Dress donations help kick off Holy Week

When Leslie McCarthy and other volunteers at the poorest parish in the Diocese of Rockville Centre heard that the families of dozens of girls were having trouble buying dresses for First Holy Communion, they swung into action.

They put out email alerts and passed the word that Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Roman Catholic Church in Wyandanch needed help. Within 10 days, they came up with 45 donated dresses -- just as Holy Week and First Communion season were about to begin.

"I think it speaks to the spirit of the community, of people wanting to give back," she said.

The collection is one of the many ways Christians around Long Island, and the world, will usher in Holy Week, which begins with Palm Sunday services Sunday. The season calls for Christians to be penitent and to sacrifice. Palm Sunday recalls the day, more than 2,000 years ago, that Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem triumphantly, only five days before he was to be killed. The week culminates next Sunday with Easter, when Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus.

Thomas Goodhue, executive director of the Long Island Council of Churches, said the commemoration of Jesus' suffering provides a relevant context to some of the world's troubles today: the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the upheavals in the Middle East, and the continuing economic challenges in the United States.

Despite an apparent easing of the U.S. recession "people are still anxious about their futures," Goodhue said. "These are very, very anxious times."

One sign of hope, he said, is an ecumenical Easter sunrise service held at Jones Beach each year that is attracting a growing number of people. Goodhue said it is a good opportunity for people who may have been away from their church to reconnect and perhaps return more regularly.

In Great Neck, three Episcopal churches are holding a joint Palm Sunday service that will bring together predominantly Korean, Caribbean and Caucasian congregations, said the Rev. Joseph Pae at St. Joseph's Episcopal Church in Great Neck.

The service will open with Korean children in traditional garb playing drums.

"We're trying to be a church in a different way," Pae said.

In Wyandanch, the Miraculous Medal church is still recovering from a disaster in December 2007 when a fire set by an arsonist gutted the rectory, priests' residence and outreach center. The church is rebuilding, and parishioners are struggling, McCarthy said.

She said the dress effort was also organized by Gail Roca of The Kids Kloset in West Islip, Kristine Enfield of Dresses for Dreams in Seaford, and Karen Willeg of the Midshore Mothers' Center in Farmingdale. McCarthy said they hope to continue and expand the program next year for other disadvantaged children.