Relationship between parish, medical mission board bears fruit
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
On Sept. 20, the parish community of Holy Cross, Rumson, celebrated a Mass of Blessing and Sending Forth for eighteen dedicated volunteers who will head to far-flung parts of the world over the next month. They are part of the more than 1000 medically-trained professionals who volunteer annually through the Catholic Medical Mission Board, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing quality health care solutions to some of the world’s neediest people.
During the Mass, celebrant Father Robert Kaeding, who serves as pastor, Precious Blood Parish, Monmouth Beach, blessed the hands of each of the volunteers, “to strengthen them for the work that lies ahead.”
That work carries a $20,000 price tag per volunteer for one year of service. Volunteers are asked to raise some of that money, but the bulk of the costs are covered through donations from individuals, corporations and religious organizations.
Paul Maguire, a CMMB board member from Monmouth Beach, reached out to Holy Cross Parish four years ago. Pastor Michael Manning, who had been a physician himself prior to his ordination to the priesthood, was willing to help, but wanted to take it one step further. “I wanted to get the school involved,” said Father Manning. “Working with CMMB would help the children be more conscious of the missions. Learning about charity person-to-person is much better than learning about it cause-to-cause.”
So began a multi-level relationship between Holy Cross and CMMB. Each year, church and school raise money to support the volunteers, and the parish hosts the special Sending Forth Mass each fall. Throughout the year, the seventh grade classes in Holy Cross follow the journeys of the volunteers through e-mail, blogs, and Skype chats.
Richard Gallentino, director of the medical volunteers at CMMB, said, “The teaming of school children with volunteers is a unique model program developed via our relationship with Holy Cross. We think it’s great and are in the process of thinking how to replicate the program with other schools. We think it creates a unique cross-cultural dialogue about real issues”. At the request of the volunteers, the students are considering designing a pen pal relationship with children in the villages served by CMMB.
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On Sept. 20, the parish community of Holy Cross, Rumson, celebrated a Mass of Blessing and Sending Forth for eighteen dedicated volunteers who will head to far-flung parts of the world over the next month. They are part of the more than 1000 medically-trained professionals who volunteer annually through the Catholic Medical Mission Board, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing quality health care solutions to some of the world’s neediest people.
During the Mass, celebrant Father Robert Kaeding, who serves as pastor, Precious Blood Parish, Monmouth Beach, blessed the hands of each of the volunteers, “to strengthen them for the work that lies ahead.”
That work carries a $20,000 price tag per volunteer for one year of service. Volunteers are asked to raise some of that money, but the bulk of the costs are covered through donations from individuals, corporations and religious organizations.
Paul Maguire, a CMMB board member from Monmouth Beach, reached out to Holy Cross Parish four years ago. Pastor Michael Manning, who had been a physician himself prior to his ordination to the priesthood, was willing to help, but wanted to take it one step further. “I wanted to get the school involved,” said Father Manning. “Working with CMMB would help the children be more conscious of the missions. Learning about charity person-to-person is much better than learning about it cause-to-cause.”
So began a multi-level relationship between Holy Cross and CMMB. Each year, church and school raise money to support the volunteers, and the parish hosts the special Sending Forth Mass each fall. Throughout the year, the seventh grade classes in Holy Cross follow the journeys of the volunteers through e-mail, blogs, and Skype chats.
Richard Gallentino, director of the medical volunteers at CMMB, said, “The teaming of school children with volunteers is a unique model program developed via our relationship with Holy Cross. We think it’s great and are in the process of thinking how to replicate the program with other schools. We think it creates a unique cross-cultural dialogue about real issues”. At the request of the volunteers, the students are considering designing a pen pal relationship with children in the villages served by CMMB.
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