Divine Mercy outreach targets health care workers

The Missionaries of St. Thérèse Kenner Circle 70 at Divine Mercy Church held a drive-thru event April 19 in the parking lot of Ochsner Medical Center-Kenner to collect gift cards, canned goods, coloring books, puzzles, chalk and other items for Ochsner health care professionals and their families.
    

In advance of the collection event, Missionaries of St. Thérèse members, spearheaded by Michael Varino and Sherryl Clement, who also is the parish’s secretary, collected restaurant gift cards and other donations for the health care professionals. More than $2,000 was collected before the Sunday drive.
    

“It’s been overwhelming,” Varino said. “We are seeking everyone’s effort in this cause as a show of appreciation for those risking their lives to save our families and friends during this epidemic.”
 

‘Little’ things with big love
    

Distribution to Ochsner was scheduled for Monday, April 20. Any future donations will be delivered directly to Ochsner Kenner.
    
The Missionaries of Saint Thérèse, which was founded nationally in 1945, established its Kenner circle at Divine Mercy in 2009. Members are committed to daily prayer for the missionary work of Christ through the church.
    

Helping those in the health care field aligns perfectly with its mission.
    

“We’re trained to do the little way – St. Therese’s message of doing things with great love,” Varino said. “That’s what we try to follow.”
    

Varino, who has two sisters and other relatives and friends who are nurses, said an impulse from St. Therese prompted the idea to start the initiative.
    

“St. Thérèse’s own suffering and dying from respiratory disease (tuberculosis) is what crossed my mind when initiating this effort,” he said. “I’m giving it a shot.”
  

 “We have tried to step up all our ministries in order to reach out in this difficult time,” said Father Robert Cooper, Divine Mercy pastor. “The Missionaries of St. Thérèse is one of them. They are recognizing the sacrifices and bringing Easter joy to those on the front lines during this public health crisis. I am very excited about the work they are doing. Many of our other ministries have shifted focus to virtual means … because of the health crisis.”

Planned big celebration
    

April 19 had been planned as a big 10th anniversary celebration of Divine Mercy Parish on Divine Mercy Sunday, Father Cooper said. The coronavirus changed the celebration to a videotaped Mass with a Divine Mercy eucharistic procession and benediction taped by Deacon Larry Oney’s Hope and Purpose Ministries.
 Father Cooper also held an outdoor blessing later that afternoon with the Blessed Sacrament for all parishioners, their homes, businesses and other facilities and also for the city of Kenner.
    

“The church, in many ways, is not closed; the church is not empty,” Father
Cooper said. “The church has been deployed in a special way during this health care crisis. We’re offering this blessing so people can join us virtually. I certainly believe that God can move through tablets, phones and smart screens. All of them are instruments to continue the Lord’s work.”
    

Divine Mercy Parish held Easter Octave, drive-through “lagniappe” events last week for parishioners. On Easter Monday, as they drove past the school portico, they received a bilingual prayer in times of epidemic and a blessing with the relic of the true cross; on Easter Tuesday, there was a blessing of religious articles, images and holy water; on Easter Wednesday, there was intercessory prayer and a blessing with relic of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton; and on Easter Thursday, there was intercessory prayer and a blessing with St. Faustina’s relic.
    

The church is open seven days a week from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. for personal prayer; individual confession can be arranged through the parish office at (504) 466-5016, ext. 116.
    

Varino hopes others will conduct drives for essential workers and first responders across Kenner.
    

“We encourage others to step up to do it at other hospitals,” he said. “Easter is a season, not a day. A lot of health care workers have kids of their own (and need the extra help),” he said.
    

Bottom photo courtesy Hope and Purpose Ministries. Christine Bordelon can be reached at [email protected].