Catholics in Fairmount Remember Patrick Ward

Patrick Ward, a parishioner of St. Francis Xavier in Philadelphia, graduate of the parish school and Roman Catholic High School ’66, served in Vietnam. He grew up in the Fairmount area, where he is remembered by many as an outstanding athlete in football, track and baseball. In 1966 he was drafted in the Army and shipped to Vietnam in 1967.

Ward was a helicopter gunner, stationed in the Lao Pang. While there he was looking after Vietnamese orphans. Time and time again he would send letters home to family requesting to send packages to the children.

 In August 1968 when answering the call to assist pinned down comrades, Ward and his helicopter crew were shot down by enemy fire. He would be awarded the Silver Star posthumously.

“It was a sad time for Fairmount.” Recalled Lisa Trout-Porrini, who grew up in the neighborhood at the time. She, like many others remember, hearing stories about Ward not only of his actions as a soldier but as a friend and sibling.

“ I was 11 at the time and remember how somber Fairmount was. It affected us all as a neighborhood family. He was a great guy and died too young” said Michelle Schaeffer

Every Memorial Day the neighborhood of Fairmount gathers at Ward’s Park located at 24^th and Aspen to honor his sacrifice. His memorial is the oldest Vietnam War memorial in the United States.

Those gathered were neighbors of all ages including many veterans who served from Korean War to Afghanistan. In addition to veterans, Ward’s family and friends were in attendance for a beautiful celebration of mass. Everyone joined in singing traditional patriotic songs such as the National Anthem, American the Beautiful and God Bless America.

Father Brian R Gaffney C.O., priest from St. Francis Xavier, celebrated the mass. Deacon Vine Thompson reads from the Gospel of Mark how Jesus challenges a person to give up everything they possess, follow the commandments, but also love thy neighbor. Father Gaffney connects the daily gospel on love of self and neighbor in connection with the meaning of the patriotic holiday.

“Put love and desire to protect others ahead of yourself” Father Gaffney challenges.

He points out that every soldier is not perfect, but they must be willing to give up their possesions for others, which is a diffiuclt task but must be done.

Lila Rose Speaks at Culture Project’s First Fundraising Brunch at Saint Charles Seminary

Lila Rose addressing the crowd gathered at St. Charles Seminary on Sunday May 3rd

 

Cristina M. Barba, a parishioner of St. Catherine of Siena and graduate of Archbishop Carroll High School, has dedicated much of her life as a missionary. In 2014, after years with Generation Life, headquartered in West Chester, Cristina founded the Culture Project now headquartered near the seminary an serves as president.

Culture Project is an initiative to engage in the restoration of culture with people of hope with a focus on human dignity. The organization currently have 35 missionaries stationed in Philadelphia, across the United States and internationally in Sydney, Australia.

On a sunny Sunday May 3 the Culture Project held its first fundraising brunch at St. Charles. The morning began with 11:30 mass at Immaculate Conception Chapel. Mass was celebrated by Father Tom DeSimone from New York. In his homily he talks about encountering Jesus.

“Healing is essential to apostolic message” Father DeSimone remarked.  “We must be open to inner healing of ourselves as we are transformed into faithful apostles. When we go into our hearts, we embark on an interior journey to know ourselves.”

 

After mass everyone gathered for a savory lunch and a chance to network with fellow missionaries.

Emily Ortiz, Director of Development for The Culture Project, took time to highlight some of the huge accomplishments of the organization after its first year.

“Since our finding in 2014, we have seen a tremendous encounter with our culture. Social Media is a great tapestry of engagement. We have reached more than 2.8 million people with more than 6,000 followers on Facebook. Instagram had more than 26,000 views, over 300,000 impressions from Twitter and 28,558 individual visits our blog.”

In addition to the use of social media, Ortiz points out their missionary work.

“Between October and April, Culture Project has spoken to 227 parishes, schools and groups, given 677 presentations and encounter 22,858 students, young adults and parents.”

 

Emily shared a testimony from one person who attended one of their talks during a college visit in Texas.

“Because of your presence, I am answering the call to live a chaste life”. Ortiz stated.

After a recap from Emily, Cristina took time to address the more than 100 attendees.

“It has been a hectic ten months” Cristina reflected. “Thank you all so much for your support. We would not have done with without your generous support and prayers.”

Following Cristina’s address, Lila Rose took the podium to speak. Lila has been a close friend and inspiration to Cristina Barba for many years.

“Lila is a woman of virtue, courage, and strength” Cristina stated.

Lila Rose, founder of Live Action at the age of fifteen, an investigative initiative in exposing injustice, spoke about what we need to do about engaging the culture around us. Lila converted to Catholicism six years ago. Her journey began at nine when she saw a book about abortion and it changed her life forever. During her work with Live Action, she has help expose the wrongdoings behind closed doors of several Planned Parenthood facilities across the United States.

“There is a crisis in our country between the culture of death and culture of life. We must form ourselves by forming others through our own example by fulfilling God’s call. We’re not just her for culture but for ourselves and there is a purpose as to why you are here”

Lila reminds the more than 100 gathered that there is a spiritual battle happening in our culture. Many people are turning away from God and using media as a way to get answers. Additionally she connects the problems in America with current events. One such is the recent arguments over gay marriage.

“Same sex marriage will be the Roe v. Wade of our time” Lila warned.

She offers a life-changing strategy.

“We have to engage the culture. Become who you are and never be afraid to begin again your journey. We need young people who are formed to preach the gospel of truth”

Lila points out that people are hungry for the truth. She has seen it firsthand with her recent conversations with friends and family. One such is a conversation with fallen away Catholics. When asked why she is filled with joy about her faith and they aren’t, Lila suggests that “her friends haven’t encountered Jesus on a deeper level”. 

Lila closes her keynote with these words, “If you can’t imagine, you can’t achieve it. God’s dreams are bigger and better than ours”