Thursday with the food pantry coordinator. The clients, some of whom live close enough to walk to the garden, then peruse the selection.
“It’s really a good location for them. There are specific clients of Catholic Charities who come, and they get the things from the pantry but then also the fresh foods from the garden,” Irwin says. “We try to give clients their choices because some people love beets and some people hate beets, so we don’t just put them in their cart whether they want them or not.”
ON THE GROW
The 1,440-square-foot garden was established in 2018 and features 10 beds that grow foods such as lettuce, spinach, kale, tomatoes, peppers, peas, beets, onions, carrots, eggplant, watermelon, beans and okra.
“People go crazy over the tomatoes and peppers, especially,” Irwin says with a smile. “I love being outside and taking advantage of everything that nature has to offer. I also love providing fresh, good food for people whose options are limited.”
So far this season, the garden has produced 190 pounds of food with more expected. The 2022 growing season yielded more than 350 pounds.
Irwin, who has tended successful backyard gardens for many years, has the help of about 10 volunteers who help plant, water, harvest and provide for other needs such as an irrigation system that solved the problem of needing a 200-foot hose to reach the garden.
The system, developed by volunteer Carl Westcott, doesn’t go directly to the garden, however. Instead, they installed a tank that’s fed by rainwater and condensation from the air conditioner. Its motor and pump get the water where it needs to go.
“Now, we mostly use God’s water as opposed to city water, and that was a huge help,” Irwin says.
The garden also offers educational opportunities for local students. Middle schoolers have visited to learn about topics such as crop rotation and soil testing. The garden, which is registered with the state extension service, has been a learning experience for Irwin too.
She notes that she learns new things every year and that the extension service’s free courses for community gardeners were very helpful in developing the space and building the pollinator garden.
Elsa and Hernan Sabio have been volunteering at the food pantry for the past 10 years and at the garden since its inception. Elsa waters and Hernan repairs items such as the hoses and trellis. They note that the team’s work in the garden has inspired clients to volunteer, too.
“We were aware that some of the population that we serve in the food pantry may not have access to the more naturally grown foods, so we thought if something can be grown and be made available fresh too, that would be great,” Hernan says. “That was the seed of how it got started, and it made a lot of sense to us.”
Elsa adds, “It’s a good way of providing food to those who need it, but it’s more than just the produce. It’s from our garden. We have put our love into growing it. We give it to them, and they really appreciate it. They say, ‘Oh, this is from your garden!’”
As the regional director of Catholic Charities in Winston-Salem and Greensboro, Glynis Bell adds, “We are grateful to Maureen and her garden team for making it possible for our participants to enjoy a variety of nutritious veggies they normally wouldn’t have. This has been a great addition to our already extensive outreach program.”
A NEW GARDEN CROPS UP
Program participants enjoy freshly bagged produce at the Catholic Charities community garden in Asheville. (Photo provided by Kristen Pollock)In 2020, the Catholic Charities office in Asheville started a similar garden when the pandemic interrupted regular work.
Because he couldn’t meet with clients at the time, Scott Meltsner – the office’s bilingual clinical mental health counselor – decided to start a garden to help staff members, clients, and program participants handle the stress of a difficult year.
“I was bringing in some of the produce from my home garden and having people really like it, so I thought, ‘Wow, wouldn’t that be a great thing for us to have here?’ Meltsner recalls. “Somewhere we can just grow the food at the office and give it away while getting our clients involved in some way.”
Jesse Boeckermann, western regional director for Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte, agreed.
“Working with the earth has great therapeutic benefits,” he says. “It also allows us to distribute fresh and healthy food to 40 to 45 families during our food pantry each Wednesday.”
Now the 150-square-foot garden is in its third season, and Kristen Pollock – AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer and impact coordinator for Catholic Charities – oversees the project while other staff members contribute as they can.
“I never tire of the miracle of putting one small seed in the dirt and watching it turn into pounds of food to eat,” Pollock says.
This year’s crop includes tomatoes, peppers, beans, okra, cucumbers, gourds, and a few flowers.
“I’m thankful to be part of an organization that is willing to use resources to grow healthy food and distribute local produce to local people,” says Pollock. “That is a value of many in and around Asheville, and it’s great to be a part of it.”
Nearby businesses have been very supportive, offering volunteers to help with the gardening.
Boeckermann adds, “We’d love to expand this project to grow more food and help more people in need.”
— Annie Ferguson