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XII
A Spiritual Presence In the Community
“Because of St. Francis of Assisi,
there’s a spiritual presence in the community,” said Monique
Johnson, one of Doris’s granddaughters. “There’s no other
coordinated presence like the one that emanates from St. Francis. It truly
has an outreach commitment. Even though the church isn’t located
directly in the community, the parish is willing to do work in the
community. Quality of Life is a community center, there to help the
residents, and St. Francis has reached out to Quality of Life.”
The parishioners of St. Francis of Assisi include the
Mayor of Baltimore, Martin O’Malley, and teens who donate their
vacation time at Summer Youth Work Camps in the Appalachian Mountains. Even
some of its smallest members, like Marta Rybczynski, can make a difference.
“The 75th Anniversary is a diamond
celebration,” noted Mary V. Rybczynski, Marta’s mother.
“When I think of diamonds, the traditional diamond engagement ring is
foremost in my mind. It was during the summer of 1999 and the St. Francis
Athletic Association was having their annual sports awards Mass on a
Saturday evening. Father Burke made an announcement that earlier that
evening, Mrs. Jean Kelley had lost the diamond from her engagement ring
somewhere in the church. It upset Mrs. Jean so much that she did not sing
for that Mass. During the homily, I pointed to my engagement diamond to
show Marta and asked her to, “find me the sparkly diamond” on
the floor. Lo and behold, my little three-year-old came up from under the
pew holding this shimmering piece of stone in her hand. In disbelief and a
bit of a fight, I picked up the stone from her and gasped. Marta found Mrs.
Jean’s diamond from her ring. As I held my daughter very proudly and
gave the stone to Father Burke, I announced to him that Marta found the
diamond. Jean was very happy, but I think that Pat, her husband, was
happiest of all.”
“Celebrating 75 Years of Community
Service,” St. Francis of Assisi is a parish where that spirit started
early and has never stopped.
