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Film features founders of My Brother’s Keeper
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Posted: 1/19/2007
Jim and Terry Orcutt, founders of My Brother’s Keeper in Easton. Courtesy photo/Holy Cross Family Ministries
EASTON -- It’s not often that a movie changes your life, but one did for Jim and Terry Orcutt. The Catholic couple was so moved by what they saw in a film about poverty that they founded My Brother’s Keeper, a nonprofit organization devoted to spreading the hope and love of Jesus through deliveries of furniture and food to needy people.
Their example of selfless devotion to the principle teachings of Christ is the basis for “The Luminous Mysteries: Compassion to Service,” the latest DVD in the “Mysteries of the Rosary, Mysteries of Life” series by Family Theater Productions. This moving video will receive its world premiere screening at 1 p.m. on Jan. 21, at the Martin Institute of Stonehill College in Easton, Mass.
As part of the premiere screening weekend, Catholic TV will show the program on its cable network. “Compassion to Service” is scheduled to run at 11 a.m. on Jan. 20, 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 21, 6 p.m. on Jan 22 and 6 p.m. on Jan. 25.
“Compassion to Service” dramatically describes the experience of the Orcutts while relating it to the five mysteries of light: the baptism of Jesus, the wedding feast at Cana, the proclamation of the Kingdom, the transfiguration and the institution of the Eucharist. The 28-minute DVD also guides viewers through praying the rosary in the luminous mysteries.
Jim and Terry Orcutt were moved to act after seeing the TV movie “God Bless the Child” starring Mare Winningham. The 1988 film depicts a struggling mother and young daughter trying to overcome crippling poverty. The couple was so affected by the story that they prayed for knowledge of God’s will of how to help.
“The next day we put flyers up at work and local supermarkets that said we collect used clothing and people started calling us,” Terry said.
Added Jim, “That movie was undoubtedly the moment of actual grace when God entered into our lives and touched us.”
That same year, they founded My Brother’s Keeper in Easton, near Brockton, and set about helping the poor through donations and support from volunteers. They started small, working from the basement of their home and building their efforts from there. Last year, the organization made 5,000 deliveries of furniture and food.
As devout Catholics, Jim and Terry Orcutt pray the rosary regularly and believe they are only instruments in bringing Christ to others. They have accepted the mysteries of the rosary as an important way of helping them touch the lives of needy people with the respect and dignity every human being deserves.
“We do not exist to bring furniture and food to people,” Terry said. “That is important, especially to those who need it. We exist to bring the love and hope of Jesus Christ to people.”
“The Luminous Mysteries: Compassion to Service” is the fourth and final installment in the “Mysteries of the Rosary, Mysteries of Life” series, which relates the rosary to everyday life. Other titles include “The Joyful Mysteries: Journey to Joy,” “The Sorrowful Mysteries: Grieving to Grace” and “The Glorious Mysteries: Shadows to Sunlight.”
The DVD was produced by Family Theater Productions of Hollywood. It was founded in 1947 by Servant of God Father Patrick Peyton, CSC, a media pioneer and sainthood candidate. Family Theater Productions is a member ministry of Holy Cross Family Ministries, which has its world headquarters in Easton.
