Larry's Story

By Deacon Larry Erpelding

My involvement with Catholic Charities began by being invited to join the Manhattan office's advisory board about 15-20 years ago. It didn't take long to learn how Catholic Charities’ mission was to fulfill various aspects of Catholic Social Teaching. The Church teaches that human life is sacred and the dignity of the individual is foundational for a moral vision for society.

Jesus drew so many connections between love of God and love of neighbor. One cannot profess to love God and then not respond to the needs of other human beings. In Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus speaks of feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, assisting the sick, and so on. “What you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.”

Catholic Charities does these things in so many ways: through outreach services by taking food and hygiene items throughout the diocese; helping to shelter or pay rent; providing counseling services; giving pregnancy support and adoption services; assisting those in need of medical transportation and care, and so on.

One of the pillars of the diaconate is service. While this has been a great fit for me as a deacon, volunteering for Catholic Charities is for anyone with an inclination to get actively involved in serving the poor and needy. My wife, Donna, has also become a committed volunteer and advocate for the work of Catholic Charities. We now team up on many of the volunteer activities. She has brought several of her friends on board as volunteers.

After serving on the Manhattan advisory board and the executive board of directors, I just can't get away from Catholic Charities, and I don’t want to! Volunteering to stock shelves with product, gathering empty banana boxes and filling them with food, and writing short articles about Catholic Charities for parish newsletters and bulletins to get the good word out helps me to serve and stay connected to this very important aspect of our church.