Is a Bakery.
That's what Jesuit Father Rick Curry must be thinking. He is the renoun author of two books-on Jesuit breadmaking and soupmaking --and gave a demonstration on how to just right rise a loaf with a little leaven. Thanks for the great tips of the trade.
A little leaven rises a lot of loaf as they say. Sprinkled in with the cornmeal and flour he told tales of one armed kneading (he was born with only one) like he was hitting a pastry punching bag. When asked when one should stop kneading he replied "when you start liking people again."
Father Curry is uniquely gifted to working with war veterans who have lost limbs or are otherwise disabled. He has counseled them, mentored them, absolved them and one-armed hugged them. And now he has a big plan. He wants to reorient them transitioning back to productive working life through a bakery. It is not a novel concept-he has succeeded in doing it before in Maine and New York. He wants to teach them entrepreneurial skills, and even how to 'ship and handle' with prosthetic arms.
His bakery in Maine pioneered recipes, even for dog biscuits- and so wants to aptly name his
new bakery "Dog Tag Bakery" or something similar. Veterans he noted are disproportionately
among the homeless statistics. Miriam's kitchen recently noted about twenty percent of their homeless guests are veterans. It does not have to be that way. Because of modern science, people who might not have survived in previous wars are coming home badly maimed and injured and barely surviving, some with severe traumatic brain injuries. Unless they are caught when they first come back, noted Fr. Curry, they can dangerously downward spirol into drug and alcohol abuse. So he wants to teach them entrepreneurial skills, industrial sized baking skills, and a host of other reintegrative skills so they become productive members of society rather than another statistic floating in and out of shelters from town to town ending up on Santa Monica's beaches. They can either have jobs or be taken care of by the 'state' forever- he wants to give them dignity and hope. We can help.
Father Curry is inspirational-with a fantastically fun sense of humor. He tells the story about how the relic of the fore-arm of Saint Francis Xavier traveled to his local basillica in Philadelphia where he got off school to kiss and venerate it as it was the right arm and he was missing his right arm. I asked why the church chopped up people when they were dead, especially when they were incorruptibles. He noted, Marilyn Monroe's dress sold for a million dollars at an auction recently- the right forearm of Xavier baptized thousands of people. He felt that worth kissing more than Monroe I am sure.
Father Curry needs just one thing for Christmas to realize his vision of his program in tandem with his institute that mentors returning disabled vets-- the location for his bakery. He is half way to his goal and only needs about a million and a half more to pull it off. I know you can help.
To get in touch with Fr. Curry simply email: RCURRYSJ [at] aol.com (replace the [at] with the @.
Or, you can find him at Holy Trinity in DC.
You can also buy his books-the Secrets of Jesuit Soupmaking and the Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking (amazon) which make great Christmas presents.
On a personal note, my father came back from serving in the Korean War with a bad head injury and half his hearing lost in one ear. He went to Pitt then on a GI bill and thereafter rose to be the CEO of the European Division of a major Fortune 500 corporation and senior executive positions in other corporations.
Any serious Candidate running for President should be able to get Father Curry into his bakery-
Write me when you get it done.
No comments:
Post a Comment