The Easter Season is a joyful time in the liturgical year and it is wonderful to be out in the parishes celebrating the Sacrament of Confirmation with so many of our young people. The families are so welcoming and enjoyable, with everyone coming together to celebrate the Sacraments of the Church.

It is a wonderful opportunity to see the pastoral life that is the center of our Church.

There are so many beautiful parishes in West Virginia and I have enjoyed visiting several of them in the past two weeks, imparting the Holy Spirit upon hundreds of young people.  As I drive from parish to parish, I have been able to watch the greening of the State, with the coming of Spring that brings a special beauty to all of our celebrations.

I also had a wonderful event in Elizabeth where I blessed a mobile food pantry for Catholic Charities West Virginia (CCWVa).  CCWVa allows us to reach out to so many people in need across our Diocese and the State.  The new mobile food pantry is a wonderful example of this and of the creative way in which CCWVa works with parishes and other groups to address the specific needs of the poor in local communities. 

Many wonderful people worked together to make this mobile food pantry a reality.  The members of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Mission who have organized a pantry for the storage of food and a place to park this new mobile unit that allows people to enter and choose the food they want and need. In addition to helping the Diocese have a good outreach to those in need, with the van visiting communities in Wirt, Calhoun, Ritchie, Roane, Doddridge and Gilmer counties, it also helps us to learn about poverty and how to address it.  As disciples of Christ, we need to be better educated about the needs of the poor.  I learned at this dedication about what is called a “food desert.”  This is a term that refers to those areas that do not have food stores available and where people are truly without the means to meet their ordinary needs.  The mobile food van is designed to address these food deserts in the six counties it will serve by bringing a food to those in need within their own communities. 

Our workers and volunteers were excited to tell me how rewarding their work is, as they find the places and people of great needs and encounter a grateful atmosphere.  They were so personally excited about this new charitable effort and their ability to be involved in it.  I sincerely thank Mark Sliter-Hays and the people of Catholic Charities West Virginia for making this mobile food pantry.  There are so many wonderful people involved in this project and I am grateful to them all.

During the two previous weekends, I have conferred Papal Honors on one of our priests, one of our deacons, and one of our religious women, as well as six lay people.  Each one of the individuals, about whom you have read in The Catholic Spirit, have done wonderful things for our diocesan Church and for the Church universal.  I am very pleased that Pope Benedict XVI chose to recognize these wonderful people for their service to the Church.  There are certainly many, many other people across our Diocese who do important and very valuable works in our parishes, schools, and charitable outreach programs.  I would like to be able to honor them all, especially those involved in ministry to the poor.  I ask you to join me in congratulating this year’s honorees, while also doing something in your own parish or community to recognize the charitable work done by those who can be wonderful models to us all.