By Fr. Justin Fulton
Friendship is a beautiful gift. When one is newly born, one is born into a community of friendship and love. A baby has a mom and a dad. Relationship is natural, needed, and is a gift. That is the way God designed it. It shows us naturally we all need community.
When we are amongst friends it always seems to turn out that we want more time with them. Just one more coffee and conversation.... One more scoop of ice cream or pie.... One more dinner.... One more story.... One more minute of sitting on a porch swing and talking with them.... Or just being with them and not even talking.
Friends are apostles sent by God for us to enjoy, learn from, talk with, and love. All of us are apostles of friendship.
Recently, some old friends stopped by the CSS offices to learn more about what CSS does. The ladies from St. Teresa Parish in Lincoln had a “Ladies Night Out” and we welcomed them into our offices in Lincoln. The ladies had a nice night of conversation, relationship building, snacks, and laughter. It was simple Christian joy being shared with friends old and new. And it was a blessing to witness their smiling faces. I couldn’t help but be proud of witnessing simple evangelization in the form of friendship and fun.
We also had an opportunity to discuss what all CSS does throughout the Diocese of Lincoln. We talked about all of our services from food pantries, food markets, toy giveaways, St. Gianna’s Women’s Homes, our telehealth component in our counseling centers, emergency cash assistance, our thrift stores and restaurant, our immigration, refugee and employment placement services, and everything else. The ladies were surprised to learn about the impact we have on our state, region, and the common good. And we all realized that none of us does this alone. We all do it in relationship, community, and friendship. And we make new friends and lift each other’s spirits when we do it together.
It was nice to be with the women of St. Teresa’s once again. I was lucky to get to work with them when I had an assignment at St. Teresa’s from 2017-2019. To reconnect, remember the old days, and see everyone growing with the new days was exciting. Even though we are separated physically now, we are ever more present to each other because of the soul of the Church. We remain close, are friends to one another, and continue to spread the friendship of Jesus Christ where ever we go.
If your parish or friend group would like to congregate at the CSS offices to learn more about our operation we would be honored to welcome you. Feel free to get in touch with us.
May we be thankful to Almighty God for the gift of friendship. May we pray for our friends and enemies. And may God bless us always!
