By Mary Bretscher 12/13/25
A few weeks back, I was talking with Mary Keldermans about the sequence of events which led up to us choosing our Advent Angels. What seemed to be a series of unrelated, ordinary events was starting to look like maybe there was a plan to them all. Mary asked me if I would share my reflections at mass today.
It started with a stranger stopping by our food pantry. Jeff encountered her one day when he was refilling the pantry. Her name was Hilda. She is a home health aide, and she has been taking items from our pantry to a client of hers, an 80 year-old woman named Karen who lived in a mobile home with two other women. She mentioned that the women had only a hot plate to cook on. She said that her client, Karen, could really use a microwave to heat up meals.
When Mary got wind of three elderly women in a mobile home, huddled around a hotplate, she sprang into action. Soon she had the agreement of the Be Like Emma committee to purchase a microwave for Karen.
Fast-forward to a few days before Thanksgiving. Hilda met Mary at Holy Family to pick up the microwave and deliver it to Karen. Mary also gave Hilda one of the food baskets Maria had put together. That would probably have been the end of the story, but for the fact that Hilda had brought with her a scary-looking dude named Troy to do any heavy lifting.
To paraphrase Mary, with his multiple tattoos, piercings, and neck chains, Troy had the appearance of someone you would cross the street to avoid if you saw him walking down the sidewalk. On closer inspection, Mary noticed that he had a tattoo of the blessed mother on the side of his neck and one of Jesus on his scalp. most of his chains contained crosses or crucifixes. He was gentle, polite, sincere, and glad to help.
Turns out Troy lives in a sober living house for people with addictions and prison records. He had recently been released after having been incarcerated for 26 years. He was now trying to make a go of it living clean and sober.
On the way out of the church, Troy said if they wanted to help somebody else, he and his roommates could use underwear and t-shirts. And so, eventually they made their way on to Holy Family’s Christmas tree as Advent Angels.
As I thought more about these events, I began to understand that they all fit together as a package of interrelated blessings from God. Like a Christmas stocking full of the spiritual gifts and moments of recognition we so love to find. Being that it was Advent, it was not hard to see Jesus in Troy and Karen.
And a side note on Karen. At first it was our understanding that Karen lived with two other elderly ladies in a mobile home. We came to find out that the other two women living with Karen were 3 her 55 yr old daughter and 30-something granddaughter. Were these presumably able-bodied adults not helping with Karen’s expenses? Why not? Our funds are not unlimited; don’t we have an obligation to see to it that they are not wasted? Should we be buying a microwave for Karen?
This dilemma, how to distribute limited resources, is one we have faced several times on the Be Like Emma committee. The very fact that our funds are limited is what raises charity from an easy decision one does not have to think twice about to a deeper, more holy exploration of one’s motives for giving. A full examination of this topic will have to wait – maybe a subject for a Lenten enrichment? In the end, we decided to proceed with the gift of the microwave.
Karen’s part of this story seems like a detour in the plot. What, if any, were the spiritual gifts involved? Well, for one, it has motivated me to take an honest look at the reasons I give to charity. And there is the effect on the other characters. Maybe the daughter and granddaughter needed to see an example of giving with no strings attached, and get a glimpse of what God’s love feels like.
So what is the overall message for Holy Family? I can imagine several. The fact that our story is unfolding during Advent reminds us that as we are preparing for Jesus to come, we should not overlook Jesus who is already here among us.
Another message is about the trust that is necessary when we are seeking to do God’s will. When we stock our food pantry, we give up control over what happens to the food in it. We have faith, and we trust that God will use our offerings to work His purpose, even if that purpose is obscure to us.
In this story, the micro pantry became the catalyst for God’s love manifesting in the world. There was no script to follow, just trust to take the next step when God puts it in front of us. We allow the story to unfold as we live it.
There is a final exclamation point to this story. Or maybe I should say coda, since Melissa is involved. Melissa told Mary that she had two winter coats that she wanted to give away. The very next day Hilda texted Mary and told her that someone had stolen her winter coat, and asking if Holy Family could help her find one. Melissa and Mary met Hilda and Troy at Panera the next day. Melissa had brought not only the winter coats, but also two pairs of gloves which she also gave Hilda, and both Hilda and Melissa found themselves on the receiving end of God’s love.