Watercolor Christmas
Joy to the Kids
Count your blessings
Women religious
‘Catholic Herald’ adopts local group that helps ill children.
Pope Francis says ‘be joyful as you prepare for Christmas.’
Vatican study encourages dialogue, expresses gratitude.
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Catholic Herald Dec. 18-24, 2014 | catholicherald.com
Sheltering the smallest As child homelessness grows, transitional shelter is a Christmas gift By KATIE SCOTT
Catholic Herald Staff Writer
A fresh fir Christmas wreath, donated by the Boy Scouts, swung slightly as Isabella opened the door to the twostory townhouse in Woodbridge. Inside, muted morning light streamed through a window onto a row of family photos, and a Bible rested on a coffee table in the center of the tidy room. Halfway down the stairs, the brown eyes of 4-year-old Elizabeth peered through the railings. After more than two months in a homeless shelter, Isabella and her two children (names have been changed) now have this modest, cozy space to call home — thanks to diocesan Catholic Charities’ St. Margaret of Cortona Transitional Residences. Though technically still considered homeless, the family will have stable shelter for up to two years. Elizabeth and her older sister, Michelle, 8, are among a growing number of children without long-term, adequate housing in the United States. A report issued last month by the National Center on Family Homelessness estimates
Courtesy photo
Emily Kim, 12, a student at St. Agnes School in Arlington, produced this year’s top prize design for a Christmas artwork contest sponsored by the Missionary Childhood Association.
Watercolor Christmas A local student depicts the weary Joseph and Mary below a star-filled sky in her original design. By CHRISTINE STODDARD KATIE SCOTT | CATHOLIC HERALD
Elizabeth, 4, listens intently as her mother, Isabella, reads to her in the family’s St. Margaret of Cortona transitional residence. Isabella said after living out of bags for a long time, now her daughters have a place for books, toys and clothes. See sheltering page 16
Catholic Herald Staff Writer
The stars once guided a tired and weary Mary and Joseph, just as the stars guided sixth-grader Emily Kim. And so, the young artist sat down with her watercolors and markers, inspired to depict a reflective scene, with the Blessed Mother resting on a donkey and Joseph looking up at the sky, full of hope and maybe a little wonder. Kim’s imaginative rendering won a national competition: the annual Missionary Childhood Association Christmas Artwork Contest. “I like the way the star is shining, and I like the sunset in the background,” said Kim, a student of St. Agnes School in Arlington. “I didn’t want there to be a manger. I wanted (my piece) to be original and to stand out.”
As the grand prize winner, Kim’s piece will appear on the official Christmas card of the national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States, Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate Father Andrew Small. Kim and the other 23 winners will have their pieces displayed at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. The pieces also will be available as e-greetings at mcakids.org. Kim found out about the contest thanks to her art teacher, Cathleen Ueland, and principal, Kris Carr. She has attended St. Agnes since first grade, where she has enjoyed art class. “Art is really fun and it’s a good way to express what I’m feeling,” said Kim.
Stoddard can be reached at [email protected].
Count your blessings
Women religious
‘Catholic Herald’ adopts local group that helps ill children.
Pope Francis says ‘be joyful as you prepare for Christmas.’
Vatican study encourages dialogue, expresses gratitude.
Page 3
Page 19
Page 25
Catholic Herald Dec. 18-24, 2014 | catholicherald.com
Sheltering the smallest As child homelessness grows, transitional shelter is a Christmas gift By KATIE SCOTT
Catholic Herald Staff Writer
A fresh fir Christmas wreath, donated by the Boy Scouts, swung slightly as Isabella opened the door to the twostory townhouse in Woodbridge. Inside, muted morning light streamed through a window onto a row of family photos, and a Bible rested on a coffee table in the center of the tidy room. Halfway down the stairs, the brown eyes of 4-year-old Elizabeth peered through the railings. After more than two months in a homeless shelter, Isabella and her two children (names have been changed) now have this modest, cozy space to call home — thanks to diocesan Catholic Charities’ St. Margaret of Cortona Transitional Residences. Though technically still considered homeless, the family will have stable shelter for up to two years. Elizabeth and her older sister, Michelle, 8, are among a growing number of children without long-term, adequate housing in the United States. A report issued last month by the National Center on Family Homelessness estimates
Courtesy photo
Emily Kim, 12, a student at St. Agnes School in Arlington, produced this year’s top prize design for a Christmas artwork contest sponsored by the Missionary Childhood Association.
Watercolor Christmas A local student depicts the weary Joseph and Mary below a star-filled sky in her original design. By CHRISTINE STODDARD KATIE SCOTT | CATHOLIC HERALD
Elizabeth, 4, listens intently as her mother, Isabella, reads to her in the family’s St. Margaret of Cortona transitional residence. Isabella said after living out of bags for a long time, now her daughters have a place for books, toys and clothes. See sheltering page 16
Catholic Herald Staff Writer
The stars once guided a tired and weary Mary and Joseph, just as the stars guided sixth-grader Emily Kim. And so, the young artist sat down with her watercolors and markers, inspired to depict a reflective scene, with the Blessed Mother resting on a donkey and Joseph looking up at the sky, full of hope and maybe a little wonder. Kim’s imaginative rendering won a national competition: the annual Missionary Childhood Association Christmas Artwork Contest. “I like the way the star is shining, and I like the sunset in the background,” said Kim, a student of St. Agnes School in Arlington. “I didn’t want there to be a manger. I wanted (my piece) to be original and to stand out.”
As the grand prize winner, Kim’s piece will appear on the official Christmas card of the national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States, Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate Father Andrew Small. Kim and the other 23 winners will have their pieces displayed at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. The pieces also will be available as e-greetings at mcakids.org. Kim found out about the contest thanks to her art teacher, Cathleen Ueland, and principal, Kris Carr. She has attended St. Agnes since first grade, where she has enjoyed art class. “Art is really fun and it’s a good way to express what I’m feeling,” said Kim.
Stoddard can be reached at [email protected].
