The goal of most twinning projects is that people who live far apart will see how close they are in every way that matters. Witness the twinning of St. Monica-St. George Parish in Cincinnati (SMSG) with St. Joseph Parish in Savanna-la-mar, Jamaica. Last winter both communities signed a covenant binding them together spiritually and culturally. Usually when that happens, there are perfunctory gestures of friendship, a visit or two, maybe a donation from the more affluent parish. 

But since February, these parishes have made the kind of progress it takes years to achieve—all because they laid the right groundwork. Months of planning culminated in a visit to Cincinnati by Pastor Joe Hund and four of his parishioners from St. Joseph’s, a trip that coincided with the celebration on Oct. 16 of Jamaica’s National Thanksgiving Day.

During a Jamaican-style service at SMSG complete with drum and tambourine, Joe conveyed “greetings of God’s love and peace to our sister church” and talked about “how the early Christian communities were bonded together by letters, prayers and loving support for each other.” One example of the Ohio-Jamaica bond: Each parish prays for the other at worship. “Each church community has celebrated a national holiday of their sister church, thus deepening the respect of our cultural heritages,” Joe said. “Each church community has sent representatives to learn, to visit, to pray and to love, so as to deepen the human relationship and experience the social and religious environments.”

The arrangement is working, Joe says, because “there is constant communication between their core group and ours. A lot has been happening in nine months.” The most tangible expression of the relationship is an attractive twinning website mounted by SMSG (go to home.fuse.net/StMonica-StGeorge/ and click on the Twinning Website link). Anchored by a statement of commitment, it includes a biography of St. Joseph’s (who knew that Savanna-la-mar means, “plain by the sea”?), photos from the sister parish, a history of Jamaica and travel information. According to Joe, “An official from the Archdiocese (of Cincinnati) says that St. Monica-St. George has gone much farther than what others have done.”

Last year the parish investigated twinning with guidance and support from the Archdiocese, says Ed Franchi, chairperson of the Twinning Core Team. “Mike Gable (at the Mission Office) and his staff do a good job of explaining what twinning is all about.” They also explain what twinning isn’t. “It’s not all about traveling,” Ed says. “Some parishes in twinning relationships have never had a visit. And they don’t want it to be about fundraising” for the less affluent parish. “They don’t want it to be a dependent relationship.”

As Gable’s office explains on the SMSG website, “Twinning is an active, mutual, ongoing, joy-filled commitment between two faith communities. Twinning involves developing a friendship as well as a working relationship.”

At the Cincinnati parish, the impetus came from a dynamic Social Action Committee. “To stay focused and make things happen, we needed a core group of five (volunteers) along with Fr. Al (Hirt) to make some of the hard decisions,” Ed says. Initially St. Joseph’s, which had already developed a successful twinning relationship with Holy Rosary Parish in Houma, was one of five locations considered. During an exploratory visit to Jamaica, Ed said, “One evening Fr. Joe (Hund) brought us out to a mission site” at Grange Hill, where Mass is celebrated in a school building. “Before we knew it there were 50 people there, the heart and soul of the community, talking about why they wanted the relationship,” Ed says. “They said their goal is to build a church. Seeing how important their faith was really moved us. We thought, ‘Wow. We take our own faith for granted.’ ” Returning home, they strongly endorsed the selection of St. Joseph’s.

In February the parishes formalized their connection by signing a Parish Twinning Covenant pledging “to strengthen the relationships of friendship between our parishes so that we may each enrich one another’s human and spiritual lives.” Since then, Joe says, “There has been constant communication between our twinning core group and theirs,” mostly via e-mail. In September, four parishioners from Cincinnati went to Sav-la-mar to meet the folks who would be coming from St. Joseph’s. The Jamaicans’ Oct. 13-18 visit to Cincinnati was a marvel of precise planning by the host congregation. Joe and his group were shuttled from one adventure to the next following a three-page schedule that led them from lunch at Sawyer Point to a stop at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, from a trip to the zoo to a “BBQ Jamerican Celebration” cookout in the parking lot of St. Monica-St. George. Somehow, in the whirl of activity, the core groups whittled out a couple of hours to brainstorm the future.

As a result of that meeting they’re developing a “twinning prayer” so parishioners can exchange prayer cards. Students from SMSG are planning projects for a mission visit to Jamaica next spring. A newsletter that would highlight activities at each community is being discussed. “We’re working with them to be able to sell some of their crafts” at the church, says Ed. “We want the whole parish to embrace this.”

In an e-mail exchange with Sr. Donna Graham in JPIC, Pakistani friar Philip Hira asked her to convey his sympathies and prayers to the friars and staff working in the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Of the earthquakes in Pakistan, he wrote:  “The destruction (that) took place by earthquake in the northern parts is beyond our assessment and understanding. Our Provincial and friars visited the whole area and extended our support and assistance to the victims of the earthquake. The people of Pakistan really appreciate the help they are receiving from all over the world, and especially from America.”

Fr. Alex Kratz recently ledhis firsttwo-week pilgrimage to the Holy Land and promises to share photos when he returns. For those who are interested in next year’s dates, Alex is leading pilgrimages May 15-28, Aug. 1-15 and Nov. 2-16.

The friars from New Orleans are still awaiting word from the archdiocese about the fate of St. Mary of the Angels Parish and school. So far, the province (through the FDO, FMU and a special appeal) has received 621 donations from the public for reconstruction. The total as of Wednesday was $125,125.30, according to Shirley Daugherty in FDO.

Each year the community at Mother of Good Counsel in Hazard has a potluck dinner to celebrate the Feast of St. Francis. This year’s St. Francis Dinner had an added dimension: a collection for the four-legged survivors of Hurricane Katrina. “The Sunday School kids made banks to collect ‘coins for kittys’ and ‘dimes for dogs,’ ” says Pastoral Associate Pat Riestenberg. Throughout the meal, guests tucked coins into the banks serving as table decorations. “You never know what’s going to touch a chord with people,” says Pat. When the change was counted, they had collected $100 for Best Friends Animal Society.

Mario DeSantos is a frequent visitor to Sacred Heart Church in Peoria, stopping by for sandwiches distributed by volunteers of the parish’s busy meal program. On Oct. 4, it was time to give back. Mario was among about 15 regular guests of the parish’s food program who became choristers for a day, joining Sacred Heart’s choir in a program honoring the spirit of St. Francis. “They needed singers, and God has been calling me for ages,” said Mario, describing his involvement with the 2005 St. Francis Festival Choir. The choir, whose members had rehearsed the program before their big debut, was conducted by Michael Gilfillan, director of Sacred Heart’s music ministry, and accompanied by Peter Kurdziel, director of Music for the Diocese of Peoria. The Catholic Post followed up the performance with a story and photo.

We’re guessing that Fr. Matt Holahan is the only friar who celebrated the Feast of St. Francis by being sworn in as a Chaplain Captain for his local police department. Ed Rogers, the police officer Matt has accompanied since he took on chaplain duties with the Bellevue force, was in on the surprise as Matt was officially welcomed during what he thought was a regular meeting of the city council. He follows in the footsteps of Fr. Jerome Pavlik, the first chaplain for Bellevue police, and carries a similarly inscribed gold badge. Two weeks after his swearing-in, Matt received his police credentials at a Mass at Holy Family attended by the mayor and the chief of police. In his new part-time role, Matt will be serving both the public, people who are victimized by crime, and the police, who deal with megastress on a daily basis. We joked about Matt’s readiness for trouble—he has a black belt in Tai Kwan Do—and were informed that the department’s Protestant chaplain has a black sash in Kung Fu. Crooks in Bellevue must be quaking in their boots.

Fr. Max Langenderfer observed this year’s Transitus in the highlands of central Madagascar. “More than 110 OFM and OFM Cap brothers, FMM and several more groups of Franciscan sisters, SFO and Franciscan youth sang the Transitus, Vespers and Mass, followed again by a common meal and much conviviality,” he wrote in an e-mail last month. “The actual Mass for the Feast of St. Francis on Tuesday was the occasion for the renewal of profession of 11 temporary professed Malgach brothers.” While in Madagascar, Max visited a village where he was the object of much curiosity. “The Malgach in general are quite short, so I was a veritable giant, the likes of which the children had never seen.”