Cooking Up Charity in New Orleans

Sr. Renee Rose (a Daughter of Charity), Sr. Monica (Sister of Charity of Cincinnati) and Sr. Claire (Sister of Charity of New York) are the first members of the House of Charity in New Orleans. There are many volunteers who come to New Orleans to continue to help with rebuilding. The House of Charity seeks to support the volunteers who work with Catholic Charities Helping Hands, the St. Bernard Project and others.

The House of Charity can host 15 volunteers--let's hear it for air mattresses! The Sisters provide breakfast and then at the end of the day, a hot dinner. Important to the whole experience is the time and place for group reflection and individual prayer.

Now you look at Sr. Renee with her soup pot--reminds me of how our Sisters began. Our first Sisters would go out to visit the sick and bring their soup pots along with them to serve the sick poor. Sr. Renee is a woman of great hospitality and a welcoming heart. In all her humbleness and simplicity you would never know she had been CEO of hospitals and the administrator of a major social service organization of the Daughters of Charity in Chicago. The virtues we seek as Daughters of Charity are humility, simplicity and charity. I think Sr. Renee is a great model for me to follow. She is comfortable at the head of the board table and she is comfortable stirring the stew for the hungry volunteers. She gives glory to God through her cheerful disposition in all she does. That is a fine example to follow!