 |
Saturday, Jul 31, 2010 |
|
|
|
Parishes Sacred Sleep: sanctuary, private devotion, Mass share worship space
December 14th, 2008By Rick DelVecchio The Wednesday noontime scene at St. Boniface Church in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood shows three communities using the same space, each in its own prayerful way. The sanctuary is dark and peaceful as homeless men and women stretch out in the pews, finishing their morning sleep. They are guests at St. Boniface and under the supervision of the non-profit Gubbio Project, which is called to the charism of St. Francis of Assisi. A handful of individual worshipers leave the street people alone, and one or two pray to Jesus and Mary at the church’s many shrines. In the front pews, a gray-haired man and a young woman, her child lying down on the pew next to her, pray the rosary. Quietly, the third community begins to gather. The church doors open more frequently, letting in bursts of sunlight, as parishioners come together for the weekday 12:15 p.m. Mass. The organist takes his seat and Mass begins. Christ is the vine, FranciscanFather Vincent Hughes says in his homily. “If we live in Christ, we can say we have been pruned.” By now most of the homeless have left the church as Gubbio Project volunteers clean up. But one man in the back rests his head on the pew in front of him, his bedding piled on the seat. And nearby a woman wearing a parka looks toward the altar: she had been awakened by a Gubbio volunteer when it was time to go but stayed on a little longer. A glance at the bulletin board in the back gives a glimpse into the lives of the people who seek sanctuary in the church. There is a notice for a man who disappeared after his mother died, and another for a man whose worried family in Ohio has been trying to reach him. The Gubbio Project serves 1,000 people a month, said Jennifer Sacramento, the group’s new executive director. ”We provide sanctuary for the homeless who need sleep and rest during the day,” she said. “At night many homeless people have to stay up because it’s very dangerous.” The project is developing closer ties to other service providers in the neighborhood, including St. Anthony Foundation and Episcopal Community Services. The idea is to extend employment and health services to the homeless. The project is “always looking for volunteers,” Sacramento said. Its website is http://thegubbioproject.org.
|
|
Printer Friendly
