CSS Outreach Offices

By Katie Patrick

Springtime is often associated with new life and fresh beginnings. After a long, cold winter, nature reawakens—birds chirp, flowers bloom, and the grass turns green. In my backyard, for example, near our Marian statue, our rose bushes, which struggled last year, are beginning to show signs of hope.

Just like those rose bushes, there are many people in our community who are given the chance to grow and rebuild, no matter how difficult their past has been. One such person is Jacob, a young man who, after more than a decade in federal prison, is navigating his own journey of transformation with the help of Catholic Social Services and RISE.

By John Soukup,
Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska

Stories of transformation and newfound hope are emerging from behind prison walls throughout the Diocese of Lincoln. Many incarcerated men and women are experiencing the Catholic faith in powerful, personal ways.

By Katie Patrick

On Mother’s Day, we often picture flowers, breakfast in bed, handwritten cards, and perfectly behaved children. But for one mother in our community, the day begins—like most days—with quiet sacrifice and deep faith.

Maria, like many immigrant mothers, balances her own dreams with her children’s needs. Before the day starts and while her children are still asleep, Maria sits with her coffee at the kitchen table and opens her U.S. Citizenship workbook. It’s been more than 10 years since she and her children made the dangerous journey to the United States. Two of the children are too young to remember the trip, but Maria remembers it all—the fear, the uncertainty, and the early years of hardship.

By Katie Patrick

The call to the peripheries isn’t just for popes and bishops. You can go to the peripheries, too.