In its 10th year, Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan's annual outreach day focuses hearts, minds on Christian service
DETROIT — Saturday, Oct. 17, was crisp and sunny, perfect for raking leaves and tending to the yard — which is just how parishioners at St. Michael Parish in Sterling Heights spent their morning.
St. Michael parishioners' cleanup of their parish grounds was just one of dozens of services events held across the Archdiocese of Detroit by parishes participating in the 10th annual Mercy in Action Day of Service, an initiative organized by Catholic Charities of Southeast Michigan (CCSEM).
Deacon Fred Billotto, mission integration and evangelical charity manager at CCESM, told Detroit Catholic that the goal of Mercy in Action Day is to engage the community in the works of mercy and to make service a real witness to Jesus Christ.
"We want to rally the people to meet the needs of the community, to respond to Matthew 25 — to feed the hungry and clothe the naked — and to foster an encounter with Christ," Deacon Billotto said. "Service is a way to evangelize, and to embody and bear witness to our faith."
In response to Christ's call to feed the hungry, members of St. Vincent Ferrer Parish in Madison Heights spent their Mercy in Action Day preparing and packing sandwiches to donate to Macomb's Answer to Temporary Shelter (MATTS), an emergency shelter program sponsored by the Salvation Army.
"Our goals are to support the homeless, especially those in need in our own community," said Angela Maynard, parish nurse and a member of St. Vincent Ferrer's Evangelical Outreach Committee.
The 25 volunteers who participated on Saturday prepared and packed more than 300 sandwiches. The event was part of the parish's monthlong focus on Christian service that included collections for pet food and supplies, Halloween candy, toiletries, and socks and underwear to be donated to nearby shelters.
For St. Peter Parish in Mount Clemens, Mercy in Action Day also served as a focused effort amid more regular service projects. St. Peter held food and toiletries drives for the Catholic Charities event, with members of the community dropping goods off at the parish, where 75 volunteers sorted and organized food to be donated to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
"The parish is wonderful at sharing their wealth, whether it be donations, their time, or their food," said Kathy Rodgers, St. Vincent de Paul coordinator at St. Peter.
The parish also hosts a warming center that operates from January to April. Many of the toiletries and goods collected during Mercy in Action Day will support St. Peter's warming center and a local shelter, as well. They collaborate with a different organization every year, with this year's partner being the MCREST shelter, just one mile from the church.
"Of the toiletries that come in, 50 bags will go to MCREST, and the rest will stay with our warming center," said Anna Dove, Christian service coordinator at St. Peter.
St. Michael Catholic Community in Sterling Heights also focuses on keeping people warm through its "mercy mats" donations, which the parish has now made for a decade.
"Not only do we make these mats for Mercy in Action Day, we facilitate three other times during the year in which parishioners can come in and make these," Michelle Hayes, Christian service coordinator at St. Michael, told Detroit Catholic. Over the years, St. Michael has donated at least 80 blankets and 20 pillows to St. Aloysius Parish in Detroit, The Motor City Mitten Mission, and other charitable organizations in greater Detroit.
St. Michael paired its annual mercy mat project with a cleanup of the parish grounds, which included installation of new benches that were built Saturday by the parish's Knights of Columbus council.
"We have a couple of members who are deceased," said Tom Nevedal, former Grand Knight of Council 13799. "We're making benches and putting plaques on in their memory."
Mercy in Action Day came on the heels of another very successful CCSEM event on Oct. 10. In partnership with Sleep In Heavenly Peace, more than 150 volunteers from Better Way Detroit, Firm Foundations of Hope, the Knights of Columbus, St. Joseph's Helpers and many schools and parishes built 57 beds to be delivered to children across the city who are sleeping on floors, couches or air mattresses.
Deacon Billotto reflected on all these efforts as ways to evangelize through the good.
"When we serve, we see Christ in the people we serve, they see Christ in us, and the world sees Christ in all of us," Deacon Billotto said.
