St. Teresa of Avila once said,
Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes with which Christ looks out his compassion to the world. Your are the feet with which He is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.
How grateful we are to you for sharing your time, talent and treasure for the work of God in our parishes. Everyone has got a special gift: When our gifts are shared, we build our community; we truly become a family.
When Jesus sent the apostles out to proclaim the good news, it was not because they were qualified. He simply qualifies the chosen. Of course, they were not going to do anything based only on their natural abilities. The Spirit of God would be the One to accomplish things – mighty things. They simply needed to go in the name of Jesus.
Why am I given this sermon here? I simply want to extend an invitation to you to share your gift with our parishes. What are some of the ministries? (See the information below)
In the past, lay men and women were called co-workers with the Bishop. This sounds like they are subsidiaries. The truth is: we are co-responsible for the work of God. This means that we are all stars: nobody is a spectator in the game.
I shared a story of a woman in St. Ann’s Parish who always brought the gifts of bread and wine to the altar. I knew her since I came to Penticton because of that. She was not anonymous. What she did might seem small, but the truth is: nothing is insignificant or small in the eyes of God. God remembers. He treasures what we give to and do for Him. After I had spoken about Mary-Anne during the homily at the 9am Mass, a lady visiting our parish told me amidst tears that Mary-Anne visited her mother and brought her Holy Communion every week. Mary-Anne had recently passed away and the lady asked if she could take the funeral card that I had placed on the altar so she can show her mom. Many are doing good works in the parishes which Jesus alone knows about.
May the good Lord bless our parishes and keep us all in His grace and love.
Happy Sunday!
Your brother,
Fr. Obi
Ministries in our parishes:
- Greeters – Greet people as they come to Mass & hand out the bulletins
- Readers – Proclaim the Word of God at Mass
- Those that take up the Offertory Collection & Gifts
- Altar Servers – Assist Fr. during the Mass
- Music – Either play a musical instrument or lead the congregation in song.
- Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion – Distribute Holy Communion during Mass. (Appointed by Fr. Obi)
- Sacristan – Helps prepare for Mass and ensures that all of the ministries required for Mass are filled.
- Flowers – Prepares and cares for the beautiful flowers that are present in our churches.
- Linens – cleans and irons the linens used during Mass in a timely manner.
- Ministry to the Sick – Like the woman mentioned in Fr.’s Pastor’s Message, a person that visits the sick & shut-ins to bring them communion and the presence of our faith.
- Counters – Assist with the counting of the Sunday Collection.
- Religious Education – Teaches or assists the teacher with the education of our faith to children in grades 1 to 7.
- Children’s Liturgy – Leads, or assists in leading, our pre-school children in learning about Jesus during the Mass.
- The various groups within our parishes: Knights of Columbus, Catholic Women’s League, St. Vincent de Paul, Youth Group, Mom’s Group.
- While we only see some of these ministries each time we come to Mass, all of them contribute to our parish life.
- Some tasks are carried out at specific times, while others are done as the volunteer has time.
- Not all tasks are carried out by adults. (Altar Servers & Music)
- During this period of the COVID pandemic not all of these ministries have been functioning; however, as we move closer to normal times, we are planning to begin those ministries that we have not been able to fill recently.
- If you are interested in any of these Ministries, please contact the Parish Office.
How can you help to show God’s love in our parishes?