Catholic United Financial in Arden Hills is sponsoring an event to help the homeless and victims of natural disasters. Called Gather4Good, it will take place at CUF headquarters, 3499 Lexington Ave. N. in St. Paul, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 15.

Volunteers, both individuals and families, will assemble care kits using items provided by CUF. Lunch will be provided, along with musical entertainment, face painting and an inflatable jumper for children, all free of charge.

“We’ve been doing these events for a few years now and we wanted to give the community around us a chance to participate,” Catholic United President Harald Borrmann said. “To gather as neighbors and spend a few hours doing something to benefit others, that’s the epitome of who we are and what we do.”

The goal of this event is to assemble 4,000 care kits for those in need. Some of the kits will go to Catholic United Response, a disaster response cleanup team that will take the kits to the sites of natural disasters. Those wishing to volunteer are encouraged to register ahead of time by visiting http://www.catholicunited.org/

links/gather4good, or by calling (888) 346-7183.

CCF hires new officer, names finance director

The Catholic Community Foundation in St. Paul filled two positions recently. Chris Suedbeck joined CCF as investment officer, and Helen Twomey was promoted from controller to director of finance.

Suedbeck will oversee the investment and management of the foundation’s $222 million in charitable assets. Before joining CCF, he spent 12 years as director of the Office of Investments and Banking at the University of Minnesota.

He earned his M.B.A. from the University of St. Thomas and his B.S. in finance from St. Cloud State University. He and his wife Jennifer and their two sons belong to St. Mary of the Lake in White Bear Lake.

Twomey, who joined CCF in 2012, will manage the foundation’s overall financial plan, policies and performance.

Order of Malta exhibit at Basilica

An exhibit highlighting the origins of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and Malta is on display at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis through July 7.

The exhibit, entitled, “900 Years of Faith in Action: 1113-2013, The Bull of Pascal II,” includes a full-size reproduction of the original papal bull with an adjacent English translation.

The order began in 1048 as a Benedictine infirmary in Jerusalem that cared for pilgrims to the Holy Land. Those in the order became known as the Hospitallers after the First Crusade conquered Jerusalem in 1095.

Today, the order — known as the Order of Malta — has 13,500 members (knights and dames) and do humanitarian and relief work in more than 120 countries around the world.

“The origins of the Order of the Hospital have been the stuff of myth,” said Theresa Vann, the Joseph S. Micallef curator of the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library’s Malta Study Center. “This exhibit explains what we know today about the history of the Hospitallers, particularly the reasons why Pope Pascal issued the bull in 1113. Pascal issued similar bulls to other religious charities, but none of them have lasted as long as the Hospitallers.”

Local Catholic author publishes new book

Deacon Scott Wright, who currently serves at St. John Vianney in South St. Paul, recently released a fictional account of childhood in the 1940s and early ‘50s entitled, “Of Snapping Turtles and Packing Plants.”

The book chronicles the early life of the fictional character George Peterson in South St. Paul. He struggles with his father, who had recently returned from military service in World War II.

For more information on the book or to order, visit http://www.scottwrightmindfulnesspress.com.