Archive for year: 2016

Rapid City Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Outlet in Box Elder, Dec. 1. Store manager Andrew Shepard used giant gold scissor for the occasion. (WRC story and photo by Laurie Hallstrom)

A Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting ceremony was held Dec. 1, for the St. Vincent de Paul Conference Thrift Outlet in Box Elder. Following the success of the SVDP Thrift Store in Spearfish, the society opened the outlet store. The location is 640 Box Elder Rd. W., Box Elder. (Coming from Rapid City, at I-90 exit 63, take the first left turn, about one block from the interstate.)

The outlet store is unique place to shop because everything, except furniture and mattresses, is sold by the pound. According to JoBeth Meyer, executive director for Store Development, opening day prices for clothing and other goods were 99-cents per pound. The regular rate is $1.49. Check Facebook for specials.

The store carries low cost mattresses are individually priced. The mattresses are stripped to the springs and recovered in Chicago, Ill; however, the thrift outlet cannot accept mattresses as donations in this area. The mattresses and box springs range from $150 to $249 for double pillow top set. Full sets are $200, Queen sets $250 and King sets $395, and bed frames start at $39.95. Meyer said, “For the month of December, mattresses are 25 percent off these low prices to celebrate the Christmas Season and our grand opening. Delivery is available for $20 extra.”

The store is accepting donations of clothing and household items. Since there is no washer on site, the store personnel appreciate having clothes washed before donating. To have furniture or large items picked up call 605-791-0707. Store hours 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Sunday. Also, the store does not accept electronics more than five-years old. Video tapes, CDs, DVDs and records go for 50 cents each. Donations of canned and boxed foods are given out on Vincentian home visits to people in need.

The thrift outlet operates with a combination of paid workers and volunteers. It has created employment opportunities in Box Elder. Proceeds from the Spearfish and Box Elder stores help fund SVDP outreach.

“We are very close to having given out $100,000 of assistance since May 2016 between the three conferences (located at Rapid City Cathedral, Piedmont and Spearfish-Belle Fourche-Newell.) Each conference does fundraising and receives cash donations as well as funds from the stores. The need seems to be especially great this holiday season and we are in need of both cash donations and goods,” said Meyer.

She said the SVDP stores are a great place to use conference vouchers. “The conferences will help a friend with a voucher to get the household items and clothing they need. Because our prices are so low a friend can get a lot for even just $25,” she said.

There are plans to open more stores in the area.

Rick Soulek, Rapid City, has been hired as the new Chief Finance Officer for the Diocese of Rapid City. He graduated from Wagner Community School, Wagner. Soulek earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of South Dakota, Vermillion, in 1986. Also at USD, he earned his MBA in 1991. Soulek has experience in finance, operations and management. He began serving the diocese Dec. 1. He and his wife, Lynn, are members of Blessed Sacrament Parish, Rapid City.

The symbols of Christmas speak a language which we all understand. Pope Francis reminds us, “The Christmas tree and Nativity scene are symbols of God’s love and hope, reminding us to contemplate the beauty of creation and welcome the marginalized. The cribs set up in churches, in homes and in so many public places are also an invitation to make room in our life and in society for God, hidden in the faces of many persons who are in conditions of hardship, of poverty and of tribulation.”

As we have listened to the readings of Advent and look forward to the readings of Christmas, we can see that they speak of a new era, one of peace and tranquility — a new dawn breaking upon the world. This message is meant to fill the world with hope, with deep longings fulfilled, thereby diminishing the anxiety and fear experienced by many people in this country and throughout the world.

Emmanuel, God Is with Us, brings new promise. The Messiah has come to deliver people from their suffering and affliction. The promise has been realized. This is the gift of Christmas. This is what we celebrate these days.

But perhaps not for everyone. The threat of deportation among the undocumented in this country, and even worse the threat of death for being Christian in the Middle East, brings severe angst among many populations. The mystery of Christmas for them may seem to be a hidden reality.

As I sit to write this column, the sad news has come across the Internet of a bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt’s main Coptic Christian cathedral killing 25 people and wounding another 49, mostly women and children, during a Sunday Mass. One cannot imagine the pain and suffering felt by Egyptians in the aftermath of such barbarism. But this is not an isolated incident. My heart goes out to the people of Cairo and all across Egypt. We must not forget the people of Iraq and Syria as well, for so many of them have similar experiences.

The fact is that the persecution of religious believers has become an increasingly tragic situation all across the world. People of all religious denominations, including Muslims and Jews, are facing the wrath of persecution. But Evangelical Protestants and Catholics have especially become targets of terrorism initiated by evil authorities who are often motivated by anti-Western, anti-democratic ideologies and who feel threatened by Christian faith and worship.

Pope Francis, in a homily in June 2014, said that “there are more martyrs in the Church today than in the first centuries.” After an additional two years, the evidence bears this out even more. Little has been done by the United States government in terms of speaking out against these terrors of religious persecution. Perhaps as a Christian nation we have failed to do all within our power to alleviate the suffering of those persecuted. This should concern all of us.

We might think, “what can I do?” We can be in solidarity with those who have been displaced from their homelands because of persecution through prayer and support. As I wrote in my Pastoral Letter, “To be in solidarity with others is to see them as God sees them, to love them as God loves them, and to sacrifice for them as Christ has sacrificed for them. United together, we are the Body of Christ. Every time we neglect others in the Body, the whole Body suffers (cf. 1 Cor 12:26). When we live in solidarity and charity, the Body of Christ is built up, there is communion, and the Kingdom of God is made manifest.”

We are often are afraid of people who are different from us. Fear hardens our hearts and creates binders on our eyes. But when looking at this situation with our eyes open, not living in fear but in solidarity and love, we will see their plight as an opportunity to be messengers of Christmas peace and hope. Then blindness and indifference will be transformed into solidarity and love.

In gathering with family and friends to celebrate this great feast of Emmanuel, God Is With Us, don’t forget to include the suffering and persecuted of the world in your prayers, in your conversations and in your generosity. These are simple ways in which we can be in solidarity with these brothers and sisters. May your Christmas be filled with very grace and blessing!