ROCKAWAY Following the call Bishop Serratelli made this month to pray for persecuted Christians in the Middle East and around the world, a group of families has joined together to support Christians to be able to practice their faith openly.
Jennifer Nelson and her family were attending Mass at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church here at the beginning of August when they heard Father Zigmund Peplowski, pastor of Sacred Heart and St. Cecilia parishes here, talk about Christians being killed for their faith.
“In the Middle East and different parts of the world, Christians are witnessing for their faith to Jesus by actually shedding their blood,” said Father Peplowski. “A majority of them are on the run leaving everything behind – their homes, occupations, all that is familiar to them — heading to distant places as refugees as a result of these extremist attacks. We are lucky we are not subjected to persecution. How quickly we in this country are to give up our faith when someone criticizes us and we don’t come to the defense of it.”
After hearing Father Peplowski talk about what was happening on the other side of the world and praying the Bishop’s prayer for persecuted Christians, Nelson and her children were inspired to help their fellow Christians. “We wanted to figure out if there was something we could do in solidarity to help those in the Middle East,” said Nelson.
Nelson’s family, who all belong to the Kolbe Krew, a family rosary group, and St. Cecilia’s Mommy Bible Study Group, wanted a tangible way to help the Christians who are suffering. They met with Father Mateusz Jasniewicz, parochial vicar at both parishes, and decided to create buttons stating, “Blessed are the persecuted for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” with a crown of thorns in the shape of the Arabic letter that stands for Nazarene. The Arabic letter has become a symbol of suffering and solidarity. ISIS paints the letter on the doorposts of Christians to identify their homes. The Orange Cross Project and many movements have adopted this letter as a sign to stand in prayer and solidarity with persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ. The button was designed by artist, Suzanne Apicella, a parishioner of Sacred Heart and teacher at Hanover Park High School. “The importance of showing an image of Jesus’ crown of thorns shows that Jesus is right next to those persecuted Christians now in heaven,” said Nelson. To the button, they have attached Bishop Serratelli’s prayer for those being persecuted.
During Masses this past weekend at Sacred Heart and St. Cecilia, the buttons went on sale to help benefit three charities currently helping persecuted Christians — Caritas International, Catholic Near East Welfare Association and the Knights of Columbus’ Christian Refugee Relief Fund.
“This really was on their own initiative. All the motivation to do this came from Bishop Serratelli asking us to pray for persecuted Christians,” Father Peplowski said. “We have talked about it at Sunday Masses and it has become a special intention in our prayers and thinking about these Christians has become very prominent in the minds of the people.”
This isn’t the first time, the Kolbe Krew got families together to support an international cause. With St. Maximillan Kolbe, a Conventual Franciscan friar who volunteered to die in place of a stranger during the Holocaust, as the group’s patron, the group teaches children the value of prayer and provides opportunities for community service to put prayer in action.
Nelson said, “The group was founded so children can live for Christ in a very secular world. We pray the children continue to have pure hearts and through the rosary, we want the children to grow closer to the Blessed Mother.”
The group meets every Sunday at 5:30 p.m. and welcomes families to come any Sunday. The evening rosary also includes a pizza dinner and family fellowship. “Through helping the community and those throughout the world, we hope the children see that they are an important part of the community,” said Nelson.
[Information or to purchase a button, [email protected].]