SERVE

What We Do

Our parish mission to St. Francis Inn is now in its fifteenth year.  Since 1979, the Inn has been serving the poor and homeless in the Kensington neighborhood of northeast Philadelphia.  Friars from the Holy Name Province in New York City traveled to this neighborhood to establish a “Franciscan presence” in an area facing rising poverty due the closure of many of the local factories resulting in a widespread loss of jobs.  The Friars, after completing a contextual analysis of the area for the possibility of establishing a parish, found that the people of this neighborhood did not need another pulpit for preaching; what they found was that the people needed food, shelter, and clothing. And, what they needed most wasLove.

Each year we send a team of parishioners to work alongside the Friars, Religious, Staff and lay volunteers. We live in quarters provided by the Inn.  This is an immersion experience of praxis of compassion for “the least amongst us.”  Early pronouncements from Pope Francis has called for the Church to return to its mission roots. He has insisted that every Christian and every community “is called to be an instrument of God for the liberation and promotion of the poor, and for enabling them to be fully a part of society.” Pope Francis speaks of solidarity as a mindset rather than some random acts of generosity.  This is a mindset that thinks in terms of community and the priority of life over the appropriation of goods for a few.  Pope Francis makes the Church’s mission clear as he states: “This is why I want a Church which is poor and for the poor.”

Our next scheduled trip is scheduled from September 14-18 in 2020.  Please consider joining the team!