Parish Spotlight: St. Anthony Catholic Church, Frankfort, Illinois

In 2023, my parish, St. Anthony, became a Drop-Off Center [for the Box of Joy® program]. With some creative planning, we had a “Christmas in July” car wash and bake sale sponsored by our Council of Catholic Women (CCW) and Religious Education Program (REP), which raised enough funds to pay all the shipping costs for that year’s donated boxes. Our parishioners were generous with their time — especially the youth in the hot sun washing cars, smiling and laughing while bonding in service — talent in baking and financial giving to make this successful. We also gave service hours to REP students who helped fold the boxes and shop to fill a Box of Joy.

This year, we put boxes in the church’s narthex to reach parishioners who are not in CCW or do not have children in REP. Our Holy Spirit Prayer group handmade over 200 beautiful rosaries and paired them with Rosary pamphlets. They prayed over the rosaries and had them blessed.

God is so good, and it’s just beautiful to witness these acts of kindness in a world where the news often focuses on the negative. Each year, we get an increasing number of boxes. Between fundraising, folding boxes, purchasing items to fill boxes, and filling boxes, we have at least 100 parishioners involved. I believe this has grown our parish to work together through many ministries to make the effort a success.

At our CCW meeting in October, we watched an interview with Bishop James R. Golka, who serves on the board of Cross Catholic Outreach. One of the things he said that really got me was, “Growing up in the United States of America, if we got a gift, it would be mine and I would guard it. Well, they [Guatemalans] were just opening them up and delighting in what each other had and trading readily.”

If other parishes, schools and organizations have thought about participating [in the Box of Joy ministry], please do. The joy you get is beyond words. Everyone I have come in contact with during the past four years — whether it be the Cross Catholic Outreach workers, drop-off facilitators, our parishioners or those dropping off at our parish — you can see Jesus shining through them. Who doesn’t want to surround themselves with uplifting people?