Having remained here in Florida this Christmas (with the intent of never again traveling north during the winter months) and with all of our children and grandchildren enjoying the snowy, frigid weather of Massachusetts, Diane and I spent the holy day with our other family at the Wildwood Soup Kitchen.
As the Thursday cook, Diane prepared the Christmas Eve dinner, assisted by our wonderful team of Thursday volunteers. And so by Thursday evening we were ready for a nice, long night's rest. But since I was scheduled to assist at Midnight Mass, the rest had to be postponed. It was also shortened considerably since we had been asked to help out with the Christmas day meal at the soup kitchen, and this meant setting the alarm clock for 6 a.m.
I confess I was a bit grumpy when that irritating alarm rudely roused me after only four hours of sleep. (I would have made a very bad monk.) But once I got to the soup kitchen and joined all the other volunteers, I was energized. We had a wonderful time and serving our guests was a delight.
I should be used to it by now, but the outpouring of true charity during this season of hope always takes me by surprise. This year, once again, the soup kitchen has been the beneficiary of the generosity of so many people that I am overwhelmed. In addition to the many financial donations that continue to come in from individuals, churches, businesses, and civic organizations, we have received huge donations of food. On Christmas Eve, for example, a local Cracker Barrel restaurant donated 50 of their wonderful pies. The local Winn-Dixie and Publix supermarkets also provided us with much larger than usual donations of bakery goods and other food products. God bless them all!
Even more remarkable though, are the number of folks who volunteered to help us to prepare and serve the special Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Indeed, we received so many offers to volunteer that we had to turn away most of those who inquired. We can accommodate only so many volunteers before we run out of both jobs and space. Even the media showed up and our local newspaper ran a front-page story today on our Christmas dinner, which you can read here: The Villages Daily Sun.
Then, to top off this festive day, yesterday evening my brother and some good friends joined us at our home for a wonderful Christmas dinner prepared by Diane.
Martyrdom of St. Stephen (photo taken in 2005 at Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, Rome
And so today, St. Stephen's Day, we will rest, and pay homage to this saint, deacon and martyr.
God's peace...
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