Confirmation Candidates Complete Matthew 25 Project
The Matthew 25 Project is the service component of the Confirmation program for youth. At Saint Clement, we believe that to live as a Catholic we need to Pray, Serve, Give, Learn, and Belong.
When beginning the service project, we ask each candidate to:
- Pray before you do your service work, ask Jesus to open your heart.
- Serve people with cheerfulness and kindness.
- Give of your resources like time, energy, and money.
- Learn about social action and the needs of others.
- Belong to our faith community and give witness to your experiences with other members; share how it feels to be a disciple of Jesus.
The project is inspired by the Works of Mercy as are written in the Gospel of Matthew and Catholic Social Teaching.
Each student chooses to do some form of direct service. Ben Hoffmeister chose three things: to teach chess to Wisconsin Veterans; to serve dinner to the disadvantaged and homeless people at Living Room Café; and to be an altar server at Saint Clement. Ben says that he does plan to do direct service in the future because these service projects "should happen with heart." He also said, "Being an altar server was really cool because I got to be a part of the church and I felt like I was helping to lead Mass. I felt very active in my faith and I knew that God would be very proud of me because I was helping out the church."
Other students helped with everything from volunteering at camps to helping to organize a fashion show for the Make a Wish Foundation. Then, each candidate is asked to create a reflection about their service project. It can be a written paper or a creative work of art. We want each candidate to consider how their faith and being a Catholic Christian makes a difference in the work that they do. Lilly Spalla wrote, "I relate to a disciple of Christ by helping these kids learn very important lessons that will help them through their whole life: generosity, respect, obedience, and love. I try my best for every day to be a beautiful day of happiness."
The project consists of two components: Direct Service and Social Action. Direct Service - Actions responding to the needs of individuals and deals with the effects of problems. Social Action - Actions responding to the behavior of social institutions; deals with the causes of problems.
The goal is that each candidate will be able to clearly identify the differences between direct service and social action through their own experience. Each candidate also studied about or participated in a form of Social Action.
Clemente Rua Figueroa studied about Caesar Chavez. "Chavez will not be forgotten," he says. "Because of him America is closer to fair wages and safer working environments. What made Chavez's work even more incredible was that he did it all peacefully, he even said once, 'The burdens of poverty and powerlessness lie heavy in the fields of America. If we fail, there are those who will see violence as a shortcut to change.'"
Alessandra Bianco chose to write about Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. "I chose Saint Elizabeth to be the person I wrote about for my social action paper because she is a person that makes me believe that all things are possible if you have faith and are willing and have the courage to try. She has so many qualities that I admire. She was so incredibly accomplished. For all that she did it was almost like she lived more than one life in her brief time on Earth. Her spirit and faith were remarkable."
On January 8, more than 100 parishioners who have participated in our parish's Strengths for the Journey program came together for an evening of gratitude, reflection, and sharing. Our 
Coming soon, the children of the parish will learn about stewardship and receive Weekly Offering Envelopes where they can place their donations for the Homeless Fund. The envelopes will feature a space where the children can write in how they offer to Jesus all of the ways they Pray, Serve, and Give each week.