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Parishioners from Our Lady of the Snows Parish, Clarks Summit, and the Church of Saint Gregory, Clarks Green, participated in a Day of Service on Sept. 26, 2026. One of the many volunteer opportunities included \u2018Confections Connections,\u2019 which involved boxing up treats for homebound parishioners and those in nursing homes. <\/p>\n
CLARKS GREEN \u2013 For more than 140 parishioners of Our Lady of the Snows Parish, Clarks Summit, and the Church of Saint Gregory, Clarks Green, the last Saturday of September was a day to roll up their sleeves, lend a hand and put their faith into action.<\/p>\n
The two parishes joined together for their annual Day of Service on Sept. 26, 2026, taking on approximately a dozen projects throughout the Abingtons and Scranton community.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur Day of Service is an opportunity for our communities to come together as one family, to serve a common purpose and add to our story of faith and service,\u201d Dan Marx, Director of Music and Mission, said.<\/p>\n
The parishes, which are currently linked and are in the process of coming together as one parish family, have embraced the motto \u201cPilgrimage to Pentecost\u201d as a way of marking their journey toward unity. Throughout the coming months, they are intentionally creating opportunities to pray, worship, serve and celebrate together.<\/p>\n
The annual Day of Service is an important part of that journey.<\/p>\n
At the Church of Saint Gregory, parishioners gathered for \u201cConfections Connections,\u201d packing 50 boxes of homemade baked goods.<\/p>\n
The treats, many of which were prepared by parishioners at home, were distributed to local nursing homes and about 25 homebound parishioners.<\/p>\n
Other volunteers bagged groceries at Gerrity\u2019s to raise money for Saint Francis Commons Veterans Home in Scranton which is operated by Catholic Social Services. Others participated in various activities at CHOP Out Hunger, The Pines, Clarks Summit Senior Living and elsewhere.<\/p>\n
The number of projects was intentional, allowing people of different ages, interests and abilities to find a way to serve.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone plays a part in serving our community,\u201d Marx added. \u201cThere is no talent or skill or amount of energy that is too small or too insignificant to make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas Kneiss, who attends Mass at the Church of Saint Gregory, said the importance of the day went beyond the work itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get to meet more people,\u201d he said. \u201cIn Mass, usually it\u2019s just someone around you that you might say hello to. Here, you connect with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kneiss said service is also an important way to put his Catholic faith into action.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you have to do more than just come to church and pray and receive the sacraments,\u201d Kneiss continued. \u201cThe idea is to live out that faith that Jesus Christ said \u2013 to go out and help your fellow people \u2013 no matter who they are.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sentiment was shared by Noreen Blewitt who attends Mass at Our Lady of the Snows Parish. She helped to pack boxes of baked goods for distribution.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is such a good feeling. It\u2019s the camaraderie of the group that is participating,\u201d Blewitt said. \u201cTo do something like this, you realize the great need that there is in our community and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n
The annual Day of Service is another example of what the two parishes are calling \u201cOur Common Story\u201d \u2013 recognizing that while each parish has its own history and traditions, its people already share so much in common.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur story \u2013 the stories that we share, the stories that we hold onto and embrace \u2013 there is so much more common about them than different,\u201d Marx said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Parishioners from Our Lady of the Snows Parish, Clarks Summit, and the Church of Saint Gregory, Clarks Green,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-308858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}