Ministry Moments: Updates From Our Partner Parishes July
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
"I was able to introduce myself to a couple who intend to get married in the Cathedral. It was nice to speak with a young couple that was in the same position I was just a couple years ago. I hope that as a parish, we are welcoming to young couples who are finding their way in life and marriage."
"We recently started a young adult only Connect Group at our parish. There are about 30 active members in it. Two of our young adults led us through music and prayer. It was their first time doing it in this type of environment. They did awesome!"
"We have a new priest (Fr. Danny) who has joined us and has already made an impact on young adults. His demeanor and love for young people's relationship with the Lord are evident and inspirational for so many young people."
"The staff recently discerned men that we felt were potential candidates for entering our lay ministry formation program, which could then lead to the Diaconate formation program. I had the opportunity to sit down with one gentlemen to share with him the many gifts we see in him as a young adult in the parish and how we have prayed and hoped that he would consider this step forward in ministry formation. He immediately had a huge smile on his face and responded that he thought that was what he was being called in to discuss. I asked him how he knew that would be the topic of our discussion for the day. His response was that the Holy Spirit has been hounding him to take the step and this was just confirmation that it was time to take the invitation seriously. So cool!"
"This past month, the young adults of our parish took charge of running one of our signature events – the Young Adult Cornhole Tournament, Cookout, and Ice Cream Social. It has been one of our most popular young adult social events the last few years but has always been overseen by a staff member. This year, our young adults organized and ran it themselves, which is a win for young adult leadership, ownership, mentoring, etc."
"I also coordinate the OCIA / Initiation process. We have had three young adults participate in our Young Adult Ministry from OCIA. It was such a wonderful connection and a wonderful way to get them more involved with our parish. We have three other young adults in OCIA currently who are considering attending our young adult events. The Holy Spirit is evident in these young people who are seeking truth and beauty."
"A young adult recently came to my office seeking fellowship and community in the Catholic Church after military deployment for the last couple of years. He was a young vibrant soul and a great example of the kind of moments we expect in ministry. A young adult with a vibrant eager spirit walking in the church doors asking questions about how to get involved. What a beautiful gift from God (I mean both for the young adult and for myself as a minister). While I have thanked God for the beautiful gift of the opportunity to speak with this young man and help guide him to a deeper community, it reminded me of how often this hasn't been my experience of ministry. More often than not, ministry moments catch me by surprise or happen in places or ways I wouldn't have expected. The experience served as a great reminder that we must be awake and ready to meet the ministry moments we are not expecting so that we don't miss them waiting for the moments we plan for."
"I hosted the young adults at our rectory this month for our summer cookout and yard games. It was an incredibly unpleasant hot and humid day, but we had a great turnout of folks, and the conversations and fun were authentic and joy-filled. We got to the point where I actually had to kick people off my porch, because I had morning Mass and wanted to go to bed. I also had a beautiful moment of forgiveness and mercy this month with a former friend that had really hurt me that I wasn’t expecting but has been so grace-filled and has brought so much healing and peace to us both. It truly has been a gift from God and a reminder of His love and faithfulness once I surrendered everything to Him."
"A couple of young adults from our parish applied for positions we had available in youth ministry and office assistance. I am excited to have hired a bilingual young man from Venezuela to be our new Youth Ministry Coordinator, and a bilingual young lady, born in the US, to be our new office assistant. Excited to see how they can assist in bridging connection between the different cultures in our parish."
