Bishop Ahr service week: Raise a banner of love
EDISON — This summer, the Bishop Ahr High School community had an opportunity to come together for a week of service. The program was designed to provide students with an opportunity to participate in service outreach, to develop a greater understanding of the needs of others and to determine practical ways to implement Catholic Social Teaching. The theme of the week, "Raise a Banner of Love," reflected the Catholic ideal of living the Gospel call of “loving our brothers and sisters."
MONDAY
On June 26, Ahr Service Week students joined with the Bishop’s School for Religion to discuss Catholic Social Teaching. The students were challenged to come up with examples of charity and justice that they already engaged in. Dorothy Day served as the role model for the day and her work in the Catholic Worker movement was discussed as the students began to identify issues that were important to them.
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TUESDAY
On June 27, the group traveled to Lodi to visit with the Felician Sisters at Our Lady of Lourdes Care Center. The Felician Sisters have been a part of the fabric of the school community since its founding in 1969. Accompanied by Sister Cynthia, Fr. Keith Cervine, Deacon Rich Lutomski, Mrs. Susan Williamson, Mrs. Lisa Tirri, and Mrs. Linda Pagano, the group toured the newly-renovated facilities then joined the sisters at mass. Following mass, the group enjoyed lunch with the sisters while sharing conversation with them. The students and faculty enjoyed hearing the sisters’ stories since many of them had previously ministered at Bishop Ahr High School. After lunch, the group headed to the community room to help coordinate a horse racing game with the sisters and everyone had a wonderful time.
Upon returning to Bishop Ahr, the students shared a meal together and participated in a discussion about what service is and why the service of presence is so important. The students shared some great insights about their time with the sisters. The role model for the day was Saint Mother Theresa, a great example of being present to the person in front of you. The students were challenged to recognize the human dignity of others and to respond to that dignity with love.
WEDNESDAY
On June 28, the group helped with two important programs at Bishop Ahr. The first group wrote cards for the Felician Sisters, prepared brown bags for our ongoing “Change the World” project and designed two bulletin boards. Another group assisted with the Bishop’s Technology School, aiding participants of the program with completing a logo utilizing Photoshop. That afternoon, the group participated in an immersion experience by learning about welfare and the challenges people living in poverty face.
In New Jersey, the average family on welfare is provided $4 per day, per person. Each Service Week student received $3 per person to account for the other bills the household needed to pay. The students, divided into “families,” went to a local food store where they had about 30 minutes to complete their family meal shopping for Thursday. They needed to buy breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks based on the number of people in their “family.” At first, the groups were excited about the challenge but once they began adding up the prices at the cash register, they began to panic. Upon returning to school, the group watched a documentary on “Living on One Dollar,” which elaborated on the challenges of extreme poverty in the rural countryside of Guatemala. The idea of living simply was an ode to our role model, St. Francis of Assisi.
THURSDAY
On June 29, the group woke up to begin their day of service to the school itself. They began by making breakfast using the goods they bought the previous night. After breakfast, the group met with the maintenance personnel who explained the day’s service project. The students were asked to help scrape, scrub and clean the lockers in the building. The group took the challenge head-on, scraping, scrubbing, sanitizing, and vacuuming the lockers for several hours. That night, students watched "The Shack," a movie that follows the relationship between the main character, Mack, and God. The movie challenged the participants to recognize the role God plays in our lives and the love that God has for us. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the role model for the day.
FRIDAY
After breakfast, the students came to the Chapel to spend the last day in community. They began by learning what the Bishop’s School for Religion learned during the week and the action plans they were going to take back to their school communities. The group then got to hear from Deacon Peter Barcellona (Alumni Parent and Catholic Relief Services Ambassador for the Diocese of Metuchen). Barcellona shared stories, photos, and information from his many mission trips abroad and how Catholic Relief Services is on the front lines of providing care to the poorest of the poor.
Being a voice for the voiceless matched the role model for the day: Blessed Oscar Romero. Following mass, the students shared lunch and did an affirmation activity with the Bishop’s School participants. The students spent the afternoon discussing how to make positive changes in the world and the importance of planning. The group created an action plan for the 2017-18 school year, looking to address homelessness in the Middlesex County area. The week ended with a prayer service in which the parents of the participants asked God’s blessing upon the group that they would continue the work they began this week.
For more information on Bishop Ahr High School, visit http://www.bgahs.org/.