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Students use the dining hall at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory for their annual clothing drive that offers complimentary, gently used attire to those in need. It is one of myriad service programs at the school whose motto reads: “Enter to learn, leave to serve.” (Photo by Debra Greenblat/Catholic San Francisco)
January 17, 2019
Lidia Wasowicz
Embracing service as a fundamental core of Christian education, Catholic schools offer an array of opportunities to reach out and touch someone, near and far, in meaningful, Christ-inspired ways.
In the San Francisco archdiocese, academic and extracurricular programs provide seemingly endless possibilities to practice the corporal works of mercy in and out of the classroom.
They aim to feed the hungry, provide drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, give alms to the poor.
They strive to comfort the lonely, cheer the depressed, engage the ostracized, stir a sense of community among the disenfranchised.
“Our faith links our outreach to the example Jesus, the ultimate servant, has given us,” said Greg Schmitz, director of community life at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in San Francisco, whose motto proclaims that all who “enter to learn” will “leave to serve.”
Students get plenty of practice before graduation.
In the fall, they man tables piled with gently used jackets, skirts, pants, shoes and other attire they collected, sorted and arranged by size and style for easy selection.
To ensure word gets out to those most likely to benefit, volunteers walk to the heart of the nearby impoverished Tenderloin district, issuing personal invitations and offering directions to the one-day giveaway.
They return regularly to hand out 100 to 150 lunch boxes they packed with peanut butter sandwiches, fruit, power bars, water or juice and dessert.
In the spring, they host an on-campus barbecue for the entire neighborhood.
The first Friday of every month, they help bring a bit of respite from life on the streets at the Tenderloin block party.
The two-hour community builder provides passersby with food and entertainment that ranges from musical performances and card games to meditation or healing sessions and, on one occasion with a chemistry professor present, science experiments.
“We want to start reclaiming the humanity and relationships of this community,” explained Kathleen Cooney, instructor of religious studies.
The teens also work with, at and for a variety of charity organizations, visit the elderly, participate in cancer walks, renovate nonprofit facilities and schools, repair homes of the disadvantaged and disabled, raise funds for underserved communities in San Francisco, India, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Eritrea and other areas in need.
They organize proms for autistic children and distribute tampons and hygiene products to homeless women.
Members of Lasallian Vincentian Youth and similar groups lead retreats, develop plans for spiritual enrichment, knit with seniors and donate their handiwork to the downtrodden, sew hats for babies in intensive care, hold service fairs and blood drives, mentor peers, tutor youngsters, teach English as a second language, take part in immersion service-learning activities locally and abroad, including a migrant worker camp in Napa, an orphanage in Santiago, Chile, a sustainable farm in Oregon and a shelter for families along the border in El Paso.
“Seeing some of the situations in our society and educating themselves about the suffering around them is transformative,” Schmitz said.
“You never know how the Holy Spirit will work in anyone so it’s important to provide a wide range of opportunities and be open to suggestions from students,” he said.
Such suggestions drive athletic teams to create and carry out a field of assistive programs.
In the classroom, the service-seeped curriculum provides grade-specific occasions for outreach.
Senior math courses, for example, incorporate study of the worldwide Kiva financial system, an online platform that links lenders with low-income entrepreneurs and students in 82 countries.
Preferring purer motives than a graduation requirement, the school imposes no minimum service-hour mandates.
“We aim to create a culture of generosity, social justice, kindness and action that teaches, inspires and encourages our students to respond to the world using their brains, hearts and souls,” said Julia Rinaldi, associate director of service and community.
Students approve the move.
Voluntary rather than requisite participation encourages greater involvement, which can prove as enriching as her encounter with a homeless man at the annual barbecue, said Jennifer Kazaryan, co-leader of LVY, student council member and volunteer in numerous organizations.
“He actually ended up playing the piano for all of us,” she recalled. “I feel as if he made a difference in my life and made me realize that so many of the homeless people are wonderful and talented people, that everyone is unique.”
Fellow senior and LVY co-captain Chloe Jenniches underwent a similar transformation while passing out food in the Tenderloin.
“The best part of LVY is that moment when you give someone a lunch, and their eyes light up, and they thank you,” said Jenniches, who tutors peers, teaches children to read and helps out at the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.
“At this point I know I have made their day far better than it would have been, and that is one of the greatest feelings in the world.”
Such exhilarating moments signal the Holy Spirit at work, said Peter Diaz, service learning coordinator at Mercy High School in Burlingame.
“Service is an integral component to the Sisters of Mercy’s charism, following (foundress) Catherine McAuley’s mission to reach out to those who are poor, sick and uneducated, focusing on those who live on the margins of society,” he said.
It is equally central to the educational experience at Marin County’s only Catholic high school.
“The focus is on social justice and Catholic social teaching and the responsibility each of us has to the greater world around us while living out the Gospel values,” said Linda Siler, Christian service coordinator at Marin Catholic.
Therein lies an essential element that sets Catholic schools apart from the rest, said Nicole Florin, Marin Catholic campus ministry director.
“Catholic identity enhances service programs by recognizing Christ in the people and places served,” she said. “The prayer life that can proceed and continue after the service helps to make the experience holy.”