Here is a couple that takes seriously the First Corporal Work of Mercy, "To feed the hungry"! May they be blessed in their efforts, and may they long continue.
From Aleteia
By Jenny Lark Snarski
Even Princess Anne, The Princess Royal, has visited them, but they are actually just a regular couple with a busy, sometimes chaotic life of family and love.
One year ago, Scottish charity Mary’s Meals celebrated a milestone in honor of the Blessed Virgin’s September 8 birthday. “It’s like a big birthday present — or 3 million birthday presents — to give back to her,” founder Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow said at the time.
Mary’s Meals vision is this: “That every child receives one daily meal in their place of education and that all those who have more than they need, share with those who lack even the most basic things.” They make this vision a reality with $25/year per child across 16 countries in Africa, the Middle East, India, South America and the Caribbean.
Celebrities like actors Gerard Butler and Sophie and Emma Thompson and Formula One driver Ferdinand Habsburg vocally support the cause. Even the UK’s Anne, the Princess Royal, acknowledged their significant work by visiting the humble shed where it all began in May of this year.
Courtesy of Mary's Meals
King Charles’ younger sister was joined by her husband for the visit with the MacFarlane-Barrows and a small group of supporters and volunteers at the tin shed that continues to serve as Mary’s Meals headquarters in rural County Argyll, Scotland. The MacFarlane-Barrows said they were thrilled when Princess Anne contacted them. The recognition honored the nourishment in body and mind of the 3 million children milestone, and the expressed desire to return once they reach the 5 million mark.
Nothing to see here ... but marriage and family
MacFarlane-Barrow, who travels the world speaking and promoting the cause, was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2015. Despite describing himself as “a bit boring,” the husband and father of seven lit up in an interview with Aleteia sharing about the “exceptionally beautiful” work of Mary’s Meals.
In a video call along with his wife Julie, Magnus pointed to the simple whitewashed wall and sparsely decorated shelves behind them. The Shed that Fed a Million Children — as the 2015 book about the organization’s beginnings is titled — has continued to be “a symbol of what Mary’s Meals is. Magnus shared how odd it felt to have a life-size replica of the shed pop-up at each location during a recent tour in the U.S.
“We never planned this or had a branding strategy,” he said, although Magnus sees how the humble rootedness that the rickety shed signifies speaks louder than crafted campaigns.
“The Shed” has become something of an international destination.
“There’s really nothing to see here,” the founder said, but he added that that is “exactly the point” because the operation isn’t about what happens in his backyard, but rather the day-to-day dedication of thousands of volunteers in a single-minded mission.
That mission, named after the Blessed Virgin Mary, all started when Magnus and his brother felt called to provide aid for those in former Yugoslavia affected by the early 1990s conflicts. The young men’s parents (now 93 and 89 years old) had converted their family’s hunting lodge business into a retreat House of Prayer and offered a shed in the yard for collecting donations.
Through a family connection, then 22-year-old Julie, a nurse, asked for a lift to the spot, planning to serve in whatever way she could. Raised by parents “of extraordinary faith” and Marian devotion, she felt a heart-tug toward mission.
The young couple
“It became evident on that journey over that the Lord had a different plan,” Julie recounted.
Magnus, who was 25 at the time, concurred the couple knew there was “something more, pretty quickly.” They laughed about their unconventional “dating environment,” driving a non-locking, dirty old truck with a big hole in the floor, “but it was a wonderful preparation for marriage.” Often accompanied by a priest friend, they had plenty of time to build a relationship founded on prayer, sacramental grace, and rich conversation.
Married for 30 years in May, the couple’ has seven children, now aged 14 to 28. They still live on the Craig Lodge property where they feel blessed to have a chapel close by, as well as most of their family, which now includes two grandbabies.
For Julie, despite royal visits, global media attention, and her husband’s international travel, their life feels very ordinary most days. Her heart-tug towards mission remains strong — and hers is serving Mary’s Meals in the one role only she can fulfill, being Magnus’ wife and the mother of their children.
“It is about the family first ... then, the Lord invited to this mission.” The rest she says is what God calls every person to. “We’re all called to holiness ... And it’s not so much in the mission my husband leads where holiness is born.”
Where holiness is born — at home
Julie commented how many friends’ husbands travel for work, but with more stresses in family life. “I feel really very blessed... It’s in the family and our response to Our Lady’s invitation and just how we have rooted our marriage and family in prayer, in service, in great joy and in just living those everyday moments."
She did not deny there were difficult moments during her years of child raising, “like any stay-at-home mom. Times of frustration, tiredness and exhaustion, but also times of enormous privilege” -- as the parent who was present for every birthday, every sick day, every school event and celebration.
As parents, they fostered the sense that, if Magnus was away, it was Our Lady who had invited him. They then tried to live with a sense of obedience to God’s will, trusting that God would bless that abundantly. “The kids grew up understanding that sometimes their daddy was so special they had to share him with other people.”
Once technology became more available, it was easier to stay connected, but their goal all along was that Julie would be able to stay home with the children. A “great privilege” for her, she said — besides the moments multiple children were sick. “I had more of the jewels in the crown than anything,” the dedicated mother shared.
Magnus confessed, “Definitely, one of the things I found harder was being invited to go and see and do lots of things ... and balancing that with my first vocation as husband and father. ... From a selfish point of view, I much prefer being at home. Trying to figure out when it’s right to say yes — leaving Julie and the kids at home — and when the right answer was no.”
Even now in a different stage of family life, it can still be that way.
“With Mary’s Meals, there’s always more to do than you can accomplish,” Magnus said, adding that this is a good and constant lesson in humility.
Where holiness is born — in humility
“There’s always another hungry child. And you can start easily stepping out of God’s grace thinking that you can do more by working harder and longer," he said, acknowledging that he had to reach that point of letting go, remembering that the work doesn't depend on him. This “useful humility” is very hard, he said.
Returning to the early years of mission, before Mary’s Meals existed, Magnus clarified. “We didn’t have a big vision.”
He said they had a sense “that God was doing something amazing in the here and now” at that time, “but we didn’t know that this was going to grow into this international thing. We had no idea of that,” he emphasized. “It was simply about what we could do day by day … a hand-to-mouth kind of thing.”
Their experience of God’s “incredible providence” continues as a particular thread of their life and faith. Magnus believes it was the “miraculous ways” that God gave what was needed, to remind them “it was him ... So, we couldn’t be mistaken.”
“We learned a lot about really having to trust and try not to get ahead of ourselves, not want to get ahead of ourselves.”
“The Lord always shows us that he is the one looking after our needs.” Julie agreed and shared one specific time God made it “very clear” he saw and provided for them.
One winter Magnus was away and their oldest daughter needed a new coat; these were years before the internet and online shopping, miles from anywhere in their small farming village. “Delightful,” Julie described, “but not so great when the weather changes and you realize, while expecting baby number four, that you don’t have a winter coat for baby number three.”
She had a dream of little Martha “toddling about” in a beautiful red coat, “a thick padded red coat with a pointy hood and a little embroidered flower ... I woke up the next morning, and a parcel arrived with that delightful red coat in it.” The same exact one from the dream, with the unexpected bonus of pebbles in the pocket.
Julie thought to herself, “It came from somebody who knows and loves us, but who didn’t know that we needed a coat.” The pocketed stones were a sign to her that another child had loved it, had fun adventures while wearing it. She was deeply moved when, later that day, she watched little Martha enjoy her new coat and saw how clearly the Lord was providing for them.
“It was a beautiful thing, and I try to always remember to keep thanking God for how he provides for us in different ways.”
Magnus reflected out loud listening to his wife retell that story. “I think one of the big risks in doing this kind of work is that you can start to identify only as the giver; as the solver of other persons’ problems and not realize that we are also in need of receiving.
“To be fully human, in the way God means us to be, we need to be able to know how to give and to receive."
Before sharing something with someone else, we need to see our needs and how God fills them, often through the goodness of others.
Where holiness is born — in passing it on, and prayer
Asked about how they instill this sense of providence and mission in their own children, Magnus hesitated. He said it was tricky to pinpoint, which each being so different, but how “very blessed” they feel with the life choices of their oldest children. One is working for Mary’s Meals, another is discerning a vocation with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal.
“Our kids seem to have this real gift of faith, but you never want to take that for granted,” he said, noting how young the rest are. “We always want to be respectful of how they might answer that question if they could.”
Relating it to his own upbringing, Magnus said that as he gets older, he realizes the blessing of his own parents. "Not nearly so much through what they said but observing the choices they made.”
He saw his mom and dad make some very unusual choices. “That made that normal ... to make choices that showed family life wasn’t just about looking after oneself, but that we were a family to had to look outward.”
“I think all we’ve really tried to do in our family is put God in the first place, in a real way, every day. And I do see [our children] doing that.” He echoed Julie’s assertion about the common call to holiness saying it’s “beautiful and complex” to see that play out in each individual’s life.
“There’s no right or wrong” way to raise a family, he encouraged, when you live with continued discernment of what God is asking in each particular situation.
Mary's Meals volunteers with "3,000,000" balloons
“What’s happened with Mary’s Meals has been a slightly weird life for our kids,” Magnus admitted, “because everyone we encounter — at home or traveling — wants to talk about Mary’s Meals. We’re aware that they need to be people beyond their mom and dad’s connection to Mary’s Meals.
“They love this mission, too, but we try to be aware and protect the space for them to be the people God made them to be.”
“If our kids see people living their faith authentically,” Julie observed, “they’re going to be okay.”
The family’s experience with Mary’s Meals as positive, life-giving and faith-building, has been cemented by the many other adults and families they have gotten to know along the way who are involved in other ministries.
“As remarkable as their dad is,” Julie said, in their “network” there are lots of others “living authentic, faithful lives, whether that’s as sacristan at church or in an incredible public ministry.”
It’s a delight for her to see each one discover their gifts and callings. “It’s so much fun to be around these young adults — who happen to be our kids — but they’re the best people we know ... and we’re just amazed at what they do and who they’re becoming.”
Magnus confessed that, as much as he’d like to say they have an incredibly ordered life, “that wouldn’t be true.” There’s plenty of “chaos,” as he imagines most big families would admit to, but keeping the primacy of prayer is foundational is what has given rhythm to their days. Julie said she has “endless alarms” popping up on her phone with prayer intentions as constant reminders.
“Whether it’s praying together or praying for each other, that’s the bedrock.”
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