Jesus' resurrection is the source of our joy, Bishop Jugis preaches at Easter vigil
CHARLOTTE — “Let us all resolve to live joyfully our Easter faith in the Church.”
This was the message proclaimed by Bishop Peter Jugis March 26 as he celebrated the Easter vigil Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral, which was filled with young and old there at dusk to greet the Light of the World.
The liturgy began with the blessing of the Paschal fire and lighting of the Paschal candle at the Marian grotto outside the cathedral. Then the hundreds of faithful processed behind Bishop Jugis – candles in hand – through the cathedral’s flower-festooned Door of Mercy into the darkened cathedral to hear the Exsultet chanted by Deacon Brian McNulty.
After the Scripture readings and psalms, the cathedral’s lights were turned on and bells were rung as the faithful sang the Gloria.
“I wish each of you God’s blessings and peace, and especially that you will have Easter joy this day as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus,” Bishop Jugis said in his homily, “and that this Easter joy, I pray, remain with you always.”
The fact that Jesus rose from the dead is the essential point of Christian joyfulness, he noted.
“Christianity is a joyful religion, because Jesus is risen from the dead. He is the source of our joy. He is our joy – by defeating sin, by defeating death, and rising from the dead.” Not only that, he said, but Christ “is our joy because we have a relationship with Him.”
Repeating a point from his Holy Thursday homily, Bishop Jugis reminded those present that Christianity is not about a concept or an idea.
“It’s that we have a relationship, through the family of the Church, with a living Person, the living Son of God, Jesus Christ, our Risen Savior,” he emphasized.
That gives us reason to be joyful, not only at Easter but always, he said.
Easter joy is particularly evident among the Church’s newest Catholics during this Easter season, Bishop Jugis noted, who “are beginning their new life in Christ.”
He welcomed four catechumens at the vigil Mass, giving them the sacraments of initiation – baptism, confirmation and Holy Communion.
Smiles among the four people and their sponsors and families, as well as among all of the parishioners, were evident as the Mass ended with everyone jubilantly singing the traditional Easter hymn: “Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!”
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor. Photos by John Cosmas, correspondent.
Bishop Jugis venerates cross, offers Good Friday liturgy March 25
'Here we are at the foot of the cross'
CHARLOTTE — In a somber, reflective Good Friday liturgy, Bishop Peter Jugis entered St. Patrick Cathedral and lay prostrate before the sanctuary steps, humbling himself before God and in the presence of the faithful. This annual service held at 3 p.m., the hour Jesus Christ expired on the cross, recalls the sacrifice of God's only begotten Son for the salvation of souls.
The liturgy began with the reading of The Passion narrated by Deacon Brian McNulty, with Deacon Carlos Medina as the voice, Bishop Jugis as Jesus and the congregation responding as the crowd. They took those gathered on the tortuous journey Christ suffered from the Garden of Gethsemane through His crucifixion on Golgatha.
"The reading of The Passion stirs up mixed emotions in our hearts," Bishop Jugis said during his homily. "For one thing our hearts are filled with sorrow as we participate in the reading of The Passion of Jesus, because we realize it is our sins which Jesus is taking upon Himself; taking upon Himself also all of the sorrow and all of the suffering that our sins cause.
Bishop Jugis explained that Our Lord does that in order to redeem us -- in order to remove the obstacle which stands between our relationship with us and almighty God.
"He is there in His passion, His suffering, His crucifixion -- He's there standing in our place. Standing there for us, taking upon Himself what really should be happening to us, because we, by our own sinfulness, really are the ones who should be suffering all of this.
"But Jesus, in His mercy takes this all upon Himself, the sins of the entire human race, of all time -- past, present and into the future. Yet we go on sinning knowing that He has taken all of our sin upon Himself along with its sorrow and suffering.
Bishop Jugis then asked the faithful, "Do we make a real effort to change our ways, or are we content to continue to heap the burdens upon Jesus?"
He also asked those gathered if they sought forgiveness of their sins as they knelt during the reading of The Passion, at the moment where Jesus dies on the cross.
"Here we are at the foot of the cross, looking into the face of our Redeemer, knowing that all of this was because of us and all of this is for us and our salvation."
He noted that as our hearts are filled with sorrow, they are also filled with sentiments of thanksgiving for Jesus' mercy and love.
"God has been merciful in not giving us what we deserve," Bishop Jugis explained. "Jesus is the mercy of the Father."
He enjoined those gathered to focus their attention on Jesus in a spirit of thanksgiving, rather than their sins and miseries. He acknowledged we are incapable of saving ourselves and it is more fruitful to focus on Jesus in a spirit of thanksgiving for His love and mercy.
Bishop Jugis shared that there are several invocations in the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus that are appropriate for Good Friday which express the thanksgiving and hopefulness of God's people.
"Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, atonement for our sins, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, our peace and reconciliation, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, our life and resurrection, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus salvation of those who trust in you, have mercy on us."
The faithful came forward twice during the Good Friday liturgy -- first to venerate the cross as Bishop Jugis had done, and then to receive holy Communion. Even the smallest of children kissed the cross when held out to them for veneration.
Bishop Jugis noted in his closing remarks that as the body of Jesus was taken down from the cross, it was the Blessed Mother who received Him in her arms.
"Now, like Mary, let us also receive Jesus with deep love, devotion and gratitude for His mercy."
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
Photo gallery: The Way of the Cross
HAYESVILLE — At Immaculate Heart of Mary Mission during Holy Week, teenagers in the parish's religious education program dressed the parts of Roman soldiers, Veronica, Simon, the Weeping Women, Jesus and Mary in going through all 14 Stations of the Cross.
The special service, called the Living Way of the Cross, immersed everyone in the suffering Jesus bore for us. Sister Margarita Castaneda, CND, was instrumental in directing this prayerful event. Pictured is Station 11, after being stripped of his garments, Jesus in nailed to the cross. (Photo by Craig Allen, correspondent)
In the photo gallery below, view photos from the Stations of the Cross presentations by the fifth-graders in faith formation at St. Mark Church in Huntersville as well as by St. Mark School students.
Also included in the photo gallery are Stations of the Cross commemorations from Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville; Holy Spirit Church in Denver; Our Lady of the Highways Church in Thomasville; Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Gabriel churches in Charlotte; Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury, St. Philip the Apostle Church in Statesville; and St. Aloysius Church in Hickory.
— Doreen Sugierski, Craig Allen, Joe Thornton, Romy Machicao, Bill Washington, Jose Sanchez and Jeanine Russell, correspondents; photos also provided by Capuchin Franciscan Father Martin Schratz, Amy Burger, John Cosmas and Connie Ries.
Holy Thursday: Jesus tells us to love one another because His love dwells in us
CHARLOTTE — St. Patrick Cathedral was filled nearly to capacity Thursday evening as Bishop Peter Jugis celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. The liturgy marked the start of the Triduum, the three holy days preceding the Resurrection of the Lord at Easter.
The Mass of the Lord's Supper recalls Jesus' institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, His washing the feet of His disciples, His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, and His betrayal and arrest.
When Jesus washed the feet of the Apostles, it was more than a physical act of humble service, Bishop Jugis noted during his homily. “More importantly,” he said, it was “about an interior washing.”
His disciples were focused on the earthly act, but Jesus was speaking on a heavenly level, he explained.
When Jesus told His disciples that they had been washed, He meant that “they had been cleansed by Jesus’ grace and His love – through the three years that they had been spending with Him, listening to His teaching and observing His miracles. Their hearts were now filled with Christ’s grace and love, which has acted as a purification of them – (it) has washed them clean.
“He and His teaching have penetrated right into their hearts, and they have been transformed, become true disciples, through this interior washing.”
All of His disciples were graced except for Judas Iscariot, who was soon going to betray the Lord, Bishop Jugis noted. Jesus said as much with His words, “Not all are clean.”
Bishop Jugis also reflected on Jesus’ words to His disciples to “love one another as I have loved you.”
“Why does He say it’s a new commandment? What’s so new about it? After all, you can find that phrase even in the Old Testament law,” he said. “It’s new because you have been washed interiorly with Christ’s love and grace, and Christ is living within you. That’s what’s new!”
“It’s no longer just words: ‘love one another.’ But now, having been washed,” Bishop Jugis continued, Jesus is saying, “‘I am living within you.’ That makes it a new commandment, a new mandate.”
Jesus is instructing us to demonstrate Christian love, not simply human love, to others, he explained.
“That’s the essence of Christianity. It’s not just a religion of words. It’s a religion of a Person. A Person comes to live in your soul. You come to love a Person. You have a relationship with Him – not just with words or commandments, but with Jesus.
“That’s the newness of the new commandment: to love because He is within you.”
Bishop Jugis also reflected on the Holy Thursday liturgy as the institution of the Eucharist and of the priesthood.
Priests perpetuate Jesus’ ministry through the ages, he said, “to continue His interior cleansing of souls that takes place through the apostolic ministry of preaching His Word, teaching His commandments, celebrating the sacraments and shepherding the flock.”
“Where would we be without the ordained ministry?” especially in administering the sacraments of baptism, confession and Holy Communion, he said.
Baptism washes us clean, and the Eucharist continues to wash us with grace, nurturing us and enabling us to grow in holiness, he said.
“You can’t have a Church without the priesthood and the Eucharist. They are two essential elements that Jesus instituted to make up His Church.”
In conclusion, Bishop Jugis touched on the words of Jesus in the Gospel of John: “He loves them to the end.”
Jesus loves us even to the cross, the end, “because that is where the totality of Jesus’ self-giving love is going to be shown,” he said.
Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross is “the exclamation point” of His love for us, a love which was shown earlier at the Last Supper, when He instituted the priesthood and the Eucharist, Bishop Jugis said.
Those words encapsulate “a beautiful teaching in a few short lines from St. John’s Gospel, chapter 13, but so full of grace and meaning and love for each one of us now as we enter into the sacred Triduum.”
At the end of the Holy Thursday Mass, altars in every church were stripped bare, candles and lights were extinguished, and the Blessed Sacrament was transferred to a temporary altar of repose until Easter – outwardly demonstrating the sense of the Church's bereavement during the time of Christ's Passion and burial.
Catholics then spent time in Eucharistic Adoration, recalling Jesus' words to His sleepy disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, "Could you not keep watch with Me for one hour?"
On Good Friday, no Mass is celebrated.
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor. Photos featuring: Holy Spirit Church in Denver, St. Elizabeth Church in Boone, St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte, St. Mark Church in Huntersville, St. Ann Church in Charlotte, Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury and St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte. (Photos by Doreen Sugierski, Amber Mellon, Gretchen Filz, Amy Burger, Jose Sanchez, Bill Washington and SueAnn Howell)
Seven Church pilgrimage on Holy Thursday
CHARLOTTE — Watch on the Diocese of Charlote's YouTube channel, this short video from Holy Thursday night: The Catholic News Herald's cameras followed correspondent Brandon Berryhill and a group of pilgrims as they made their way to seven churches around the city of Charlotte on Holy Thursday evening, "keeping watch" with Jesus before His coming Passion and death on the Cross. Berryhill said, "Why do we pilgrimage as Catholics? A Russian Orthodox novel 'The Pilgrim's Way' captures it beautifully.
As we journey we experience God's love, providence and mercy to our eventual destination in this life and the next. Hopefully as we journey we discover the truth and fullness of eternity and Our Lord." The "Seven Churches pilgrimage" was first made popular by St. Philip Neri in Rome during the late 1500s. The pilgrimage consisted of visiting seven churches and their altar of repose, reflecting on the seven stops Jesus makes before picking up His cross and making His way to Calvary.
The seven stops were: Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Lk 22:39-46); Jesus bound and taken before Annas (John 18:19-22); Jesus taken before the High Priest, Caiaphas (Mt 26:63-65); Jesus taken before Pilate (John 18:35-37); Jesus taken before Herod (Luke 23:8-9, 11); Jesus taken before Pilate again (Mt 27:22-26); Jesus given the crown of thorns and led to His crucifixion (Mt 27:27-31).
"It was a joyful night as we began with the liturgy of Our Lord's Supper at St. Matthew's in south Charlotte. From there we processed into the gymnasium and began our prayerful journey with Our Lord and Mary as our guide," Berryhill remembered. The pilgrimage then continued to St. Vincent de Paul Church on Park Road, where they were joined by the rest of the pilgrims, including Father Casey Coleman, parochial vicar at St. Vincent de Paul. All 14 pilgrims then went to St. Ann Church, St. Gabriel Church, St. Patrick Cathedral and Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. The seventh and final stop on the pilgrimage was St. Joseph Vietnamese Church, "where we made it exactly at midnight (closing time)," Berryhill said.
"Thanks to a kind parishioner who was closing up, he gave us an additional 20 minutes, fulfilling the expectations I have of the great people of that parish and our diocese as all along our journey the people were a blessing – including others who were enjoying this same pilgrimage from different parishes."
— Rico DeSilva, Catholic News Herald. Photos by Brandon Berryhill, correspondent
Why do we pilgrimage as Catholics?
A Russian Orthodox novel "The Pilgrim's Way" captures it beautifully. As we journey we experience God's love, providence and mercy to our eventual destination in this life and the next. Hopefully as we journey we discover the truth and fullness of eternity and our Lord.
On Holy Thursday as Catholics we did just that as we made a pilgrimage, first made popular by St. Phillip Neri in Rome. This pilgrimage consisted of visiting 7 different churches and their altar of repose reflecting on the 7 stops Jesus makes before picking up his cross and making his way to Calvary.
It was a joyful night as we began with the liturgy of Our Lord's Supper at St. Matthew's in South Charlotte. From there we processed into the gymnasium and began our prayerful journey with our Lord and Mary as our guide.
From there we went to St. Vincent de Paul where Father Casey Coleman and others joined us, continuing we went to St. Ann, St. Gabriel, St. Patrick Cathedral, Our Lady of Guadalupe and finishing at St. Joseph Vietnamese where we made it exactly at midnight, which was closing time.
Thanks to a kind parishioner who was closing up he gave us an additional 20 minutes, fulfilling the expectations I have of the great people of that parish and our diocese as all along our journey the people were a blessing including others who were enjoying this same pilgrimage from different parishes.
May God continue to bless our diocese and may we continue our pilgrim's path to our Lord through the many great experiences we can have right here in our own backyard.
— Brandon Berryhill
CHARLOTTE — Bishop Peter Jugis took special care during this Jubilee Year of Mercy in the Church to emphasize unity during his homily at the annual Chrism Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral. More than 90 priests from around the Diocese of Charlotte attended the Mass on a fine spring day, renewing their priestly promises to Holy Mother Church and their bishop.
Bishop Jugis addressed his brother priests during his remarks, reminding them that there is unity in Christ.
“This coming together as brother priests at the Chrism Mass especially demonstrates in a very visible way the unity of the priesthood in Christ. No matter where we serve in the diocese, wherever we exercise our priestly ministry in many different locations, when we come to this Chrism Mass, we see again what we knew all along – even though we may be separated geographically by the distance of miles – we see once again made manifest that we are all brothers in one priesthood and are united as one,” he reminded them.
Bishop Jugis stressed to them, as Jesus did to His disciples that, “‘You are all brothers!’ How true this is of the priesthood…What is it that unites us as brothers? The grace of the sacrament of holy orders. There are nearly 100 men here today who go by the same name, 'alter Christus.' We all have the same name. How’s that for unity?
“Our love for Jesus Christ unites us as brothers, our love for the priesthood unites us as brothers. Our love for the Church unites us as brothers. Our love for the work of salvation unites us as brothers. Our love for each other – our love for each other – unites us as brothers. ‘You are all brothers,' Jesus tells us.”
Bishop Jugis addressed how "our old enemy" original sin has left divisive tendencies in the human heart, a tendency to separate from one another.
“The remedy we know for all of those tendencies that original sin has left behind in us, the remedy is love. There can be no true unity without unconditional mutual love, and the readiness to serve each other generously and an ability to forgive up to seventy times seven.”
He explained that priests are all brothers in the priesthood because they are all brothers of Christ first and foremost.
“What a great name for a religious order. Brothers of Christ. And in fact it is the name of a religious order. It is a description of the order of the priesthood.”
Bishop Jugis emphasized that every day priests pray to remain deeply united to Jesus when they celebrate Mass, and especially before they receive Holy Communion, praying to be always faithful to the commandments and to never be separated from Christ.
“He is the source of our unity, our brother Christ. It is a very special relationship we have with the Lord to not only call Him Master and Teacher, Savior, Redeemer, but our brother in the priesthood.”
Before renewing their priestly promises, Bishop Jugis recalled that he and the priests gathered exercise their ministry in a divided, quarrelsome American society, but the Chrism Mass manifests what is always present among them – that although the society is quarrelsome and divided, he and his brother priests see unity in Christ the High Priest as His brother priests.
Concelebrating the Chrism Mass were Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari of Belmont Abbey; Monsignor Mauricio West, vicar general and chancellor of the diocese; Father John Putnam, judicial vicar of the diocese; and 97 more diocesan and religious order priests who gathered around the altar for the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
All the priests also stood during the blessing of the sacred chrism with hands outstretched, joining with Bishop Jugis in prayer as he performed the blessing rite.
The oils blessed during the chrism Mass are used in the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, anointing of the sick, as well as for ordination of priests and the consecration of churches.
Bishop Jugis stirred balsam into the chrism to give it a sweet perfume and breathed the "breath of the Holy Spirit" over the chrism.
In his final remarks before the conclusion of the Chrism Mass, Bishop Jugis shared that there is an increased interest among young people in the diocese for the priesthood and religious life, and he encouraged the priests and all gathered to promote vocations.
“The college seminary is our response to increased interest in that age group. I ask you to please continue to talk about the priesthood and the consecrated life to the young people in your faith formation classes and in your youth ministry programs, because that personal contact makes all the difference when a young person is considering special service to the Church,” he concluded.
After Mass, deacons divided the blessed oils into smaller oil stocks that will be distributed to all 92 parishes and missions across the diocese for use in sacramental celebrations throughout the upcoming year.
-- SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
VIDEO: St. Matthew Church celebrates Polish Palm Sunday Mass
CHARLOTTE — Watch this short video about a Palm Sunday Polish Mass celebrated March 20 at St. Matthew Church in Charlotte.
Father Andrzej Jaczewski from the Diocese of Siedlce, Poland, offered the Mass. The event was a culmination of a Polish Lenten retreat led by Father Jaczewski and held at that parish March 16-18.
Children from the Polish community wearing their national Polish custom dress led the procession carrying the palms.
Close to 300 members from the Polish community in the Charlotte region attended the liturgy.
—Rico De Silva, Catholic News Herald
Draw closer to Jesus this Holy Week, Bishop Jugis preaches on Palm Sunday
CHARLOTTE — Holy Week gives us the opportunity to draw nearer to Jesus Christ and His love for us, Bishop Peter Jugis preached at Palm Sunday Mass March 20.
The Palm, or Passion, Sunday Mass, with its palm-waving procession into church and the proclamation of the Passion gospel, is like “a retreat which the Church gives to us – an opportunity for a time away, to draw closer to Jesus,” Bishop Jugis said in his homily. “He wants us spiritually to be with Him, participating with Him as He is undergoing this ordeal – an ordeal, by the way, which He freely chooses. He wants us to go along with Him, because He wants us to be with Him,” he said.
Several hundred of people attended the Palm Sunday liturgy at St. Patrick Cathedral with the bishop, processing through the main door at the start of Mass. The main door of the cathedral, one of three pilgrimage sites in the Diocese of Charlotte for the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, was decorated with palm fronds for the start of Holy Week.
In his homily, Bishop Jugis also explained why we kneel during the gospel reading on Palm Sunday. “At no other gospel, during the entire course of the year, do we kneel,” he noted.
We kneel at the moment recounting Jesus’ death on the cross, he explained, “to imagine that we ourselves are there, at His crucifixion … kneeling at the foot of the cross.
“We are begging for forgiveness of our sins, and maybe weeping interiorly for the ways we have so often offended the Lord, who has just suffered and died for us.”
Bishop Jugis continued, “Remember, all of this takes place because Jesus loves you.
“In His betrayal and arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, He allowed all that to happen because of His love for you. At His scourging, and then being mocked at the high priest’s house, He allowed all of that to happen because He loves you. At His trial before the Sanhedrin and then being yanked and sent over to Pontius Pilate, and then yanked from there by Pontius Pilate and sent over to King Herod, and then sent back to Pontius Pilate – back and forth, all of that humiliation – He underwent for love of you. His way of the cross and then crucifixion, with three hours of agony upon the cross, and finally His death, He chose as His own special way of showing His love for you.”
Jesus Himself said it with His dying words, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” His suffering and death is all for the forgiveness of our sins, Bishop Jugis explained.
“As we enter now into this celebration of Holy Week, let us open our hearts to Jesus, and let us live in His love,” he prayed in conclusion, and let that love continue to transform us, so that we become more like Christ.
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor
PHOTO GALLERY: Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday begins the start of Holy Week. Parishioners across the Diocese of Charlotte took part in processions for the start of the Palm Sunday liturgy March 20. Pictured are photos from St. Patrick Cathedral and St. Ann Church in Charlotte, Divine Redeemer Church in Boonville, St. Mary Help of Christians Church in Shelby, and Holy Spirit Church in Denver. (Photos by Patricia Guilfoyle, SueAnn Howell, Sergio Lopez, Giuliana Polinari Riley and Doreen Sugierski | Catholic News Herald)
CHARLOTTE — The holiday travel season marks the busiest time of the year for chaplains at the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, and this Christmas, a record-breaking number of people are expected to fly into, out of or through the Queen City, including more than 3,000 soldiers headed home from Fort Jackson, S.C.
More than 1.8 million people used the Charlotte airport last December, and passenger traffic topped 44 million overall last year. Every day, Catholic chaplains are on hand to comfort travelers in need. Part of an 18-member team of chaplains from five faiths, they all have one goal: to comfort and aid any traveler or airport employee who needs their help. They all volunteer at least four hours a week to staff the airport for at least 10 hours a day, seven days a week. They logged a total of 3,700 volunteer hours last year.
Pictured: Deacon George Szalony, director of the airport chaplaincy ministry, spends time talking to a passenger at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, in this file photo. (Kimberly Bender | Catholic News Herald)
For Father Conrad Hoover, six deacons and three assistants from the Diocese of Charlotte, their work is about putting the Gospel into action – going out into the world, serving as the hands and feet of Christ to all they meet.
"We assist a lot of people who we would term 'infrequent travelers'," explains Deacon George Szalony, director of the non-profit chaplaincy. The chaplains spend a lot of time looking for people who are confused and need help getting to the right gate, or getting in the right line so they don't waste valuable time or get lost.
"This work we do is never seen by anyone. We respect people's privacy and we respect their dignity," Deacon Szalony notes. "Our goal is to stabilize the traveler so they can continue their journey...We respect who they are and what they believe, whether they believe in God or not."
The Catholic deacons and Father Hoover wear a clerical collar so they are easily identifiable, but they are careful not to proselytize.
"It's our hope and our prayer that if they are willing to seek out somebody wearing a collar in that moment, perhaps when they really need someone, they'll seek out their (faith leader) or a priest if they need one," Deacon Szalony explains.
Deacon Kevin Williams and his wife Theresa serve at the airport besides their responsibilities at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Charlotte. He has served as an airport chaplain for nine years.
"After I get off of work, I spend two to three hours mostly walking the concourse and being a presence there. Once a month, I go help with the two Masses offered on Sundays," he says.
He looks for travelers who look like they could use help, those who walk around with a "glazed look" on their faces. "You get to recognize that look pretty quickly," he says. "It's mostly a ministry of presence, being visible. If someone wants to talk, if they need a listening ear, we're there for them."
Theresa Williams has been serving at the airport for almost six years. "I most enjoy the opportunity to pray with someone who is going through a difficult time. There is also a lot of satisfaction in sharing their joys, such as meeting newlyweds.
"I feel good when I can make a difference to someone, even if it's just picking up something I see that someone has dropped and giving it to them," she notes. "It's the smile of gratefulness for pointing someone where they need to go for a bathroom, an airport services desk or where a concourse or gate is, answering questions, etc."
Deacon Patrick Devine, a retired TSA security guard, and his wife Michele also serve at the airport. He originally joined the TSA after retiring from a career in chemical manufacturing. He traveled a lot over his career, he says, and he appreciated the TSA's work protecting travelers. "I said when I retired I was going to work with those guys and pay them back some service. So I took a part-time position with TSA as a security officer for four years."
Now Deacon Devine has been serving at the airport for the past three years in the airport chaplaincy, and says working in the chaplaincy is an opportunity to continue helping people.
"You never know when you're going to see someone who needs a little assistance," he says. "It's always different and I like it because it's a ministry of service. We spread the Good News of Jesus just by our presence."
"It's a ministry of the moment," adds Deacon David Reiser. "You never know what will come at you – from an employee coming up to you, to a lost passenger, to a passenger with a lost bag."
Deacon Reiser has even been asked to minister to a family whose loved one passed away on a flight. He took the child traveling with the family to get a cookie and get away from the commotion as emergency workers tended to the deceased and to other family members.
"We're there. We're there for the people. It's always interesting," he notes. He says it's a joy to see people smile and feel happy after he has helped them. "You get the joy of the people. It's a gift."
Besides providing a calm presence and a guiding hand for passengers who are a bit lost or confused inside the sprawling airport, the deacons and the whole chaplaincy team offer a listening ear and a sympathetic shoulder for the 18,000-plus airport employees.
"We minister to the employees as much as anyone else," says Deacon Williams. "You get to know them, especially when they come out to Sunday Mass every week."
Thanks to a $1,000 gift last year to the airport chaplaincy, there is even a confidential, modest loan program available for airport employees who need a little help making ends meet.
—SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
How you can help
The Charlotte Douglas International Airport chaplaincy program runs independently on donations, thanks to the generosity of people in the community. The airport chapel is funded by donations and offers travelers a quiet place to pray, as well as an interdenominational service and two Catholic Masses every Sunday.
For more information or to make a tax-deductible donation to the airport chaplaincy, go to www.charlottediocese.net/ministries/airport-ministryor contact Deacon Szalony at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Mail donations to: Airport Chaplaincy, Charlotte Douglas International Airport, 5501 Josh Birmingham Pkwy., Charlotte, NC 28208.