Go Tell It On the Mountain . . .

Yesterday, the youth group of my parish, St. Albert the Great in Knoxville, TN, carpooled up to a small mountian community in northeastern Tennessee, not far from the border with Kentucky.  This was Appalachia, where previously coal mining and logging kept local people employed, fed, and clothed.  Both industries have slowed down considerably, and the median income barely passes the poverty level.  Sadly, this has become an area where meth has a grasp on the people here.  For many of the children, Christmas means a time of disappointment - there are no fancy Xboxes under the tree or video games, if there is even a tree.  But not all kids will be without a gift, thanks to the generosity of my parish.

With help from Catholic Charities of Eastern Tennessee, people were able to sign up at a local thrift store to be part of a Christmas party.  Each family received a gift box of food for the holiday meal, but most importantly, the children of those families got a large gift bag of presents.

But, come on, it's no fun giving them out unless you've got a party going!  So it fell to our Youth Group, our high school kids, to put one on.  And they did!  We made sure there were snacks and drinks.  We had face-painting and hot cocoa.  And we had Santa!  I had to laugh, Joey - one of our most eclectic kids - at Halloween was our Chainsaw Maniac.  But he was adamant - he wanted to be Santa Claus, so with a costume and some stuffing, so he did . . . and was amazingly tender and gracious with all the kids that came up to talk to him and receive their gifts.

I was talking to the local rep for Catholic Charities, Ed.  The party was held in a local thrift store that really had seen better days.  Not a lot of stuff but, as Ed explained to me, "This is their WalMart.  This is here families come to shop for their basics.  This is all they have."  Sobering, to say the least.  Hidden behind a display case was some used and new toys - that will allow parents to "shop" for their children to make this Christmas brighter.

Wat is more important is that our kids got the chance to put Christ's teaching in action.  And also to see how fortunate they are with their own circumstances.  My daughter jumped in the van with her Knoxville Catholic HS buddies, so I drove up two other kids - despite an hour up and an hour back, more or less, my time was enhanced by conversation with two polite and mature teens. 

Go tell it on the mountain - Christ is at work in the world.

See more pictures here.