Page 25 - Catholic Extension Magazine - Spring 2016

“The Samaritans want to spread the love of Jesus in as many homes as they can nd.”
—FATHER BILL DAVIS, OMI
San Francisco Javier Mission, Laredo, Texas
very poor, the house was dirty and there were no curtains on the windows. “We wanted her to look around and see her house as clean and beautiful,” she said. ey spruced up the place, made curtains and left her with food.
A fellow Samaritan continued each week to take the woman, who was in a wheelchair, to her own house to bathe her.
Slowly, the woman has gotten
a little better and now walks with a walker. And the best part, Flores said, is that the woman is going to Church now. When the Samaritans see her there, “It is so powerful. We cry, we pray, we sing together.”
Others too have started attend- ing Mass after being visited by the Samaritans. And for those that are unable to attend because of disabilities, the Samaritans say a rosary with them.
e Samaritan women are a diverse group. Flores is 72 years old and retired, but as long as she can move, she said, she wants
to “continue to take joy to these people because it makes me so happy too.”
e Samaritans have taken a big load o the shoulders of Father Davis, the octogenarian pastor who, rather than retire, agreed to take on the challenge of leading
Extension | Spring 2016 25
VISIT THE SICK
eir funds also help pay for medical bills and transportation costs when people go to the hospi- tal. “We can’t give much,” she said, “But at that moment, 50 bucks can really help.”
About 20 people are visited regularly by the Samaritans, but the women are always ready
to respond in a crisis. “A family recently lost their house in a re. We gathered clothes and house- hold items from people in the community to give them.”
One particular parishioner that Flores remembers fondly is a woman who was bedridden. Her husband worked all day and she was alone. When the Samaritans arrived, they saw that she was
Del na Flores is thrilled to care for those in need in her own community and always looks forward to her weekly commitment to help.
one of the poorest parishes in the Diocese of Laredo. Catholic Exten- sion has subsidized Father Davis’ salary since 2006.
“Lay ministry should be auto- matic,” he said. “Once you are bap- tized, you belong to a family. And we all need to care for this family. e Samaritans put God’s love into action.”
In this Year of Mercy, the Cath- olic Church celebrates all e orts
— no matter how big or small — to reach out to the marginalized. And the Samaritans, who show love and tenderness to people who really need it, are embodying the kind of “revolution of tenderness” Pope Francis is trying to encourage throughout this year.
Flores sums it up: “We need to see poor people all the same — the same as us — just because they are not rich, we can still give them a smile.”
At the end of the day — her favorite day — Flores folds her pink shirt up until next Tuesday.