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Monday, December 28, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
The road to heaven may not be a road at all...
Last night was the last Parish Council meeting of the year. Very soon, old members will pass on to other ministries and tasks in the church and new members will try their best to learn the ropes and tackle the needs of our active, ever-growing parish.
Truth be told, I fell into Parish Council. I didn't seek it out necessarily. A parishioner I knew from Saturday night mass was manning the Parish Council booth at our ministry fair last year and tried to rope me in. Not wanting to let his generosity and kindness down, I said sure and signed my name to a sign up sheet. I really had no idea what I was signing up for. I didn't even think that it would lead to an election or my actual induction into it all, I just thought I was being nice. Little did I know, God had a plan for me.
My very first meeting came and it was time to nominate officers. We already had a president, a vice-president - all that was needed was a secretary. The room grew silent, no one budged. I looked up straight down at the other end of the table to our priest with piercing, bright blue eyes. He just stared. Not knowing what to do or say, I just said "Okay! I'll do it Father! Just stop staring!" Laughter, followed by perplexed looks exchanged between other members, filled the room. They must have been thinking, "what in the world is this 20-something year old thinking?" Asked once more if anyone else had interest, no one said anything, so that was that. I had the job!
I've now spent a year bringing my trusty little Mac to every meeting, typing like the wind and coordinating the minutes and agendas for our meetings. I didn't really feel like I was doing much, I felt like I wasn't really serving in a big way. But I realized last night as our president and a few others thanked me for jumping in when nobody else did, that it might not be the biggest job, but it needed to be done. It felt good to know that I contributed my talents the best I could.
As our old members finished their thank-yous and goodbyes up, I couldn't help but feel a little sad. They helped me to see what a parish is really made up of...people. Real, genuine human beings with problems and faults, smiles and laughs, treasures and talents. In one word, family. I feel incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to serve along side brothers and sisters in Christ such as these. And I really feel such a connection to them. We may not share but one meal a week together, but there is such a bond between Christians with the Holy Spirit at work within them. I came into this Council hoping to bless others, but instead I've found, the blessing was really intended for me. =0)
Truth be told, I fell into Parish Council. I didn't seek it out necessarily. A parishioner I knew from Saturday night mass was manning the Parish Council booth at our ministry fair last year and tried to rope me in. Not wanting to let his generosity and kindness down, I said sure and signed my name to a sign up sheet. I really had no idea what I was signing up for. I didn't even think that it would lead to an election or my actual induction into it all, I just thought I was being nice. Little did I know, God had a plan for me.
My very first meeting came and it was time to nominate officers. We already had a president, a vice-president - all that was needed was a secretary. The room grew silent, no one budged. I looked up straight down at the other end of the table to our priest with piercing, bright blue eyes. He just stared. Not knowing what to do or say, I just said "Okay! I'll do it Father! Just stop staring!" Laughter, followed by perplexed looks exchanged between other members, filled the room. They must have been thinking, "what in the world is this 20-something year old thinking?" Asked once more if anyone else had interest, no one said anything, so that was that. I had the job!
I've now spent a year bringing my trusty little Mac to every meeting, typing like the wind and coordinating the minutes and agendas for our meetings. I didn't really feel like I was doing much, I felt like I wasn't really serving in a big way. But I realized last night as our president and a few others thanked me for jumping in when nobody else did, that it might not be the biggest job, but it needed to be done. It felt good to know that I contributed my talents the best I could.
As our old members finished their thank-yous and goodbyes up, I couldn't help but feel a little sad. They helped me to see what a parish is really made up of...people. Real, genuine human beings with problems and faults, smiles and laughs, treasures and talents. In one word, family. I feel incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to serve along side brothers and sisters in Christ such as these. And I really feel such a connection to them. We may not share but one meal a week together, but there is such a bond between Christians with the Holy Spirit at work within them. I came into this Council hoping to bless others, but instead I've found, the blessing was really intended for me. =0)
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