Thousands of people have lost their lives following a series of devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. More than 47,000 have been killed, with countless more reportedly trapped, injured, and displaced. Hundreds of thousands are on the street in the bitter cold and our hearts continue to break at the horrifying images we’ve all seen. We know that Father Paul would be working tirelessly to help if he were with us, and so the Friars and the Sisters of the Atonement have distributed a grant through The Union that Nothing Be Lost to our friends at the Catholic Near East Welfare Association who through their partners on the ground are actively involved in relief efforts. We pray that hearts of all faiths would be opened and like Father Paul, “do all the good [you] can, in all the ways [you] can.”
Co-founded in 1926 by our Founder, Servant of God Father Paul Wattson, SA, Catholic Near East Welfare Association is a leader in humanitarian and pastoral aid in troubled lands. The Association is an agency of the Holy See and we are proud to help support their relief efforts.
“We don’t help people because they’re Christian.
We help because we are.”
-A Catholic Sister
About The Union that Nothing Be Lost (UNBL):
Established in 1902, UNBL is the Society of the Atonement’s aid, charitable, and missionary support ministry. UNBL is an independant 501(c)(3) that was incorporated in the State of New York in 1918. It was established to heal the broken fragments and to ensure ‘that nothing be lost’ or forgotten.
Based upon the miracle of the five barley loaves and the two small fishes, UNBL’s missions relates to Christ telling His disciples to, “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost,” (John 6:12). Accordingly, each of the Twelve succeeded in filling his own basket, so that altogether there were twelve baskets of fragments that remained, after everyone had eaten their fill.
Our founder, Servant of God, Fr. Paul Wattson, SA, received word from the Lord about establishing this ministry and special time of prayer:
“It was on the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle… that I woke up in my cell at five o’clock in the morning and there were in my mind the words, ‘Gather up the fragments that remain that nothing be lost.’ While putting on my habit to go down to chapel for the morning devotions, the entire conception of the Union with its rule of prayer and its rule of action was formulated in my mind, where it lay dormant for a period of seven years, and then, suddenly, in 1911, on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Union was born and became shortly thereafter an active agency.”
Fr. Paul realized that if U.S. Christians could gather up what would normally go to waste – food, money, clothing and other such resources – foreign missions would have everything they needed to spread the Gospel.
The Union helps train Christians in the mindset of “gathering the scraps” so “that nothing be lost” and for the love of God, and the rewards of eternal life, “to do all the good I can, in all the ways I can, to whomsoever I can,” until the last breath is spent, and my soul is summoned before the judgement seat of Christ.” (Servant of God, Fr. Paul Wattson, SA)
Each year, The Union That Nothing Be Lost, awards grants to further the great work of saving souls and healing the broken fragments in our world by providing humanitarian relief and services to assist in saving and changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world so “that nothing be lost”. The UNBL Fund supplies aid, financial and otherwise, to other needy Catholic missions in all parts of the world.
The Union That Nothing Be Lost is devoted to gathering the broken pieces by restoring hope and building the spirit of the Union. With your help, we can ensure the perpetual health of The Union That Nothing Be Lost Fund and continue to respond to the greatest needs of our brothers and sisters throughout the world.
Please help bring Jesus’ healing and hope by joining the Friars in their mission of At-one-ment with your generous support of The Union That Nothing Be Lost Fund.
A great example of the spirit of the Union was found in the person of John Reid of Waterbury, Conn., who would become a Tertiary of the Society, and later known as Brother Philip. His initial gift was $50, but then he followed this with a gift of $5,000 to build St. John’s Atonement College atop Graymoor Mountain. The goal of the college was to educate young men in the seminary. He was the perfect observer of the rules of the Union and worked to model self-denial as Christ did. This video explains more about his life and the good work of the Union