A Letter from Fr. Jim, Director of Cascia Center Ministries

Dear Friends:

In a letter to a close friend who lost her husband in death, St. Augustine wrote:

If poverty pinches, if grief saddens, if pain overcomes us, if exile darkens our life, if any other misfortune fills us with foreboding, let there be good friends at hand who know how to ‘weep with them that weep’ as well as ‘rejoice with them that rejoice.’  With such good friends bitter trials are lessened, the heavy burdens are lightened, the obstacles are met and overcome.  (Letter 130, 2.4)

It is our hope and plan that the new Cascia Center is an oasis of friendship in Philadelphia that heals broken lives and builds a community of peace.  Our inspiration is St. Rita of Cascia who, having experienced Christ’s healing presence in the face of violence and death that touched her family, bore the gospel message of reconciliation and peace to the wounded world around her.  In doing so, she became a friend to humanity, lifting people to new life in the love of God.

The needs of our community.
People young and old hunger today for this new life.  All we have to do is look around our world, into our neighborhoods, indeed into ourselves to see the restlessness that seeks meaning and fractured lives which need healing.  We badly need to break from sinful barriers that render us divided from ourselves and others—leaving us isolated, bitter and dispirited.  We need to find alternatives to the projection of blame, unconstructive anger, hatred and revenge.  Can we work to transform our pain on a path toward reconciliation?  How can we struggle with the power of forgiveness?  How can we work to find balance in our life and attitudes?  These are weighty tasks; so often we carry horrific hurts, stress and discouragement.  Yet our faith declares that the heart of God is in the midst of every pain, as Jesus makes clear.  Rita trusted in this gift and helped others find it.  It is ultimately the restoring love of God, embracing the deepest part of our souls, that restores our humanity and empowers us to live fully in freedom and peace.  In this we discover our deepest identity and joy.

Planning to make a difference.
In planning for ministries of the Cascia Center, we have a central question:  how can we be a unique force for reconciliation and healing in our city?  We’re engaging many voices in this discussion—friends of the Shrine, parishioners, ministers and others who know the many needs for peacemaking around us.  Saint Rita’s Shrine is already a unique place for prayer, sacramental reconciliation and devotion.  We want to build on this and in fact improve opportunities for parishioners and pilgrims to gather.  At the same time, how are we to extend our outreach—just as Rita reached out to others—through services that promote transformed, reconciling communities?  One way is to offer group support, spirituality and resources for young people, couples and professionals wishing to break from relational tensions and divisions.  For example, we intend to begin groups for victims of bullying and sexual abuse, and for men who wish to transform anger in their lives.  We hope to become a place of refreshment, renewal and education for caregivers, parents and leaders who are subjected to particular stressors.  Through the services of the A.D.R.O.P. organization, we plan to extend holistic services of body, mind and spirit to special populations in need.   The Center will also host restorative ministries for vulnerable groups such as families of those in prison, ex-prisoners, and parents who have suffered the loss of children.

Our vision:  healing broken lives.
Creating the Cascia Center is a work of prayer, planning, dialogue and friendship.  As Augustinians, this is the gift of our community life.  We strive to bring people together, to learn from each other and discover God in this exchange.  We believe the gift of reconciliation is carried in the stories of our lives and in the sharing of these stories.  When we are able to have our stories heard and respected, we come alive.  We find strength to renew and heal.  We find partners of dialogue and trust in bearing the wounds of life and in examining our lives and values so that we might author a future story of hope together.  In every ministry of welcome, education and skill-building or renewal, The Cascia Center will be a place where stories are honored and shared as sacred gifts for our mutual benefit and healing—that we all might create a community of peace that inspires and builds fullness of life.

I am grateful for the opportunity to serve in this new and vital ministry of the Cascia Center.  Your prayers, support, ideas and reflections are most appreciated in the days ahead.

Sincerely,

James D. Paradis, O.S.A.
Director of Cascia Center Ministries

Bulletin: January 30th 2010

What happened in the last week?  A great deal!

• Appreciation Party for Board, Advancement Council & Building Committee was well attended and huge success
• Architectural Plans were constructed and reviewed for data port placement & furniture layout for the Cascia Center
• Asbestos removal completed in the Cascia Center
• Development Director met with the Development Director of the Villanova Province for future sharing of resources
• Development Director attended seminars in the New IRS 990
• Reporting Form for Non Profits, Financial Literacy for the Non Profit, Fundraising Plan Development, and Non Profit Marketing and Segmentation
• Review of final information gathered for our Peace Award
• Nominees to make decision for Award Recipient

Building Plans Update

We are now in the process of reviewing the final updated plans showing proposals for furniture set up and power, data, and telephone locations based on the Building Committee meetings we had last week. Asbestos removal continued to occur all week in the school. The project is moving forward at all levels through many interested and faithful individuals!

Bulletin: January 16th 2010

Building Committee: A group of 11 met this past week to review all of the plans to date for the Cascia Center. The main focus at this point is the preparation of the school for the renovation work. All blackboards, floor tile and stage area have been removed. We are extremely thankful for the expertise of the architects, engineers, lawyers, project managers and environment consultants we have on this valued committee.

Technology Committee: A group of 4 met again this past week to review the information collected for the new Cascia Center website. At this point, the website is in the design stage with our gifted volunteers. Once the Cascia website is up and running, this group will also be updating the Shrine website. We are very fortunate to have these volunteer experts in the Parish who are willing to donate their talent and time to this important facet.

Segmentation: Part of the Development work at this point is to identify the many different groups and then the individuals  in those groups connected to the Shrine who we need to communicate with about the our upcoming Capital Campaign.

Posters in the Back of the Church: Have you taken the time to read about A.D.R.O.P., the Capital Campaign, the 3-fold purpose and the Mission of the Cascia Center? Look for them!

New Parishioner Welcoming Committee: Sixteen committee members met last Thursday to talk about the Welcoming Party for our new parishioners from the last year. Thanks to the volunteer efforts of the committee, all 123 new parishioners will be contacted by phone with a personal invitation for the 14^th!

Appreciation Gathering: On Saturday evening, January 23^rd, we are having a gathering after the 5:00 PM Mass in the Friary to show our appreciation to the members of the Shrine Board, Building Committee and Advancement Council. This is also an opportunity for the members of each group to meet, as they all share a common interest, the success of the Cascia Center Project. Thank you to all of the members of these groups

A Summary of the Last Three Months

• Consultants hired to help with Capital Campaign
• Needs Assessment Meetings held with many local Directors of Human Service Agencies in the city
• Advancement Council  in place and meeting
• Case Statement being reviewed by Board & Council
• Case Statement revisions weekly to update progress
• Posters in shrine & church to communicate project
• Weekly bulletin blurb communicates our progress
• Peacemaker will inform patrons across U.S. of  our Mission, Capital Campaign & Cascia Center goals
• Programmatic Offerings for 3^rd floor in discussion
• Decision  made to offer program of support for the Directors & Employees of Human Service Org. in our city, as one focus of the 3^rd floor Mission
• Augustinian Defenders of the Rights of the Poor to provide medical & legal support on the 2^nd floor
• Logo for the Cascia Center being created by friars
• New Technology Committee creating Cascia website
• Interior floor plans being refined & finalized
• Cascia project approved by So. Broad St. Assoc.
• Asbestos removal in old building site underway
• Pilgrimage to Italy to include Capital Campaign donation set for 4/ 11, with Fr. Michael Di Gregorio overseeing plans & celebrating daily Mass for us
• Capital Campaign details being formulated with quiet phase begins in March, all completed by 12/10
• Feasibility study completed & summary received
• 120 Flyers distributed to neighbors about project
• Development Director completes Certificate in Fundraising from La Salle’s School of Business, Non-Profit Division, this coming week
• La Salle University Professionals to give Board Training to our Shrine Board this coming March.

Keeping the neighboorhood informed

Flyers were distributed to residents on Ellsworth, Carlisle & Broad Sts. to prepare our neighbors for the construction that will soon begin on the old school building and to also them informed about our work to create the Cascia Center. The flyer included a picture of the proposed architectural sketch of the school with addition and a notice that construction may begin in late February or early March. More flyers will be delivered this coming week. We intend to periodically communicate with the neighbors in our immediate area throughout our construction.

Technology Committee Formed

Merry Christmas and THANK YOU to all friends of St. Rita who have helped in any way in the past year to move along our Cascia Center plans!

In the last week we have formed a technology committee of volunteers who for their first project will develop and maintain our Cascia Center website that will be linked to the Shrine website along with various others.  Parishioners Bryan McGee, Sharelle Bond, and David LeVine came forth to work with Fr. Mike and Deborah to help create a site that will have several purposes. The committee is in discussion about the ways it will provide helpful and varied information about the proposed center and eventually its programming schedule, the workshop leaders, ways to contribute, opportunities to give us feedback and most importantly for it to be a friendly and interactive site. Thank you, in advance, to our committee members for the volunteer efforts they will put forth to keep us current and connected to those who will use the Internet as a way to gather information about our new Cascia Center!

Cascia Center Plans Moving Along!

This past week our group of psychologists met to review the data from the “Needs Assessment Meetings” and to further discuss the types of beginning programs that will be offered at the Cascia Center. In conjunction with this meeting, there was also discussion with our architect to refine the plans for the 3^rd floor of the center to support the program spacing needs that are in discussion. Changes are in the works to construct more rooms on the 3^rd floor for group meetings of 15-20 people in order to accommodate several events at the same time and to include less smaller rooms for one-on-one counseling.

You may have noticed the large mechanical equipment in the front of the church this past week. We are in the beginning stages of addressing the repair of the roof &upper structure of the Shrine. The Cascia Center remodeling and the Shrine roof work are all part of our Capital Campaign efforts.

Case Statement

This past week of Development work included receiving feedback from the Advancement Council and the Shrine Board  of Directors about the first draft of the Case Statement. The Case Statement is our document that outlines the mission, objectives and goals of the Cascia Center, along with the history, the architectural details, the financials and the work completed to date in our project plan. The Case Statement will also be included in various formats when we seek grant and foundation monies. It is all coming together through the work of many friends of St. Rita who are supporting the Cascia efforts!

Feasibility Study Continues

This was a short week in the office. Our development work continued with the Feasibility Study. We are now concentrating on the friends of the Shrine beyond the Philadelphia area who live across the United States. Calls were made this past week and will be made in the upcoming week to speak with individuals about the updated details of the Cascia Center project. As part of these phone calls, we will also schedule an additional time that a consultant from Federico & Associates will make to conduct an interview for our Feasibility Study.

We ask that you continue to pray through the intercession of St. Rita that all of our efforts to complete the Cascia project remain rooted in Catholic values, and  true to our mission to stay committed to the human and spiritual development of the individual through the peaceful resolution of conflict.