Gratitude, collaboration mark feast at Ozanam Inn

Their stories were all different, but they shared one common bond on Nov. 18 at the Ozanam Inn – thanks.
More than 300 homeless individuals gathered for a hot Thanksgiving meal served with all the trimmings – turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, macaroni and cheese, salad, a roll and pumpkin pie. It was provided by the Center of Jesus the Lord and local Lutheran churches.
“It gets bigger and bigger and better and better,” diner Charley Robertson, 47, said about the Thanksgiving feast.
Former guest pays it forward
“I can’t think of any other place to be,” George Derby, 60, said. “It’s nice to just sit down in peace.”    
Derby said he had lived at Ozanam for a month when he returned from California after losing his home to Hurricane Katrina. He said Deacon Biaggio DiGiovanni, executive director, showed him much love.
“He did everything he could for a person,” Derby said. “We got clothes, a shower. … They do whatever they can for people. They help people a lot, but first you have to ask for help.”
Derby now stops by to see old friends, help guide them and encourage them to not give up.
 “Catholic people help around the world,” Derby said. “I’m Catholic, and this is one of the things I do.”
Scripture part of feast
Father Lance Campo, director of Center of Jesus the Lord, said the meal was the center’s way of giving thanks to God. A reading from the Book of Sirach and the Gospel of Luke about 10 lepers healed by Jesus but only one returned to say thanks, were read, and Father Lance said grace.
“We want to make sure we are the ones who come back,” Archbishop Gregory Aymond said to those who were present. “Today, we look beyond our struggles and burdens and give thanks for what God has given.”
Archbishop Aymond suggested a few simple ways everyone can give thanks – pray for someone each of us might have taken for granted, find them and tell them that; make sure the way we look at and treat others tells God thank you.
Homeless request prayer
The archbishop walked around and wished everyone Happy Thanksgiving while musicians Randy Smith and Joe Polito played guitar and sang. Several asked the archbishop for prayers, including one woman who asked that he keep in his prayers that she could find a house in a good neighborhood.
“I will (pray for you),” he said to her, and then to those at the table, “I will pray for all of you.”
Father Campo called the dinner an ecumenical event between brothers and sisters of God because several local Lutheran churches donated 65 cooked turkeys, and the homeless ministry at Center of Jesus the Lord cooked the rest of the dinner, while volunteers with Center of Jesus the Lord served it.
“They are such a blessing to us,” Father Campo said about the volunteers who help at the center.
Reliant on donations
Center of Jesus the Lord’s homeless ministry has been organizing the Thanksgiving meal for several years – once at the “Wall” at the end of Elysian Fields Avenue at the river, then the past few years at Ozanam Inn, said Dottie Di Bella, the ministry’s co-coordinator with Mike Emig.
The ministry – run totally by donations – also feeds an average of 150-200 homeless at Ozanam Inn every Sunday at 5:30 p.m. and does regular feet washing, distributes toiletries and new socks and offers paperback books when they are donated.
Ozanam’s ‘big heart’ lauded
Edward Charles said he couldn’t find peace until he came to Ozanam Inn and became a crew member. He wanted everyone to know that people may be homeless, but they are “never hopeless and never God-less.” He said he is sticking with God and letting him show the way.
New Orleanian John Rapheal, 50, a graduate of Ozanam Inn’s substance abuse program, was at the dinner to fellowship with others. He returns often to remain focused and as a reminder to never go back to his former life.
“Ozanam Inn turned my life around,” he said. “It gave me a new focus on life that helped me get back to being a person and helped me grow spiritually and financially. I thank God for Ozanam Inn. It is a tremendous gift … so many people are without. Ozanam Inn has a big heart.”
Donations may be made at  www.centerofjesusthelord.org.
 Christine Bordelon can be reached at [email protected].