With Bread and Heart in Tent City
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
By Lois Rogers | Features Editor
On his annual summer visits to the United States, Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski is apt to stop by St. Mary of the Lake Parish, Lakewood, to pray with and visit the large Polish community there.
And if there’s some time to spare from his pastoral mission, the archbishop will make appearances in the community-at-large which meld the Gospel message with his role as the Vatican’s ranking prelate on health care.
That’s how, as head of the Pontifical Council for Health Care, he came to Blue Claws Stadium last August to throw out the first pitch at a game. It was a way, he said back then, to “stress the fact that sports bring health and are very empowering to young people.”
This year, the archbishop, who has brought the Church’s concern for health care as a “natural right” to the fore in numerous forums around the world, shared his deep sense of that mission not with sports fans in a stadium but with a small band of brothers and sisters who live in the homeless encampment within walking distance of it.
He had wanted to visit tent city since learning of it during a previous visit, said Father Marian F. Kokorzycki, parochial vicar of St. Mary of the Lake. Father Kokorzycki, a long time acquaintance of the archbishop’s, said that visiting people in extreme need, showing the support of the Church for them, is a real part of the prelate’s ministry.
“He knows about these things,” Father Kokorzycki said. “He believes that seeing the reality is part of his job, that being with those who most need help is part of his job.
“Very often when he is in Rome, he stops by the poor on the streets, talks with them, finds out from them what pushed them into their situation. He is a man who will not go by a bad situation. He will put his attention to it.”
And so, when he returned this year, on the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time, just after celebrating Mass in St. Mary of the Lake Church where the Gospel reading shared once again the story of the miracle of how five loaves and two fishes fed a vast multitude, the archbishop made it his mission to enter the makeshift world of the homeless.
There, amid tarp-covered shelters housing an estimated 80 souls who for a variety of reasons in this bad economy have found refuge there, he offered consolation and prayer. Standing amid a backdrop that included grazing chickens, a communal bathroom and shower tents and rutted roads filled with water after weekend storms, and a chapel in the woods that boasts an altar and an organ, he blessed the occupants.
His blessing came just after the residents had eaten their fill of a barbecue served on a day when the sharing of food against all odds stood at the heart of the Liturgy of the Word.
The barbecue had been created for them through the combined efforts of parishioners, the parish St. Vincent de Paul conference and Knights of Columbus from neighboring Brick. From the looks of things after the barbecue – clean picnic tables and full recycling bins – they had enjoyed every morsel of it.
Minister Steve Brigham, the spiritual leader, founder and organizer of the camp that has existed on the fringes of the pines since 2005, called the barbecue and the archbishop’s visit “a very encouraging moment. For someone of his high rank to come down here brings a real sense of morale.”
He explained that such a boost was very welcome as Tent City Lakewood residents continue their efforts to fight a lawsuit filed by the township and Ocean County aimed at evicting them from the woods. The case is now in mediation as Superior Court Judge Joseph Foster continues to urge both sides to resolve the matter.
He said the ongoing support residents by religious organizations such as the Knights of Columbus and St. Vincent de Paul are also very meaningful to the beleaguered community.
The residents listened attentively as the archbishop spoke to them explaining that he had come to Lakewood to visit the Polish community and that he had worked for a long time with both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.
The archbishop thanked the residents for inviting him to come among them, allowing him to visit them.
Taking note of the chapel and the signs that dot the landscape exhorting all to prayer, he encouraged the residents to “turn to the Bible, the (foundation) of your life….God bless you for your faith and your courage and (your recognition) that life is important. Again, God bless you.”
He noted the ecumenical nature of the camp, presided over by a minister, occupied by Protestants, Catholics and Jews. He praised the ecumenical nature of the community. “There are brothers and sisters in Christ and Jewish people.” He noted that Blessed Pope John Paul II – to whom he has a deep devotion – had many friends who were Jewish and he spoke of the late pontiff’s abiding love for the Jewish community.
But when the archbishop walked among the residents, bringing greetings from Pope Benedict XVI, extending his own hand in fellowship, offering to bless them and, in fact, to celebrate Mass for them when he next visits the tomb of Pope John Paul II, the residents seemed momentarily stunned.
Then, one-by-one, they relaxed as the archbishop blessed them, spoke to them individually – in one case exchanging conversation in Polish with a tent city resident. Looking on, parishioners, the township police who had provided an escort through traffic clogged Lakewood, the Knights of Columbus and members of the St. Vincent de Paul Conference, could not help but smile.
Some of those who came forward to be blessed described it as a very meaningful experience.
Noreen, a Jewish resident, called it “OK and very nice to be blessed by him.”
A new resident of tent city, a young woman named Lauren who learned of its existence and location from a friend when family problems compelled her to leave home, said it was an “amazing experience.
“I’m Catholic and I thought it was amazing for him to come here. My grandmother goes to Italy and she saw him in Rome and I’m being blessed by him here. It is just amazing.”
Giovanni, another young resident who is down on his luck, found the experience inspirational. “This was something I have never seen before. It was wonderful to receive a blessing from the archbishop – an inspiration, in fact, for me trying to get back on my feet.”
Before he left, the archbishop paused a few moments to reflect on the visit. “It’s important to be close to the people,” he said. “They need not only bread but heart.”
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By Lois Rogers | Features Editor
On his annual summer visits to the United States, Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski is apt to stop by St. Mary of the Lake Parish, Lakewood, to pray with and visit the large Polish community there.
And if there’s some time to spare from his pastoral mission, the archbishop will make appearances in the community-at-large which meld the Gospel message with his role as the Vatican’s ranking prelate on health care.
That’s how, as head of the Pontifical Council for Health Care, he came to Blue Claws Stadium last August to throw out the first pitch at a game. It was a way, he said back then, to “stress the fact that sports bring health and are very empowering to young people.”
This year, the archbishop, who has brought the Church’s concern for health care as a “natural right” to the fore in numerous forums around the world, shared his deep sense of that mission not with sports fans in a stadium but with a small band of brothers and sisters who live in the homeless encampment within walking distance of it.
He had wanted to visit tent city since learning of it during a previous visit, said Father Marian F. Kokorzycki, parochial vicar of St. Mary of the Lake. Father Kokorzycki, a long time acquaintance of the archbishop’s, said that visiting people in extreme need, showing the support of the Church for them, is a real part of the prelate’s ministry.
“He knows about these things,” Father Kokorzycki said. “He believes that seeing the reality is part of his job, that being with those who most need help is part of his job.
“Very often when he is in Rome, he stops by the poor on the streets, talks with them, finds out from them what pushed them into their situation. He is a man who will not go by a bad situation. He will put his attention to it.”
And so, when he returned this year, on the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time, just after celebrating Mass in St. Mary of the Lake Church where the Gospel reading shared once again the story of the miracle of how five loaves and two fishes fed a vast multitude, the archbishop made it his mission to enter the makeshift world of the homeless.
There, amid tarp-covered shelters housing an estimated 80 souls who for a variety of reasons in this bad economy have found refuge there, he offered consolation and prayer. Standing amid a backdrop that included grazing chickens, a communal bathroom and shower tents and rutted roads filled with water after weekend storms, and a chapel in the woods that boasts an altar and an organ, he blessed the occupants.
His blessing came just after the residents had eaten their fill of a barbecue served on a day when the sharing of food against all odds stood at the heart of the Liturgy of the Word.
The barbecue had been created for them through the combined efforts of parishioners, the parish St. Vincent de Paul conference and Knights of Columbus from neighboring Brick. From the looks of things after the barbecue – clean picnic tables and full recycling bins – they had enjoyed every morsel of it.
Minister Steve Brigham, the spiritual leader, founder and organizer of the camp that has existed on the fringes of the pines since 2005, called the barbecue and the archbishop’s visit “a very encouraging moment. For someone of his high rank to come down here brings a real sense of morale.”
He explained that such a boost was very welcome as Tent City Lakewood residents continue their efforts to fight a lawsuit filed by the township and Ocean County aimed at evicting them from the woods. The case is now in mediation as Superior Court Judge Joseph Foster continues to urge both sides to resolve the matter.
He said the ongoing support residents by religious organizations such as the Knights of Columbus and St. Vincent de Paul are also very meaningful to the beleaguered community.
The residents listened attentively as the archbishop spoke to them explaining that he had come to Lakewood to visit the Polish community and that he had worked for a long time with both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.
The archbishop thanked the residents for inviting him to come among them, allowing him to visit them.
Taking note of the chapel and the signs that dot the landscape exhorting all to prayer, he encouraged the residents to “turn to the Bible, the (foundation) of your life….God bless you for your faith and your courage and (your recognition) that life is important. Again, God bless you.”
He noted the ecumenical nature of the camp, presided over by a minister, occupied by Protestants, Catholics and Jews. He praised the ecumenical nature of the community. “There are brothers and sisters in Christ and Jewish people.” He noted that Blessed Pope John Paul II – to whom he has a deep devotion – had many friends who were Jewish and he spoke of the late pontiff’s abiding love for the Jewish community.
But when the archbishop walked among the residents, bringing greetings from Pope Benedict XVI, extending his own hand in fellowship, offering to bless them and, in fact, to celebrate Mass for them when he next visits the tomb of Pope John Paul II, the residents seemed momentarily stunned.
Then, one-by-one, they relaxed as the archbishop blessed them, spoke to them individually – in one case exchanging conversation in Polish with a tent city resident. Looking on, parishioners, the township police who had provided an escort through traffic clogged Lakewood, the Knights of Columbus and members of the St. Vincent de Paul Conference, could not help but smile.
Some of those who came forward to be blessed described it as a very meaningful experience.
Noreen, a Jewish resident, called it “OK and very nice to be blessed by him.”
A new resident of tent city, a young woman named Lauren who learned of its existence and location from a friend when family problems compelled her to leave home, said it was an “amazing experience.
“I’m Catholic and I thought it was amazing for him to come here. My grandmother goes to Italy and she saw him in Rome and I’m being blessed by him here. It is just amazing.”
Giovanni, another young resident who is down on his luck, found the experience inspirational. “This was something I have never seen before. It was wonderful to receive a blessing from the archbishop – an inspiration, in fact, for me trying to get back on my feet.”
Before he left, the archbishop paused a few moments to reflect on the visit. “It’s important to be close to the people,” he said. “They need not only bread but heart.”