FRANCISCAN Immaculatine Sister Salvacion Bunao and her crew of holy helpers are busy kneading, baking and serving Jesus’ love to families across South Brisbane in the lead up to Christmas.
The team is called St Francis’ Table.
They host community lunches on the first and third Mondays of every month and on the other weeks, they drop hundreds of three-course meals to the front doors of families and homebound people in their parish.
December is extra busy with the inclusion of more than 100 Christmas hampers to drop off around the community too.
“Jesus is love and that’s how Jesus comes to us at Christmas”, Sr Salvacion said.
She says her ministry is “bringing His love to others”, not only those who come to her parish’s social lunches but “all those very isolated in the community”.
She shakes her head and says, “So many… so many people come to me saying they are lonely”.
“Some… they really express they want to end their life because they feel so isolated, so lonely and they feel their life has no more meaning,” she said.
“When we sit and have a chat with them, they feel lifted again.
“It’s our joy, in simple ways, whatever we can offer them, be it spiritually, physically, bringing them food or a hamper, it’s the spirit of Christmas that we bring.”
Sr Salvacion said when they started the ministry, it was a refugee ministry.
But when all the refugees were sent to Christmas Island, she decided to use the venue and the time slot to keep helping people.
She was struggling to keep up with all the welfare visits in her community and suggested to the parish priest to bring everyone together for a social lunch instead.
Not only did it cut down on her visits but it gave everyone a chance for fellowship and the “joy of each other’s company”.
The majority of people who come along are not Catholic.
Sr Salvacion said the lunch was “one way of bringing the love of Christ to them”.
“It’s a lot of fun,” she said.
“They feel this is a safe place for them.”
She also gives food out to people sleeping rough who come to the parish door and directs them to the services at Emmanuel City Mission, which is only a few blocks away.
“As long as we give them something, we don’t send them away empty handed,” she said.
“That’s what St Francis did – whoever comes to your door, you give them something, show them hospitality and they go away happy.”
Sr Salvacion has been a religious sister for 34 years and 18 of them have been in Australia.
She joined at the age of 17 in the Philippines and became a missionary in 2005, spending eight years in Sydney and the last 10 in Brisbane.
“My favourite Christmas meal is – of course – turkey,” Sr Salvacion said with a laugh.
“I’m Australian now.
“It’s a tradition we learn – no Christmas in Australia without turkey.”
St Francis’ Table will resume in the first week of February and all are welcome.
