Page 24 - Catholic Extension Magazine - Spring 2016

24 IWNorksSofMPerIcyRE
ABOVE Rather than retire, Father Bill Davis, OMI, took on the challenge of leading one of the poorest parishes in the Laredo diocese.
RIGHT Samaritans regularly visit the sick, the elderly, the disabled and the homebound. Gloria Con- treras, le , and Chavela Vargas, right, comfort an in rm woman.
Del na Flores loves Tuesdays. On that day, she puts on a bright pink shirt and heads to her church, San Fran-
cisco Javier Mission in Laredo, Texas, and meets a group of 10 women in pink shirts. ey clean the church, they pray together and then they set o to ful ll the quote that is emblazoned on the backs of their shirts: “Whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do unto me. Matthew 25:40.”
ey are called the Samaritans. e group began in 2014 when Oblate Father Bill Davis, their
TODAY’S GOOD SAMARITANS
In a culture where the elderly are often forgotten, one parish ministry in south Texas has made them front and center.
pastor was struggling to assist all of his parishioners, especially the homebound, in this low-income community and asked the women to help. Their mission is to lend a hand to anyone who needs it — the elderly, the disabled, the sick, the lonely and the grieving. ey clean houses, they visit, they pro- vide food, they comfort in times of disaster, they pray the rosary. In
short they make life better—one person at a time.
To fund their small but mighty ministry, they each contribute one dollar a week to buy cleaning sup- plies, food and prizes for lottery games that they host in nursing homes. “ e elderly love to play the lottery,” Flores said, “especial- ly when they have a chance to win something.”