Why Mercy is the Beginning of Mission

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Evangelization as a concept is an intimidating thing but the idea of mercy is

something we all know you know I think that that's an important point for people to

realize like you can just go and encounter people who are vulnerable and need you to

look at them.

Welcome everyone to every knee shell value weekly Catholic podcast on

evangelization and discipleship. It's just me again this week Gomer is still

taking care of his family. Everything is going great with Noah and his

injury but you know this is both mine and Gomer's busy season so our

producers told Gomer just go ahead and you know take care of your family and

worry about like more important things so we're continuing on with our season on

organizations that are professionally carrying out missionary discipleship and

so we're gonna move on today. I hope you're having a great length you know I

think I've talked to a lot of people who are doing Exodus 90 and lots of people

who are doing all kinds of programs and a bunch of people who are doing the

Ascension programs and the people are raving about it so if you haven't seen

yet jump on the Ascension app I've listened to some of the meditations they're

incredible. Also yeah check out Gomer's calendar he'd love to see you he's still

busy traveling for missions. I'm in Columbus right now from my last mission I'm

with the wonderful people at Immaculate Conception in Columbus Ohio last

that was the first night it was great night and I'll speak tonight again and then

head home and then my speaking season kind of comes to an end at the end of

this month I'll be down in St. John's in NS Texas March 25th and 26th one of my

favorite parishes in the country Father John Dick famed he's like a legend he's

amazing and I'm so excited to go down and be with those guys also in May 6th I'll

be back in Texas to St. Francis of a CC in Frisco talking about spiritual

warfare for our homes and families so I hope to see you there keep us in

prayers we're traveling all over and and we do the same for you today we are

joined by actually a friend of mine and I feel close to this organization

because I've been in and out of working with them and things like that throughout

the years my good friend Dan Gallagher is the executive director of an

organization here in Pittsburgh called Move-A-Mountain missions Dan thanks

much for coming on how you doing this morning they've doing great thanks for

having me on yeah Dan Move-A-Mountain missions is your co-founder besides

executive director correct yes correct along with Father Chris Donnelly yeah

with our close friend Father Chris Donnelly I've talked about Father Chris many

times on the air although I don't know if I've ever used his name Father Chris

is just I don't know how to describe him he I mean you got to keep up that's all

like he's just that kind of priest you just you just hope that you can keep up with

the work that he's doing and the discipleship that he's doing I mean he's he's

just constantly has ideas and he is a bull like he'll get him done you know he

knows what the Lord is about and and he's about the Lord's business so these two

guys founded this organization and why don't you tell us about kind of where

this organization came from what the founding I mean how did it how did it

start yeah so actually work with Father Chris at a parish in Morningside called

St. Rayfield's parish and it's a smaller parish doing a lot of different

things but one of the things we did was youth ministry and we let a mission

trip to Jamaica to this home called MasterC communities Father Chris actually

was like when we're talking about youth ministry is like what worked for us like

what led us to the gospel what transformed us and so we just started having

those discussions about different things and for me you know one of the pivotal

moments of my life was after undergrad I went down and served at a home for

band and children with disabilities called mustard seed communities and just

it was an incredible experience for me so I suggested we lead a mission trip

down there so that was 2016 we let our first mission trip and it was just one

of those experiences where you have where it's you just feel the spirit at work

and feel like something something big is happening yeah here that God's grace

is covering the whole thing and so flowing out of that trip was the last night

Father Chris kind of challenged our group who were the most vulnerable in

Pittsburgh and what can we do for them and so we started making lists and like

that's been kind of the governing thing of what can we do for the most vulnerable

in Pittsburgh and I think one of the things we realized on that mission trip is

you know we're going there to serve some of the most vulnerable members of our

human family people that have been abandoned by their by their parents by people

that are supposed to love them or all kinds of tragic situations they care for

it's an incredible organization they care for over 600 have 600 residents

mostly with intellectual developmental disabilities but then when we went

there what we realized was it's them who are transforming us right like they're

moving the mountains in our hearts that are separating us from the love of God

so in adoration and in mass our teens in particular but us as well we're

having this like God's grace was moving in ways that we were never free to

experience before and so I think one of the things Father Chris is particularly

good at is when something is good let's do it let's keep feeding this and so

out of that came the desire to start a nonprofit to just to really give an

identity and to give a culture to that mission as well as give an opportunity to

preserve it and to to grow it and so at the same time we wanted to do

something back home not read I mean to care for that community of course but

more was the realization that man they have a love and they have a joy that is

incredible and that our world needs like they have this transformational power so

it was more for us about how could we put people into contact with this

population that I mean I really think of them as ambassadors of Christ to

write like an ambassador is the highest representative for nation right and so

like they're like the representatives of Christ they have such a gift so yeah

we were praying about how to what to do how to realize that this in Pittsburgh

and we we came up with a lot of ideas as you mentioned Father Chris like a

lot of times like just trying to keep up with them and yeah and we were gonna

start a children's home at one point right and different different stuff and

like not that everything was either like yeah too big or didn't seem like it was

a right it was a right fit yeah in 2019 a guy Mike Fitzgerald approached Father

Chris just kind of actually through his work at the Red Door the Red

Door is our kind of homeless ministry soup kitchen in Pittsburgh and his wife

Terry and his son Patrick who's autistic were volunteers there and they heard

about move them out in what we were doing with the mission trips in Jamaica and

approached him about starting a cafe that employs adults with intellectual

developmental disabilities yeah this is Brother Andre's I've talked about this

a bunch of times on the air Brother Andre's is well now two locations in

Pittsburgh both in churches and the parish that I go to normally on the

weekends I mean you wouldn't believe like afterwards everyone goes down and

they're having coffee and it's in the cafe and there's I mean I don't know of a

person who is in mass that doesn't come down and like has fellowship during that

time it's like this beautiful place you know a couple things I want to just kind

of draw out in our conversation here that you mentioned is I think a lot of

people in America well a lot of like people who are in the Catholic you know

insider baseball movement kind of they have that experience of like a mission

trip change their life you know and you know throughout the Old Testament and

the New Testament like poverty is an important thing it's a very important

thing and we don't have it here it's just not a thing for most of us right I mean

it's very rare like we have first word problems and even our poor are not poor

right and so I don't mean it that way they're not materially poor right I mean they

can get that the what they need but the fact of the matter is like a lot of

times God does use that like breaks our hearts and it kind of impoverishes us

through friends that we make on these mission trips to come back and realize

like oh there's other kinds of poverty that we have to solve you know and so I

love this idea of like continuing the mission trips you know the other thing is

I wanted to say is this idea of just like what you said you know you would

Father Chris sat down and said what did it for us you know this is something

that every evangelist should be thinking about right every day you should be

thinking about what brought me to Christ like what really like made my

relationship you know with Christ important and so anyways I want to let you

talk more but what I want to hear so okay so we have moved out missions which

is the umbrella organization then we have brother Andre's which is a cafe for

adults but they're young right I mean it seems like yeah both they're over they're

over 18 so one of the things are culturally I think a lot of the high schools

and have a lot of programming for people with disabilities and then to turn 18

and it drops off so that was that is kind of an intentional target of ours is

like there are some universities that do have great programs but

Duquesne University has an incredible program but then even that like phases

out at 22 and then the supports for them and activities just drops off

incredibly so yeah amazing and the people who are staffing like move

about mission a bunch of them were like physical therapists and things like

that I mean God really brought people together I remember at the beginning of

this it was crazy like you know just to watch them it was kind of amazing you

people would just come and I mean I think they were just there to see how it worked

it was kind of incredible but then like God was calling you to even more and

tell us about the new initiative that's kind of just now getting off the ground sure yeah so

gift of Mary this is something that was really close to the heart of Father Chris and

during COVID him and our other good friend Father Joe Freedy they had like one of

the best deals during COVID because they got to run the whenever a lot of us were

cooped up they got to run the red door and so they just kind of took that over and were

encountering the most vulnerable every day and I think during that time there's also it you know

a lot of issues in society but they were seeing a lot of the faces of those problems

in vulnerable women in particular and wanted to do something felt deeply moved to begin caring

for them and kind of in a rural organic way it started as a partnership with Catholic charities one

winter they the church served as the warming station during the winter months and you know we had

through our volunteers and stuff they they had such an incredible experience whenever it warmed

up the women didn't want to leave so just made it a day center and that became that became gift of

Mary and through through Father Chris through the work of the Holy Spirit the couple of young ladies

approach him that we're working there that wanted to kind of commit to it more fully and so we

started a missionary program really Father Father Chris begin a missionary program where we have

girls who commit to doing a year of service they staff this day program that we run for the women

and it's really incredible but it's funny because I was filling out an insurance form and it was like

what services do you provide and there's like a list of all these services like we don't do any

we don't do any of these we connect them to Catholic charities who are next door for some of the

serious more serious things that they might need but we're just our present to them

just nobody knows the poor women in our city like our missionaries it's really amazing I was

down there a couple of weeks ago and met a girl actually a young woman who grew up actually two

blocks from me but when she first came to gift of Mary she was living under a bridge and

just with our missionaries just walking with her through a ministry of of relationship

helped her to find stable housing get back on her feet she's working now she's clean and

her son just recently approached her and asked if she could get baptized so cool yeah so this yeah

this lady uh there's all kinds of stories like that and with their encounters with the home

so that's the that's the main thing they do and then the other aspect of that is what we just this

year launched an urban immersion mission mission program so kind of uh similar to what we do in

Jamaica of course a different population and it's local but a bit more accessible for people with

old common we have a facility across the street from the red door right in downtown Pittsburgh

that has 13 bedrooms can accommodate up to 30 people and we have uh groups that come in

high school groups college groups that will come in and stay there and then serve at the red door

and encounter the homeless in Pittsburgh so in the mission our missionaries run that program

as well so it's been awesome really it's just something that fell into my lap I didn't have a lot

to do with the the origin of it but it's been a blessing to be a part of for sure

you know I think in a lot of cases with some of these organizations you have like a visionary leader

who he's so good at vision and he desperately needs someone like you to make it come true

and and I think Father Chris a lot of you know he and he knows it you know so he's like let me

hire someone for this you know he's definitely a pure pure visionaries um somebody that has such a good

sense of what is good and I want to make it happen and he's one of the most inspirational

people I mean he really is you know I I think about working for him and how many times like

my meeting got like a meeting that was maybe on the books for months

he'd have to cancel because he was with one of the homeless people you know it's like it's like dude

we have to get this done and he was not about that he was he was gonna do what he knew he had to do

and you know that was always very inspiring so for the missionaries who are there how long is

the commitment it's a year-long commitment okay so they make a one-year commitment we're looking

at starting a six-week summer internship okay summer that's kind of a we haven't done that done

that yet but that's kind of what we're what we're looking at okay now they make a one-year

commitment and they live in community together and do they have to raise money they raise they

raise money for there to recover the cost of their salary and we cover their housing okay and

then I know it's relatively new but like what's the training I mean this is not normal it's not like

you're not going to serve in parishes to you know we retreats for kids like yeah what's the training

like yeah so Claire Stevenson who has been leading this for the last couple of years has really a

really thorough training program both in terms of how to encounter the women and it's a lot of

its relational ministry right a lot of it's you feel it out and you learn it and you discuss it so

really the formation comes from the conversations the one-on-one conversations the the small group

prayer discussing those conversations and what could have done better in that situation so a lot

of it's really takes place throughout the year there's just ongoing formation that Claire runs

for the women so I mean they do like basic medical stuff because we do have a lot of situations

with seizures and okay sure situations that the girls will have to respond to but Claire is there

to kind of anything that becomes more serious or de-escalating situations and that's really

something that you see modeled and you kind of emulate it when you have to sure sure sure I mean

it is it's just you know you know when you think about vulnerable populations you kind of umbrella

the poor right or the homeless and you don't really I mean amongst those are even more vulnerable like

the women it's dangerous you know it's a terrible life that they're living out there it's it's

scary and so it's I think this is a beautiful ministry you know the great part about move-out

missions is it's affected so much of Pittsburgh right like mostly organizations we've talked to

have been national organizations that go all over and that's wonderful but like you think about

like how many people just in Pittsburgh have been to the red door and have seen Father Chris

making sandwiches or have seen you make sitting there making sandwiches they've seen you encountering

the poor right that's a that's a big deal for a diocese like it's in a certain sense like

you're kind of teaching the diocese mercy you know and I feel like that's what's so important

about move-out missions in Pittsburgh yeah to say like throughout the Old Testament the like most

vulnerable are identified as the fatherless the on a whim the on a whim right so but yeah we see

like this this theme of it's the fatherless it's the widow and it's the foreigner so it's like

those are the three groups that are consistently identified and I think that's something that

again like we we weren't like programmatic with that it just is the way that it happened by

looking to say like how could I live out my faith but we have the in mustard seed the kind of

orphaned children that are living there and then a gift of Mary's the vulnerable women and then

really brother Andre's cafe even though they're from I mean in general we are dealing with some

really amazing families at brother Andre's cafe but the way that they walk through the world is

and this is something we've heard again from them is like there's not a place for them so they're

kind of like foreigners even though they're in their own city and in loving families when they

go out they get looks and so so we've been able to create a place for them as well so it's really

been like right it's funny it's not just for the workers my son Max he feels like brother Andre's

is his you know he thinks it's his place yeah right this is right and and uh it's kind of his place

you know and he he has full plans like he's already telling my kids like I'm not going to give you guys

cookies you have to pay for them like you know like when he when he works that he's tired right yeah

right we need right right right so tough like that but it's important you know I once had this

like kind of a nasty argument one time with a parishioner and I was being a bull but they were

gonna talk yeah right but they were talking about uh leading this trip down to downtown and work

with the poor and I was you know talking to them and I was I can't remember what happened but we

were talking about effectiveness like are we actually able to help and I said to him like oh

sorry I'm not really concerned with that I'm more concerned with are they going to be able to

us right and he I mean he went ballistic when I said like he was so upset but I think there's a big

difference between social justice and works of mercy and works of mercy it's like that encounter

with Christ like two people meet and Christ is in the middle and I think that's like so important

and it's to be honest with you I think and I'd love to hear your opinion on this like

evangelization as a concept is an intimidating thing right

like people are like what what do I do wait well I don't know what to say I don't who do I start with

but the idea of mercy is not I wait I mean it's like it's something we all know

and so to go and to say like this is how I'm gonna start I think I mean that's how I started

evangelizing working with the homeless and doubts you know and you know I think that that's

an important point for people to realize like you don't have to just start out like passing

out pamphlets on the street or street preaching or something like that you can just go and encounter

people who are vulnerable and need need you to look at them you know yeah yeah and that's one of

the things that's kind of informed me has been CS Lewis the four loves on philia yeah we

talk about friendship and the difference between friendship and arrows and that the nature of

friendship is that you're shorter to shorter looking at something and it says right the person

that wants a friend cannot get a friend like if you want a friend don't try to get a friend get a

hobby and that's where I feel like with evangelization a lot of it is like obviously everyone's trying

and we got to take many avenues but sometimes I joke like you see like the discernment posters and

stuff like yeah we be my friend it's like right like like uh no like let's get a hobby let's let's

get all the acts of mercy and that's where obviously you need both I'm not knocking that but we need

the other way it's like we have we have this act of mercy or this this commitment to doing the

works of mercy and then we draw others along side of us that are ordered towards that same that same

good that have that same desire and that's been really I think a blessing for us as an organization

that everything we do we want to we want to evangelize that's I thought that's I mean that's my

core motivator whenever things like I'm doing of course you know stuff on the laptop like what

am I doing my life and I just got a thing zeal for souls that that's what this is all about and

that's the main motivator trying to learn how to get better at offering those acts up but I do

think like that's been at the basis of of all that we've done we've not been really like in a maybe

like if you're delineating like an evangelization ministry but our goal of course has been to to

bring the gospel to people and so yeah when as you say that like your experience down in Texas

again that's been our reality here right yeah just encountering people and I think a really

profound lesson I learned one time anytime I go out of the country I always try and stay at the

missionaries of charity because it's the cleanest place in any city you've ever had to do it

as a matter of where it is and I remember one time I was sitting down they made this giant

beautiful breakfast for me and it was at a home again for women with disabilities and a young

woman orphans and one of the orphans kept looking through the great and going like that breakfast

looks really good you know and I said to the mother superior like can I please give her my breakfast

you know I can't sit here eat this breakfast while she's watching and very sternly and almost

angry the mother superior said she doesn't need your food we've given her food she needs you to look

at her and she brought her in and just sat her down at the table and it was like a you know this

great just great moment and it was something I learned you know so simple right like just affirming

someone's humanity is an act of evangelization period you know like that they were created and they're

good and loved and lovable those things are important so yeah I love the idea and you know I don't

know that every diocese has a place like divine mercy parish where it's an epicenter like move

out missions it's kind of connected to it and everything like that but every diocese has soup

kitchens and things like this like this is a great way to learn how to evangelize it's a great

start to becoming a missionary evangelist so I just encourage you know before we go to break like

you know if you're wondering how to start works a mercy is a great way to do it say easy way it's

not confrontational as much as I mean what you do can be sometimes you know working with those

populations but you know passing out food to people who are hungry is not something that bakes a

statement other than we love them you know so yeah we're gonna go take a quick break again you know

probably hear something from the legendary father Mike Schmitz or someone like that Jeff Kavins

but everything that essentially puts out is just amazing so take a listen go to ascensionpress.com

to see what else they have and again if you have any questions for go where I email us at eksb

at ascensionpress.com we'll be right back I am Father Columbus Jordan a Franciscan friar of the

renewal living here in Arnon this land I'm partnering with ascension to bring you crocs a set of daily

challenges and videos in the ascension app starting Ash Wednesday will take on four challenges

each day the remind us of the cross of Christ one reading scripture two praying the examine prayer

three doing one workout or exercise in four and dietary fast of your choice nothing extreme it's

about stepping into small daily challenges that rub up against our weakness so we can learn to

meet God in those moments and rely on him alone so here's the invitation join me every day this

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I'll see you soon

and we're back to every knee show value weekly Catholic podcasts on evangelization and discipleship

we're continuing on their interview with Dan Gallagher executive director of move-amount

missions which is an umbrella organization and he's the co-founder with a close trying to

mind father christianly you've heard about him many times I I've worked for him on and off for

several years and know his family well although I don't know if I've ever brought his name up on

on the podcast or not but I I've referenced him many times you know father Chris is one of those

guys that there's so many ideas coming from him you expect him in an office but you find him

down with the poor I mean you know him better than kind of anyone what's his secret yeah that's

a great question people say that to me like I know better than anyone and he's a great great friend

actually we when we were in I was in the North American college with him in the seminary I

discerned out married have six kids now but when we had breaks like Easter breaks or Christmas

breaks we'd go with the missionaries of charity sisters so when you're saying that I was thinking

of of those times in Moscow with the MCs and in Calcutta and just really incredible experiences and so

I think one of the things that I'd say about father christ is just has such a heart for the poor

and he's not afraid to fail and that's something like where I look at him and and love it you know

maybe that's something where like for me like I'll maybe more analytical but the fear of failures

there so I think that's why I'm so grateful for the ways that that he's pushed me and I'd still be

thinking about starting brother on jace as well we need to figure it out me too me too if I'm saying

something publicly then I know it's gonna happen you know what I mean like that's so that's a great

point that he's not afraid to fail that's that's awesome yeah and I would say that for my experience

that's the way it's to he's just he does what needs to be done and you know his background he

came from just an incredible family but of wealth and I remember the first time I met him

he was getting out of his car and he was in like snow gear and I was like why wearing all those

you know clothes he like had like a ski hat on and he's like oh the heat my car doesn't work and

I was like why do you get it fixed he's like I don't know it's been like a year it's I feel the

summer's gonna be here anyways like soon he's just like that kind of person you know like just

very I don't know just surprising he's surprised you all the time so that's yeah I used to have a

fan plugged into his into his uh whether the cigarette lighter you didn't have AC but uh yeah I think

just a great a great heart for the poor and yeah he said of his mom growing up when he'd ask

if you if we were rich so like we're rich in love and I think that's the

quality was grown up in and and raised raised in and just a beautiful yeah beautiful family

I know they are they are well yeah I was working with his sister Megan because we had a at our

fundraiser that you know they're a group won a trip to Rome because Father Chris is over there

at the seminary so his eyes working with her on that and I was working with her two brothers they

store uh we ship containers of generally diapers or other stuff too but adult diapers

something they have a real need for in Jamaica so we store them in one of their business facilities

so I was like well working with them on that I'm working with Father Chris and then his other

brother and mom works for us at the cafe right I'm working with five of the siblings like it's

like a mercy mafia yeah that's that's awesome that's awesome hey uh this has been great Dan if

uh people want to know more about movement missions where can they find you guys and they want

to support or look into the missionary program yeah look yeah so all the information is on move

them out and dot org our website and there's information if they wanted to plan a local trip we have

a kind of a really awesome program that could be four days could be three days could be a week long

if they wanted to do it but that information's on there if someone's you know wrapping up college

or thinking about it thinking about what they're gonna do next year yeah look about our missionary

program uh we're always looking for for great candidates who want to serve the poor and then

yeah information about you could link that could link you to our brother on jay's website

brother on jay's dot org where jazz like our online store for for the cafe if someone wants to buy

some buy some coffee yeah awesome awesome and I would say like if you are looking into a missionary

program man this is a really good community it's not you're gonna be a family you're definitely

going to be a family as opposed to an employee so you know it's just like I see them like my face

lights up and and you know it's just it's wonderful to have them part of our community so yeah hey

damn thanks so much and we're gonna keep you in prayer as always we keep our listeners in prayer

and please pray for us especially as we finish up these lent and missions and things like that

pray for the people who are coming to the missions especially the date and counter the Lord

and and remember him over us uh we're gonna continue on we have one more interview for our season

with uh organizations involved in missionary discipleship we're gonna be talking to family

missions company down in Louisiana and uh and then we're gonna wrap up the season and then we'll

have some new content for you guys coming up soon as always uh you're in our prayers god bless

you