Warm Food and Warm Spirits: Celebrating Lent with Sisters Georgia and Jackie

“Be diligent in serving the poor. Love the poor, honor them, my children, as you would honor Christ Himself.”

St. Louise de Marillac

By Sebastian Isaacs, Communications intern

Sisters Georgia Kitt (right) and Jackie Leech (left) have been “fish fry hopping” for the past two seasons of Lent, visiting a different parish fish fry every Friday to meet new people and better understand the spirit of the Cincinnati area.

For the past six Fridays of Lent, Sisters Georgia and Jackie have been “fish fry hopping” between different parishes in Greater Cincinnati. This tradition, which S. Georgia initiated after S. Jackie moved to the Motherhouse from Colorado last year, has begun a Lenten ritual that they both agree is sure to last. Expressing the joy that the two Sisters felt during their fish fry adventures, S. Jackie said she had “never looked so forward to Lent in my life!”

Now that they have ventured together to 10 different locations in the past two years to experience a variety of warm homemade food and atmospheres, Sisters Georgia and Jackie have become experts at navigating Cincinnati’s streets and parish menus, as well as sharing kind conversations with people from all walks of life.

S. Georgia first introduced the idea last March, wondering if by driving to these different parishes, S. Jackie would better understand the geography of her new home after spending her childhood and the majority of her ministry life in Denver. As an Iowa native herself, S. Georgia remembers how daunting Cincinnati felt following her arrival at the Motherhouse for her leadership term in 2003.

Their “fish fry hopping” adventures began at Fernbank Park in Cincinnati, where Fernbank Golf Course advertised their fish fries. The two Sisters struggled to find the location because their GPS pointed them in the wrong direction. When they finally happened across a small, “dingy” bar with “maybe five tables at most” according to S. Jackie, there was no way that the Sisters could have known the impact this new tradition would have on them. They enjoyed eating fried fish, entertaining a little boy running between the few tables, and watching to-go orders pop up on the bar in big, brown paper bags.

The following week, the Sisters travelled to St. John the Baptist in Dry Ridge. Thinking back to the first parish they visited, S. Jackie said, “Every place we went, the spirit of that place was unique.”

Aside from the parish menus—which usually consisted of fried fish or baked cod, shrimp, pizza, French fries, green beans, and coleslaw—S. Jackie continued, “The one thing we noticed in going to all these Catholic churches is that there was a sense of unity.”

One of the most notable fish fries the Sisters visited last year was at St. Maximillian Kolbe in Liberty Township, where the amount of families gathering was notable in itself.

As their tradition expanded, the Sisters noticed that each parish varied in size and population. St. Maximillian Kolbe was one of the largest parishes they visited, which advertised a “senior room” for seniors to sit away from the noise of large families crowded into their main meeting space.

Seeing so many children running around the parish, however, “was just such a friendly, refreshing kind of experience,” S. Georgia said.

After ordering their food, the Sisters did indulge in the quiet of St. Maximillian Kolbe’s “senior room,” where they conversed with a man who was undergoing RCIA.

S. Georgia assessed that he must have been in his late 50s and had experienced a difficult life. After so many years of being unfaithful to the Church and showing poor attendance at Sunday Mass, he told the Sisters that he began attending classes again and spoke about “how thrilled he was that he was going to be accepted.”

S. Jackie added, “It was really touching to hear him talk about how important this was to him.”

The Sisters also commented on the number of children that were prevalent “in almost every single parish” serving, offering dessert, or picking up plates. S. Georgia continued, “It was really neat to see them learning that aspect of their faith, to feel that sense of belonging” by participating alongside their family and friends who shared a sense of hospitality while volunteering as cooks, greeters, and servers at each fish fry.

This aspect proved distinctive to the Sisters, who didn’t experience the breadth of Cincinnati parish fish fries as children. Seeing as parishes in Iowa didn’t hold fish fries in her youth, S. Georgia and her family usually dined at pubs for Lenten specials. Adversely, S. Jackie remembered local parishes in Denver holding fish fries, but they certainly didn’t stand out as such major social events until she moved to Cincinnati.

At one stop the Sisters made this year, Sisters Georgia and Jackie met a young woman down on her luck while waiting in line to order their food. She had shared that she asked the volunteers at the parish if they needed help, but was planning to leave because they did not. The Sisters came to realize that she was driving from parish to parish asking to help, knowing that if she could volunteer with them, she would be provided a meal.

Though the Sisters offered for the woman to stay and eat with them, she left to try another spot and S. Georgia expressed that “I have prayed for her every day since.”

The Sisters visited Our Lady of the Rosary this year, where they were joined by two non-Catholic women who told their story. The two women, blood sisters, shared the recent loss of their mother. Since losing her, they had been undertaking a journey to experience her Japanese heritage. After inviting Sisters Georgia and Jackie to a cultural festival in May, the two women told the Sisters about how much they enjoyed the “spirit” of the Catholic parishes as they attended fish fries.

“That was the first time I sensed that there were a number of non-Catholics who came to these events,” S. Georgia said. Catholic or not, the warm, welcoming spirit of each parish seemed to permeate every visitor, no matter where the Sisters spent their Friday evening.

While also at Our Lady of the Rosary, a couple who sat beside the Sisters told them, “We know Blandina!”

The woman had asked where Sisters Georgia and Jackie were from, and once S. Jackie revealed her residence at the Motherhouse, the woman remarked that the late S. Mary Laura Miceli was the church’s DRE for quite some time, and that she introduced the parish to the cause for Servant of God S. Blandina Segale’s sainthood.

The warm conversation with this faithful couple was unique when compared to the Sisters’ other experiences, since S. Georgia said, “You don’t necessarily know much about their spiritual lives,” when meeting parishioners after hours.

As Sisters Georgia and Jackie take Good Friday off from “fish fry hopping” to celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as another devoted Lent ends, they are sure to continue reflecting upon the meaningful memories this tradition has brought until the next season begins, and with it different parishes to visit and new people to meet.

“It’s a great, great tradition,” S. Jackie reflected. “I’m real grateful to Georgia for thinking about it. Not only are we contributing, but we’re learning more about the parishes and we’re getting a sense of their communities. It’s just plain fun!”

The post Warm Food and Warm Spirits: Celebrating Lent with Sisters Georgia and Jackie first appeared on Sisters of Charity.