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St. Mary di Rosa/Michael Krell Family
Written in every human heart

St. Mary di Rosa is a saint not a lot of people have heard of. The Church celebrates her feast day on December 15th. St. Mary di Rosa was known to have “opened doors for an opportunity with God.” One story includes her at a hospital during a war. As she and her sisters cared for those wounded by the war, enemies came to ransack the hospital. As the enemy soldiers came to the door, St. Mary di Rosa opened the door to them, while holding a Crucifix of Jesus along with two sisters who held candles. The enemy soldiers fled out of shame because of these women displaying their faith and courage. St. Mary opened the door to Christ who shielded the sisters from the soldiers.

Later in life St. Mary di Rosa opened doors for women who were living on the streets. She set up a boarding house for girls who were being manipulated because of their poverty on the streets. She opened the doors to these women for another opportunity to meet God.

Recently, some saints-in-the-making from Plattsmouth helped out St. Gianna Women’s Homes----which houses women and children who are fleeing from manipulation and danger. But first, some background on this story. We had just decided to upgrade our Wi-Fi capabilities for the women, children, sisters and staff of St. Gianna’s because we had encountered numerous problems with our internet connectivity. With some of the women working from their homes at St. Gianna’s and children learning virtually as well due to the pandemic, a large expense was necessary for the Wi-Fi upgrade. We decided the women and children needed it----they need to work and children need the tools for a good education. We decided to make the purchase and we said maybe we should look for a donor to help cover the extra costs…

An hour later we got an unsolicited call from a family in Plattsmouth. Michael Krell and his family called our Director of Advancement, Michelle Birkel, and told us they wanted to donate monthly directly to St. Gianna Women’s Homes. When we calculated the monthly gift into a full year we were able to cover the very large purchase for the Wi-Fi upgrade!! Can you believe it? Yes…we believe it…God provides.

Michael and his family know that God has written in every human heart the need to give and to love others. Just like Mary di Rosa giving and opening her heart to God and to others, the Krell’s in Plattsmouth have opened their hearts to God and shared that love with the women and children of St. Gianna’s.

If you might want to give monthly to CSS contact Michelle Birkel at 402-327-6235 or mbirkel@cssisus.org.

Thank you, Michael and family, for helping bring Hope in the Good Life and helping out our faith and belief that God will always provide through the generosity of His people!

St. Mary di Rosa, pray for us.

Fr. Justin Fulton

Executive Director

Hope in the Good Life
A year of bringing Hope in the Good Life

At Catholic Social Services, we want to share our story of what we do across the 23,000 square miles of the Diocese. Below are a few statistics that show how God works through CSS to bring hope to people daily from Venango to Verdon, Palisade to Plattsmouth and all points in between this year:
•327 tons of food given to the hurting and hungry of southern Nebraska
•51,397 sack lunches provided to the hungry and homeless of the Hastings (42,814) and Lincoln (8,583) areas. 4280 breakfasts given to the hungry and homeless
•5,268 sessions and 501 unique individuals served through the Immaculate Heart of Mary Counseling Center
•$1.8 million dollars in overall cash and in-kind assistance yearly. This can go from help in paying rent, providing shelter, providing money for food, electricity, water, a bus ticket, car repairs, medical bills, and anything else that life throws one’s way

Thank you to our staff, donors and volutneers who have helped us bring Hope in the Good Life to those we serve across southern Nebraska. Please continue to pray for the success of our work and for those we will encounter in 2021.

John, Ellen and Carolyn Soukup perfoming during this year's Carole Fest

St. Gianna Women's Homes
Carole Fest 2020 a virtual success!

The ongoing pandemic didn't prevent us from holding Carole Fest, a benefit for our work at St. Gianna Women's Homes. This year's event was a virtual concert that was streamed online. Beautiful songs of the season were performed by choirs from North American Martyrs (Stacey Pfeifer, Dave Wemhoff and Jason Feldhaus) and St. John's (Ellen, John and Carolyn Soukup) and pianist Lori Fehr.

Thank you to all who viewed and supported Carole Fest 2020 as this year's event raised more than $57,000 for St. Gianna Women's Homes! A special thank you to the performers, Kristian Anderson, Kelly Soden and Mike Loll for their technical support, and to Ellen Soukup for coordinating the performers, and to St. John the Apostle Church in Lincoln for hosting Carole Fest. If you would like to enjoy Carole Fest 2020, may can still watch it by clicking here. Enjoy!

Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska

2241 O Street | Lincoln, NE 68510 US

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