'Let's Build A House'

Many parishes during the Advent and Christmas Season take up special collections or have special drives involving clothing, baby bottles, pampers and other sundry items for infants, which are placed in and around the Christmas Crèches in our churches on the Feast of our Lord’s Birth.

This year, the St. Matthew Parish Social Outreach Commission decided that from Advent through Epiphany we would raise money to build a two-unit blockhouse for a family in Haiti that would include a toilet, sink, and a pump – at a cost of $6,400. Two cardboard houses were constructed by the second-grade classes from St. Matthew School and were placed at the entrances of the church.

Although there are many local needs that demand our attention, we believed Christmas was an ideal time to move far beyond the local area to emphasize how Jesus is God’s gift for every human person. We will most likely never meet the family in Haiti with whom we have shared our treasure, but because of Christ’s coming they are our sisters and brothers. And that’s all that matters.

Thanks to the generosity of St. Matthew Parishioners and guests who made their way to our parish for Mass during this Holy Season, a total of $5,097.44 was donated.  This money will be forwarded to Food for the Poor to be put towards building a two-unit home.  May the new owners of the two-unit home in Haiti be aware that somewhere in this big world there are people who love them in Christ.