Dear PAX Family,
Pope Francis envisioned the Church as a field hospital, where we do what we can to provide comfort, safety, and “first aid” to the wounded people around us until the mysterious work of healing can begin. PAX members have participated in works of justice and mercy in many areas of life–from refugee assistance to food banks to political advocacy to environmental activism to peace-building. In our everyday lives too, at home and on the job, we have sought to live Christ’s love in large and small ways. Hearing each other’s stories can encourage, remind, challenge, and inspire us in our own efforts. This page contains a collection of our stories of service.
Our Stories
• The Benjamins: A Story of Accompaniment – Ruben and Agar Benjamin fled from Sudan, first to Egypt and then to the United States. Their faith in God led them to help other refugees in Egypt and to continue helping others in the US, even as the PAX community helped them. “There are no limits on accompaniment,” wrote Claire Cifaloglio and Rob Abbot in their story of the Benjamins.
• Myrtle Hendricks-Corrales – “It was a teachable moment for me …. we needed not to provide the agenda to the women but to wait for the women to present their agenda to us.” Myrtle Hendricks-Corrales shares stories of co-founding Rachel’s Women’s Center, bringing her kids to volunteer at Zacchaeus soup kitchen, helping with the launch of Catholics for Housing, and more.
• Molly Cameron – “For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat…” Molly Cameron has always felt a calling to feed the hungry. Here are some of her stories, as told to Abby Mackness.
• The “Hauke Girls” – Katy DuGarm and Nellie Ohr – Having imbibed their parents’ faith, curiosity, and sense of connectedness to a broad human family, the “Hauke Girls” – Katy DuGarm and Nellie Ohr—each has her own way of living out her faith and sense of mission to build up the “beloved community.”
• Charlie Hookey – “Sometimes, one of the most valuable gifts a volunteer could supply was ‘keeping company’ with the homeowner(s) ….Listening to their lifetime of stories became an integral part of our effort to help restore to them a valuable sense of dignity and community.” Charlie Hookey shares his memories of leading PAX’s Christmas in April program in the 1990s
• Sister Caridad Inda – “I think it’s an interesting time to be alive. I feel like I’m living in a movie and don’t know what tomorrow’s act is going to be.” Sister Caridad Inda, CHM, PhD has devoted herself to bridging cultures and languages in service of the nonviolent pursuit of justice, particularly in Latin America and in the Catholic Church.
• Chris Johnston – Initially thinking of the priesthood, Chris Johnston ended up matching wits with housing bureaucrats, dropping names to Benedictine nuns, dressing up as Santa Claus, and developing housing for adults with intellectual disabilities, all part of his life-long work of providing dignified housing to people in need.
• Leslie Kaplan – “Whoever God puts in front of me, that’s who I work with. I’m a pretty good healer.” Throughout her life, Leslie Evers Kaplan has used her gifts of empathy and discernment to help young people and families work through their emotional wounds. In PAX, she also mentored young people while serving as a co-leader of a Journey to Adulthood group.
• Marilu MacCarthy – “We happily immersed ourselves in the many opportunities PAX offered for service to others — Zacchaeus Kitchen, Center for a New Creation, Christmas in April, and more — all while deeply engaged with the community in wresting meaning from the Scriptures, analyzing the “signs of the times”, and challenging ourselves to live “9 to 5” as pilgrims after Christ.” Marilu MacCarthy recounts her experience of worship and growing in understanding Jesus’ gospel message.
• Mary Lou Melley – “If I didn’t do it, there wouldn’t be another person in that office saying those words…. You have to be there,” Mary Lou Melley says of her lobbying work in the US Congress for gender equity. In another form of prayer and service, Mary Lou uses dance to bring joy, whether to herself, to PAX members, or to wheelchair-bound senior citizens.
• Bob Merrill – “Since so much of the population was needy, often we would find USAID sacks of grain still in the warehouse because ‘there was not enough to go around.’ It therefore took a great deal of travel and time to convince the local authorities to attempt to distribute the food to the most needy in their communities.” Bob Merrill details his service with CARE in the Middle East and Europe in the 1960s.
• Mafalda Marrocco and her late husband, Randy French, were at the center of PAX’s service at the Zacchaeus soup kitchen in Washington DC; her stories of Zacchaeus and other local efforts bring back vivid memories of how PAX members banded together, often with children in tow, to provide practical help to people in need.
• Dan and Sarah Mullholland – “I walked out of Mass that day and my world was different, brighter, like looking through new glasses. I had a week of having different revelations about myself and having my life fall in place”: read how the Ribbon Around the Pentagon project led Sarah and Dan Mulholland to PAX and to a new relationship with God.
• Stephanie Niedringhaus – “I am the daughter of a mother who grew up in Nazi Germany and an American father who fought the Nazis. I am also the mother of a son who has autism and other health issues. Had they not been in my life, I know I would not be the person I am.” Stephanie Niedringhaus writes of the personal experiences that led her to a life of advocacy for disability rights, justice, and peace, some insights she gained along the way, and how she accidentally named the “Nuns on the Bus” campaign.
• Mike Schaeffer – For Mike Schaeffer, science was his ministry. He applied his physics expertise to ensuring radiation-exposed veterans get fair compensation. A lover of languages, Mike found that his work required him to find a common language not only with scientists but also with veterans, military bureaucrats, politicians, and lawyers, in an effort to restore trust in the US government.
• Charles and Pat Schehl – “We were incredible followers.” Dr. Charles Schehl, husband of Pat, father of nine children, beloved family physician to many PAX members, and sometime guitarist in the PAX Folk Group, recalls the heady days of Catholic activism in DC, including the creation of Hospice and the NOVA Catholic community. Through it all, he claims, “I was just tagging along.
• Rosa Scott – In an interview with Rosa Scott on April 29, 2022, Nellie asked about her service to others. She preferred to talk about all that PAX sisters and brothers had done for her…
• Doug Spaulding – “As a Jesuit-trained Catholic steeped in the Church’s traditions of social justice, I viewed as anathema the notion that my country could lock somebody up, throw away the key without making a reasonable effort to establish “guilt or innocence,” and then apply interrogation methods amounting to torture.” Doug Spaulding writes about his experience representing prisoners at the US detention camp at Guantanamo.
• Mike Spaulding – He happened to study American Sign Language in high school because some pretty girls were in the class. Years later, barely out of a coma after his car accident and unable to speak, he signed “I love you” to his mom. Now ASL is one of the languages in which Mike Spaulding spreads cheer to everyone he meets.
Share Your Story of Service:
Please contact Nellie Ohr if you are willing to share your own stories of service. If you do not feel comfortable writing your own, you can send a brief video or audio file.
Here are some suggested questions to get you started, but there’s no need to be bound by them. Feel free to answer any or all of these questions about as many past or current experiences as you wish.
- How have you had the opportunity to serve God and neighbor in your everyday life—in the family, professional life, or other settings?
- Have you participated in projects, missions, or causes related to justice, peace, or service? Could you talk about those?
- Is there anything from your experiences that might be helpful or instructive to others who also seek to serve?
For example:
- How did you get involved in this activity?
- What led you to feel called to it?
- Was it a scary decision to undertake this service?
- What surprised/surprises you
- What particular challenges you faced/face?
- What was/is the hardest part of your service
- What did/do you find most gratifying?
- What have you learned about how to help people?
- Mistakes to avoid?
- What have you learned from the people you encountered?
- How does PAX fit in?
- Plans for the future?