‘AS OFTEN AS YOU DID IT FOR ONE OF THESE LEAST ONES, YOU DID IT FOR ME’
CHARLOTTE — Students at St. Matthew School have spent the year learning about Catholic social justice and poverty awareness. Their lessons culminated in Poverty Action Week, with special projects in each class, a presentation by Bishop Peter Jugis and a prayer service led by Bishop Emeritus William Curlin.
“Throughout the week, each grade level focused on fighting poverty through food drives, learning about important people in the Catholic Church who have fought for social justice, and putting together ‘action kits,’ ” said Assistant Principal Suzanne Beasley.
Bishop Jugis visited the school on Monday, March 27, to help kick off Poverty Action Week. He addressed the whole student body in St. Matthew Church, which is adjacent to the school in south Charlotte.
“Why do we care for the poor? That’s an important question. You are collecting food and praying for the poor and the homeless. But why? I will give you the answer: because Jesus has taught us to do. Jesus has taught us to love one another as He has loved us.
“Jesus says the great commandment is ‘You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and all your strength, and you are to love your neighbor as yourself.’ And so our neighbor is every person that we meet, not just the neighbor who lives beside us or is sitting beside us. Even people we don’t know – the poor, the homeless, the sick or homebound – are considered to be our neighbor, and Jesus said we must love them.”
Bishop Jugis reminded those gathered of the Scripture where Jesus enumerates all we can do to help the “least ones” in remembrance of Him – the poor, the hungry, the naked, the sick, the stranger and the homeless.
“As often as you did it for one of these least ones, you did it for Me,” Bishop Jugis said, using the words of Jesus.
“Even if you can’t give money or collect food or give old clothes, you know what you should do every day? You can pray. Remember them in your prayers. God uses those prayers. He will answer those prayers and give that grace and that help to those who are in special need of those prayers.”
He then blessed a basket of special bracelets that read “Pope Francis, Hear the Cry of the Poor.” Students received the bracelets on Poverty Day USA that Friday, March 31, to end the week-long effort.
“We are so lucky to have a pope who is so focused on social justice and helping out those in need, and really being a great example of how we can be Christ to one another,” said Principal Kevin O’Herron said. “We hope these blessed bracelets serve as a reminder to the students, as they go through their lives every single day, that they are taking all of their blessings and sharing them with others.”
Bishop Jugis also met with 10 fourth- and fifth-grade student council representatives, who shared what each grade level was doing to help create awareness about poverty and to learn about Catholic social justice.
Mac Burley, secretary of the student council, directed the meeting.
“Something that I would like you to know is that the teachers have been using the plans on poverty from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development to teach us about poverty,” Burley said.
“Isn’t it amazing that right here in Charlotte we would have so many poor people and homeless people?” Bishop Jugis said to the student council. 
“It’s really a shock, isn’t it? There’s a whole other side of Charlotte that you are being introduced to by your projects, that is not as fortunate as we are in the Ballantyne/south Charlotte area.
“It’s really a shock. That is why, to be good disciples of Jesus and to show that we are Christians and following His example and His teaching, (we are) to be mindful and to do what we can to help our brothers and sisters, our neighbors who are not as fortunate as we are,” he reminded them.
Following Christ’s example “in very practical, concrete ways” demonstrates that we really do have His love in our hearts and we are trying to do His will, he added, and he commended the students for their efforts.
Burley and student council vice president Sophie Thailer also led Bishop Jugis on a tour of the school, where he visited classrooms and thanked students for their efforts to combat poverty.
“I’m glad that you are putting your faith into practice,” he told them. “It shows your love for God and your love for Jesus. As your bishop, I’m very proud of you.”
Bishop William Curlin shared that St. Teresa of Calcutta was a great inspiration to him in his life, as he served as one of her confessors and she taught him firsthand how to see Jesus in everyone, especially those who are poor or suffering. They spent time together in the U.S. and at the Missionaries of Charity center in India. He even helped her care for people dying of AIDS.
The saint encouraged him to see Jesus with his heart, to see Jesus in the sick the first time he was faced with caring for the dying in India.
“Starting from that day on, I’d say to myself when I’d answer the door (at the rectory), it’s not a poor man or a child, but Jesus knocking on my door. It’s Jesus asking for a sandwich. It’s Jesus lying there (sick),” he explained.
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
Ellen Deem: What Poverty Action Week meant to us
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Ellen Deem: What Poverty Action Week meant to us
People often ask me why I choose to teach in a Catholic school when I’m a Protestant. My response is always the same. When I realized God was calling me to teach, I knew one thing for certain. I needed to be able to verbally acknowledge where my calling came from on a daily basis. I was recently reminded of how important my calling is to me.I’m not the only teacher who has pondered, “Am I making a difference? Am I teaching my students to make a difference? Am I following God’s direction when I teach?” The fruits of one teacher’s answers to these questions resulted in an entire school making a stand for those in need.
St. Matthew School’s first-ever Poverty Action Day was Friday, March 31. This day, and all of the work that led up to it, would not have come about if a teacher had not had the courage to share her idea with others.
The idea for this initiative started when one of our former fourth-grade teachers, Patricia Wendover, finished the “Just Faith” course at St. Matthew Church. She said the course made her want to put her faith into action. She wanted to come up with an idea that would encourage students to work towards helping those in need, and enable them to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Her idea grew into a MACS Education Foundation grant application that she wrote with two of our kindergarten teachers, Pat Frantz and Mary Strauss. Betsy DesNoyer joined the team to help when Wendover left to teach at St. Patrick School and spend more time doing volunteer work. When the MACS Education Foundation awarded them the funds for this Social Justice Grant, the seeds for Poverty Action Day were planted.
All St. Matthew classroom teachers received books to share and explain Catholic social teachings to their students. Our school’s value recognition program was revised to emphasize these Catholic social teachings, and each month two students who modeled the social teaching of the month were recognized during Mass.
Poverty Action Day was the culmination of our school year’s efforts to make our students more aware of the importance of recognizing Jesus in every person.
Poverty Action Week began with a visit from Bishop Peter Jugis on Monday, March 27. Students gathered to hear an inspiring message from Bishop Jugis about the importance of Catholic social teaching. Student Council members escorted Bishop Jugis around the school so he could meet with students and hear what they have been doing to help others in need. He had a firsthand glimpse of each grade’s individual contribution to our school-wide efforts. Our transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, and first-grade students gathered food, diapers, wipes and more to help the Missionaries of the Poor in Monroe. Second-grade students held a “reverse snack” sale, in which students could buy a snack for the children at A Child’s Place. Third-grade students created a “Hall of Heroes” highlighting people who dedicated their lives to helping the poor. Fourth-grade students wrote to public officials asking them to help the poor and also made “blessing boxes” for the homeless. Fifth-grade students created a “state of poverty” and listened to a speaker from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. They also watched a video describing the efforts of three men who decided to live in poverty to raise awareness of the need to help others.
Ending the week-long effort on Poverty Action Day, all students had the opportunity to hear a guest speaker talk about the importance of helping the poor and sharing their blessings from God. Each grade toured the school to see what other students were doing to help people in need. Students had a simple snack of saltines and water.
Poverty Action Day concluded with a prayer service led by Bishop Emeritus William Curlin, who inspired everyone with his personal experiences of helping the poorest of the poor. He shared stories of when he visited with Mother Teresa in India, and he passed on to students Mother Teresa’s advice to him: The best gift we can give others is to share the love of Jesus. He reminded them to ask Jesus to live in them each day.
As I talked with the teachers involved over the course of the week, I thought it neat that they all said it was someone else’s idea.
Their humility inspires me. None of this would have happened if one teacher hadn’t shared her idea with a few other teachers. What ideas have you been pondering as of late?
As I reflect on the week, I am encouraged that our students will be inspired to continue to share with others. I saw firsthand how the message of the week was about changing their actions towards each other for the better.
The question I’m pondering now is: “Whose lives will be changed for good because of their generosity?”
I cannot wait to see these seeds of love blossom. I cannot wait to see what stories their pencils will tell.
May we all follow in their footsteps.
Ellen Deem teaches the first grade at St. Matthew School in Charlotte.
People often ask me why I choose to teach in a Catholic school when I’m a Protestant. My response is always the same. When I realized God was calling me to teach, I knew one thing for certain. I needed to be able to verbally acknowledge where my calling came from on a daily basis. I was recently reminded of how important my calling is to me.