Author Archives: Tony M
Ringing in the New Year
2012 is here! And the blogosphere is buzzing with New Year’s resolutions, end-of-the-world theories, and political campaign predictions. With the holidays behind us, society’s focus has shifted a little more toward personal weight loss goals and a little less toward feeding the hungry. But of course, hunger never takes a holiday. I’m sure many people … Continue reading
Black Friday in Nicaragua
I don’t need to tell you about the Black Friday mayhem of crazed shoppers, big bargains, long check-out lines, and subsequent buyer’s remorse (or in my case, a quiet day at home putting up Christmas decorations). But there’s another Black Friday story you may not know. A story of Nicaraguan villagers turning on their water … Continue reading
Vatican: Christmas reminds us to serve needy children
Our work at Cross Catholic has always had a strong focus on children – the most innocent victims of poverty. That’s why we couldn’t help but notice that the Vatican has released a new statement about our Catholic duty to help children in need, and how this Advent and Christmas season should serve as a … Continue reading
Songs of peace
How do you entertain a houseful of physically and mentally disabled children in the Philippines? Answer: fill their days with music! One of our Cross Catholic project officers put himself in harm’s way (accidentally laying down on an anthill) to capture this photo of Sister Venice singing with the kids at Queen of Peace Children’s … Continue reading
Success Story!
Haiti needs positive role models, and these young men just might fit the bill. The team of construction workers recently stopped in at Fr. Marc Boisvert’s Espwa (Hope) Village to work on a roof. If it seemed like they knew their way around the place exceptionally well, that’s because they used to live there – … Continue reading
Made in God’s Image
In a few words, Sr. Emma says it all: “God is marvelous. That is what I see when I look at the children.” I think that’s exactly what Jesus sees too – the handiwork of God -when he looks at the faces of the children at the Chisombezi Deaf-Blind Center in Malawi. What a stark … Continue reading
Lessons learned
The mood was joyful, but the message sobering, as the kids at the Tete Center for Vulnerable Children & Adults welcomed Cross Catholic with music, dancing and drama. The topic: child trafficking. This wasn’t the “don’t talk to strangers” lecture that we got when we were kids. In Mozambique, the threat to children is far … Continue reading
Say Cheese!
I snapped this photo as I was being swarmed by a pack of school boys on a playground in rural Nicaragua, where Cross Catholic is working with Amigos for Christ to build clean water systems for the poor. The kids love to have their pictures taken, and they love to see their extreme close-up shots … Continue reading
The importance of dignity
Is this the face of poverty? If I hadn’t been standing right there in this child’s Nicaraguan village, snapping her photo under a blazing hot sun while perspiration seeped through my clothes, I never would have guessed her difficult circumstances. I wouldn’t have known that she lives in a house with no bathtub, no toilet, … Continue reading
Full House
Fr. Bob of St. Martin of Tours Church told us that every time he visits the Webster home, he finds sacks of cement on the floor. And lo and behold, when we dropped in to meet Aura Webster – a saintly 66-year-old woman who receives monthly food assistance through Cross Catholic – there it was…a … Continue reading
