Joseph Sabino Mistick: Feeding bodies, souls in Pittsburgh

There are different types of hunger. Not knowing where your next meal is coming from is what we think of first, and there is a lot of that going on now. But it is just as important to feed the soul as it is to feed the body, and that’s been tough during this pandemic.

Getting everybody a square meal is an old mill town tradition born of labor strikes and layoffs and collapsed economies. Maybe our labor union roots have left us with a collective sense that we will rise or fall together, so we look out for each other.

Lately, an army of good neighbors and social agencies and businesses and churches is doing its best to feed everybody. It’s not enough and it is certain to get tougher, but nobody is quitting.

Ray Mikesell, the owner of Café Raymond in the Strip District, has produced thousands of meals for hospital workers and struggling families. With donations from pals and the community, he and his son, Ray, have been cooking nonstop for weeks. Other restaurants are doing the same, even as they struggle to hang on.

“When I was a kid in Lawrenceville, we got help when we needed it. This is our chance to give back,” Mikesell said.

Regular folks know how to give back around here.

Feeding the soul has been even harder. In the past, when times got tough, you could find comfort where you worshipped. Sharing your sorrow or doubts with others makes hard times a little easier, but that’s not possible now.

Father Nick Vaskov is director of the Shrines of Pittsburgh, a grouping of six churches in the Catholic Diocese. He never expected the old rituals and traditions to stop. But like clergy around the world from every religion, the 37-year-old priest has found new ways for the faithful to gather.

And he got some help from St. Charles Borromeo, the 16th-century archbishop of Milan during a deadly plague that overfilled the hospitals, destroyed the economy and shuttered the churches. During the quarantine, Borromeo took the church to the people, celebrating Mass on street corners so the faithful could pray and sing from their windows and doorways.

Father Nick uses a corner of the internet. From there, he livestreams daily Mass, the saying of the Rosary at noon and evening prayers. He streamed a walk of seven churches Easter week and the blessing of the baskets on Holy Saturday.

And he hears confession standing in the parking lot of St. Nicholas Church in Millvale three times a week as the faithful sit in their cars.

“It’s not the way we want it, but people need to share something familiar at times like this. And it reminds us not to take our blessings for granted,” Father Nick says.

“For ourselves and as an act of charity for others, it’s important to wait until it’s safe again.”

Borromeo, who knew something about plagues, advised, “Go to church in spirit.” It was the only safe way to worship then and now.

These are tough times, but they have been seen before. And whether it’s feeding the body or feeding the soul, we got this.