"Discover God in those around you."

Brief profiles in laity: Eleanor Osbourne, Holy Ghost Preparatory School faculty Spanish and French teacher Bensalem, Pennsylvania Living as an example for her students Though Eleanor Osbourne has been a foreign language teacher at Holy Ghost Preparatory School for 17 years, she sees her first job as being an example for her students. "I try very hard to send them the countercultural message of keeping Christ at the center of their lives," she says. "When they leave school, I hope they will have some inner resources to draw from. Another way I try to go beyond the classroom and reach out to a larger community is as a member of the Lay Spiritans Association. It's an opportunity to make life more comfortable for those in need." Since joining the Spiritan community as a teacher, Eleanor feels that the teachings of Father Libermann have had a profound effect on her. "I think all of us take on challenges we never imagined we would face in our lifetimes. Despite his challenges, Father Libermann continued in his Spiritan vocation to bring the Gospel to the world. I receive strength from the fact that no matter what the challenge is, I can get through it with prayer." Gene Betit, Our Lady Queen of Peace, Arlington, Virginia Director of the Office of Social Justice Battling a culture of "I've got mine, you've got yours." Gene Betit wants to open your eyes to the people around you. So many of us live our lives ignoring or failing to notice all those around us who are in need economically, emotionally, or spiritually. As a Deacon at Our Lady Queen of Peace and Director of the Office of Social Justice, Gene, a retired Army officer, is at the helm of a number of programs that help people in need and open the door for others to reach out and help. The parish has a food pantry, emergency assistance program that helps with rent, medical costs, and transportation, and a clothing recycling program. He also takes part in works of advocacy to raise awareness and spur people in the community and government to take action. When he accompanied a group of parish young people on a mission trip to Appalachia, he was pleased to hear them ask, "What about home? There must be poor at home who need our help too." "They made that connection," he says. "Homeless people are often out of sight and out of mind. Or people rationalize that they're addicts who can't be helped. But the kids saw that wasn't true. Everybody has problems. I went through 4 years of unemployment myself." John Fitzpatrick, Holy Ghost Preparatory School faculty Bensalem, Pennsylvania Pushing students to go beyond themselves John Fitzpatrick coordinates two service trips each year for students at Holy Ghost Preparatory School that give these young people a chance to live the Spiritan call to help those who are most in need. "The trips are designed to get our students out of the protected world of suburban America and into contact with the marginalized," John says. "We try to arrange forms of service that push the students to go beyond themselves. What is essential is that the students interact with those in need. We do not let them stuff envelopes in an office." One trip takes the students to Harlem to visit St. Mark's, a Spiritan parish that was the first African American parish in the area. In the spring, the students travel to rural West Virginia to help repair dilapidated housing. Before they set off, John arms the students with advice that Father Libermann gave his missionary priests: "Do not judge the people you serve by your own cultural standards, but rather become one with them, adopting their culture in all things that are not contrary to the Gospel." "For our students, Father Libermann's advice translates into openness to the other in service without judgmental attitudes. The students instead try to blend with the community and understand their genuine needs," John notes. Parish of St. Mary Magdalene, Chicago, Illinois A spirituality of relationships The parish of St. Mary Magdalene was much like other South Chicago parishes in the beginning. Many parishioners were Polish immigrants and shared a common culture, history, and language. But over the years that changed as it has in parishes across the country. Today, St. Mary Magdalene includes African Americans, Haitians, Hispanics, Poles, and others. Father Edward Vilkauskas, former pastor, asked some of his parishioners why they choose this church when there were so many other Catholic churches in the neighborhood. "They told me it was the diversity that drew them," he says. "I feel that is the strength of a Spiritan parish." Parish diversity can be seen not only in the faces at mass, but also in the traditions that people bring to the parish from their native lands. There is los Posadas, a reenactment of Mary and Joseph's search for an inn, a large celebration on the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and a powerful Haitian prayer group. The parish celebrates their patron saint's day with a festival that includes foods from all the different cultures represented in the parish. "We have many chances to share in the community," Father Vilkausas adds. "The global or missionary impulse of the Spiritans brings home the world-wide view of the church and pushes us beyond ourselves towards the idea of making room for others." And that opening up and making room is what happens at St. Mary Magdalene every day.