The Culture of Life and the Church’s mission

Editor's Note: This is a guest post from Cari Henry, St. John Neumann Church parishioner and Culture of Life Committee education coordinator.

Joining the Culture of Life Committee has been a wonderful blessing in my life. In part, because of the work we do—with every action, we are helping someone rediscover his or her precious gift of life.

But also because the core message of the Culture of Life Committee highlights the Church’s teaching about hope for our own salvation. It says that anyone, regardless of the circumstances at birth, has the potential for greatness (and goodness). It says that anyone, regardless of the sins committed, can find redemption.  And it states that every person, regardless of the state of the body (or mind), has the same inherent dignity as others.

Thus, the participation in the Culture of Life Committee is a magnificent way to abide by the Church’s moral teachings as well as to be a living example of the Church’s fundamental theology! And, regardless of talent, there is a way for everyone and anyone to be involved. In our efforts to defend the unborn, the dying, the disabled, the condemned, the family and the sanctity of marriage, we need prayer warriors, educators, priests, political activists, crisis handlers, marketing gurus, scientists, ethicists, health-care professionals, theologians and anyone else in-between. Please consider joining our endeavor.

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Cari Worley Henry, MD, is a family physician who believes healing only occurs when the body, mind and spirit are fully integrated. She further believes the theology and teachings of the Catholic Church offer the best path toward this healing. She, therefore, spends her time educating on Catholic theology and its relationship to health care.  She has a special interest in encouraging holiness in our families and hopes that by targeting the hearts of women, this can be achieved. Her favorite topics are Natural Family Planning, Theology of the Body and The New Feminism. She serves as the education coordinator for the Culture of Life Committee at SJN as well as the secretary for the Catholic Physicians Guild.

Diocesan ministry opportunities, 5/24

Every Friday, the Diocese of Austin sends out an electronic newsletter called "The Friday E-Pistle," to which anyone can subscribe.  To subscribe, send an e-mail to Diocesan Director of Communications Christian Gonzalez at christian-gonzalez@austindiocese.org.

The diocesan ministry opportunities listed in last week's E-pistle include:

• Little Sisters of the Poor.  Catholic college-age women from anywhere in the United States are invited to serve the elderly poor with the Little Sisters of the Poor from Alabama to Washington as hospitality aides, activity aides, in kitchen and dining services or nursing assistants / nurses. Send a brief e-mail introducing yourself and request an application from Sr. Constance at serenity@littlesistersofthepoor.org, call (410) 744-9367 or visit www.LittleSistersOfThePoor.org.
• Gabriel Project Training.  There will be a Gabriel Project Angel Training on June 5 at St. William Parish in Round Rock from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch and refreshments will be provided). Registration is due by May 31. Space is limited. For more information, call (512) 949-2486 or e-mail Yvonne Saldaña at yvonne-saldana@austindiocese.org.

Diocesan ministry opportunities

Every Friday, the Diocese of Austin sends out an electronic newsletter called "The Friday E-Pistle," to which anyone can subscribe.  To subscribe, send an e-mail to Diocesan Director of Communications Christian Gonzalez at christian-gonzalez@austindiocese.org.

The diocesan ministry opportunities listed in last week's E-pistle include:

Diocesan Law Project needs volunteer interpreters
Spanish interpreters are needed to help people in the community get legal assistance. Two clinics a week are offered in Austin, Martin Clinic at 1601 Haskell St., on Monday evenings and Webb Clinic at 601 E. St. Johns Ave.; both are held in the school cafeteria. Many lawyers are donating their services for free but need interpreters to assist them. For more information, contact Linda Conway at (512) 949-2419.

Choir rehearsals
The following is the schedule for the rehearsals for the two upcoming ordinations. We invite all musicians to attend. E-mail Cheryl Maxwell at cheryl-maxwell@austindiocese.org if you plan to participate.

• May 15: Combined Transitional and Priest Rehearsal, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at St. Margaret Mary Parish in Cedar Park. Co-directed by Ren MacNary and Morris Stevens.
• May 20: Austin Regional Rehearsal, 7 to 9 p.m. at St. Edward's University. Directed by Morris Stevens.

Gabriel Project Life Center
The Gabriel Project Life Center is in need of gently-used maternity clothes. Thanks to St. Catherine of Siena Parish’s Pro-Life Team and G.I.F.T. for the beautiful and generous gifts from the baby shower you hosted for the Gabriel Project Life Center. For more information, contact Pamela Otten at pamela-otten@austindiocese.org.

Gabriel Project Training
There will be a Gabriel Project Angel Training on June 5 at St. William Parish in Round Rock from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch and refreshments will be provided). Registration is due by May 31. Space is limited. For more information, call (512) 949-2486 or e-mail Briana Feiler at briana-feiler@austindiocese.org.

What it means to serve

Editor's Note: This is a guest post from Darlene Burke, St. John Neumann Church parishioner and group leader for the SJN Great Adventure Bible Study

Christ had a simple message for all of us:

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." ~ John 13:34

Loving one another means wanting to make the lives of those we love better than they are today and wanting the very best for those around us. It means being willing to selflessly give of our gifts, time and talents to serve one another to see lives improved. By serving one another within our community -- whether it's our school community, our parish community, the city, state or country in which we live -- we help to improve upon the lives of those who are part of that community and, as such, improve the community as a whole. What "service" means differs from person to person and is dependent on a number of factors.

The idea of "serving" is one that can be uncomfortable to some in today's world, as many believe that it requires us to be "subservient" to others. Our desire to be leaders makes this a difficult concept. There are times in which our roles of service DO require us to be subservient, but we are more often called to serve in ways that utilize the gifts and strengths given to us by God for the very purpose of sharing them with others. When we look at the idea of "serving" as an act of love, we can see how serving others is already an everyday part of our lives and that the possibilities of expanding that act are limitless!

Our director of ministries, Jen Crowley, recently posted the following:

Many folks think the Church wants them to volunteer in as many ministries as possible, spending all their free time in their parishes, giving generously of themselves in every way. As a matter of fact, that's the opposite of what we want you to do! While we want you to be good stewards of your time and talents and give of yourselves to your parish community, we also recognize that your most important ministry is at home -- with your family.

How do we know where we can best be of service to others?

The most important thing is to discern where it is God wants us to be. We must be willing to serve God first and foremost, and we must trust in the path He sets forth for us. Oftentimes we struggle with where we might like to be or think we are most needed and where God really wants us to be. Serving God means trusting God, and while we may want to go out and serve the world by saving every single unborn baby around, God may have other plans for us. As the source of our gifts, talents and time He may see a *better* way for us to serve and knows where we can best be suited in His bigger plan for us and for those around us.

The most critical part of the discernment process is to pray. We can pray for clarity to help us identify that which God has given us and wants for us to share as well as for the opportunities in which we can best serve to become clear to us. Being willing to pray for clarity requires that we must also be willing to listen. God will always reveal Himself to us and answer our prayers if we are willing to open our eyes and minds and, most importantly, our hearts to the message He is sending. For me, personally, I find that there are things that stay on my heart or present themselves over and over and over again. It's taken me years and years to figure this out, but when this happens, I know it's God way of telling me that whatever it is, it's something to which I need to pay close attention. Sometimes the "listening" comes in the form of an opportunity or person placed in my path or even "that little voice" in my head telling me something I need to hear. I have learned to trust and be willing to listen to those messages, especially when they have to do with something about which I have been praying.

How can we serve?

Part of the process of prayer is asking for God's direction in where He sees us best able to give of ourselves. We can also look at our everyday actions in determining ways in which we can serve, keeping in mind that giving doesn't require being part of an "organized" ministry. We may already be showing our love through service in ways that we haven't yet realized!

As Ms. Crowley noted above, our families are our most important ministries. We often run on autopilot and overlook the needs of those closest to us. We can look around our home and ask ourselves some very simple questions about service in our homes. As a wife, do we love our husbands the way in which they need to be loved? Are we serving our marriage by giving it the importance and the time that it deserves? Serving our spouses can be as simple as putting the kids to bed and taking the time to sit down and talk together. If service is an act of love, then spending time together rather than turning on the TV or retreating to the Internet can be the simplest way to say, "I love you," and we serve one another.

Are we serving our children? It's hard sometimes NOT to feel as though we exist for the sole purpose of serving our children! Preparing three meals a day, doing laundry, doing homework, shuttling kids from activity to activity, making costumes for school plays -- it really does feel like it never ends, making it hard to even consider asking ourselves, "Even with all of that, are we still giving our children everything that they need?" By "everything," I mean that which they need to be loving members of their own communities. Do they feel loved and cherished? Do they know that we love them as the beautiful gifts of God that they are? Are we taking the time to spend a few minutes with them just "being" and loving them in the way that they need to be loved?

If we move outside our homes, we have the opportunity to serve in many ways. We serve through organized ministries in our parish such as the Alpha Prison Ministry, participating in Boy Scouts, participating in a Bible study, singing in the choir, Divine Mercy Prayer Group, Familia, Mobile Loaves & Fishes and the list goes on and on. We also have the opportunity to serve our community outside of our parish by running for public office, volunteering with the myriad of charities that exist, participating in trash clean-up days and, in our schools, we can be a member of our PTO, spend time being a cafeteria volunteer (I like to think of my time giving knives, forks, spoons and napkins, opening containers, cleaning up spilled drinks for 200+ children as penance!), help the teacher with prep work or even chaperone a field trip. Sometimes time is not one of the many gifts we are given and we need instead to be limited to making a donation to help a not-for-profit financially.

Serving seems most obvious to us when we think of taking part in any of these organized activities or foundations, but we often forget that sometimes the most powerful and simple way of serving will cost us nothing but a few seconds of our time and a willingness to do so -- a smile. A very well-known fast food chain notes that "Smiles are free." If we simply stop for a second or two and make the effort to smile at someone, we are telling them that they matter. If it's the fellow asking for change on the corner, we can roll down our windows, smile and say, "God Bless You." If it's the cashier at the grocery store, we can smile and ask, "How is your day going?" As the recent Mobile Loaves & Fishes campaign reminds us with their "I Am Here" campaign, serving others can be as simple as letting them know that you see them and KNOW that they are there. That can be the most significant act of caring and loving around -- a profound, yet simple, act of service.

If we are serving God by trusting Him and following His will and we are selflessly serving each other in our families and throughout our communities, we become part of a community that gives of itself and enriches others through love and caring. It truly is better to give than to receive, and by giving, we are renewed. Just imagine, it's the most renewable energy source possible, and it's created by God!

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Darlene Burke is a wife, mother of two and freelance web developer. She has been married to Gibbons since May 1999, and they have two children; Isabel and Eliot. Before becoming a mother, Darlene trained to be a chef, worked as a retail brokerage assistant in Canada, as a product and project manager at Dow Jones Telerate (where she met her husband, Gibbons) and then as an international project manager for E*TRADE, helping to develop their international brokerage partnerships. Darlene was confirmed into the Catholic Church in December 2007 and is happy to be home.  She went through the Christ Renews His Parish Retreat and RCIA at SJN and now serves as a group leader for the Great Adventure Bible Study.  Follow her blog, Practically Catholic.

How SJN volunteers are changing the face of Austin

Our 60+ ministries and 1,460 ministry members and volunteers are making a difference.  They are going out beyond parish walls and into the community, visibly changing the way Austin serves our own and helps each other out.  We do not sit around and wait for someone else to do something -- we go out and build the Kingdom ... one project at a time.

The Culture of Life Committee participated in this spring's 40 Days for Life Campaign, in which our city united with 211 other cities to fast, pray, hold peaceful vigils and reach out to the community.  The committee participated in the effort that maintained prayer vigils at two abortion facilities.  Through this campaign in Austin, 10 women have chosen life for children they were going to abort and three post-abortive women finally started to seek healing from having an abortion in their past.

The Habitat for Humanity Partner Ministry is part of the Catholic Build, which is building for the Valencia family right now. Manuel and Maria Valencia are from Tamaulipas, Mexico. They have been married 40 years and have nine children! Currently, they live with their daughter in a trailer where eight people share three bedrooms, and the children sleep on mattresses in the living room. Their 19-year-old and 17-year-old will be living with them in their new Habitat home!

Partner Ministry Mobile Loaves & Fishes, which began out of St. John Neumann Catholic Church, provides food, clothing and dignity to the city's people in need by making daily truck runs on trucks loaded with food, clothing and volunteers.  This year, they will have served over 2,000,000 meals since their inception in 1998.  They currently have a large-scale campaign going on, called "I Am Here" that seeks to solve the problem of people ignoring the homeless because they don't know how to help.  The campaign encourages text donations to Mobile Loaves & Fishes so that any moment someone feels moved to help, it’s as simple as sending a text message.

The Summit and Querencia Communion Service Teams regularly bring Holy Communion to homebound Catholics living at the Summit at Westlake Hills and Querencia at Barton Creek.  If they can't make it to Mass at the parish, we go to them!

Our Society of St. Vincent de Paul Partner Ministry has helped family after family in need with rent, utilities, food and emotional support.  Our particular chapter also helps out the SVDP chapters of Sacred Heart Church and St. Paul Church, both here in Austin.  Their slogan demonstrates the ministry they so love to serve, "Thank you for helping us help others!"

There are so many ways our parishioners seek to make a change, whether it be formally in one of our ministries or informally in the ways in which they try to live their own everyday lives.  We take to heart what it means to serve as the hands and feet of Jesus Christ today and pray that our efforts might be enough to win a few for Him.

"I have become all things to all, to save at least some." ~1 Corinthians 9:22b

The future of lay ministry as SJN grows

Have you checked out the progress of the construction of our church?  It seems like every day something new pops up!  It's been so exciting to witness, and everyone around the parish community has been buzzing about eventually moving in there.  The reality of it all is coming to beautiful fruition!

One thing that's been on my mind amidst the excitement of it all is how large the parish community will grow in parishioners once the church is open!  We have no doubt that large numbers of people will be joining the parish and, inevitably, getting involved.  This is, no doubt, a blessing in which to look forward, but, at the same time, are we ready?

Between religious education programs, our Mother's Day Out preschool program, sacramental requests and lay ministry life, there's a lot to prepare and make ready for the increase in participation.  There are a plethora of ministries to which we can invite new families to affiliate.  I'm certain the current 59 parish and partner ministries leap with joy when visualizing the increase in numbers, but we do have to remember the logistics of successful growth.

Things that will be important for ministries and their leaders to remember include:

• Recommitting to the ministry's vision.  Know from where the ministry has come and where you believe God is taking the ministry.  Be able to clearly communicate this vision to new members and allow participants to own it.
• Equipping volunteers for the work of the ministry -- recruiting, training and motivating.  Delegate and job-share!  Someone who just attends meetings is not being challenged or engaged enough -- allow and encourage them the opportunity to be an active builder of the Kingdom of God.
• Being open to doing ministry a new or different way.  Step outside that box and let go of tradition.  Make sure people feel comfortable suggesting new ideas and then empower them to follow through and see where it takes the ministry.  Ministry is attractive when it's innovative, changing and current.
• Keeping a positive, faith-filled, can-do attitude.

Lastly, I've always believed that successful ministry must be so in God's eyes -- not our own -- and that service is not about quantity, it's about quality.  Regardless of numbers, whether it's three people or 50 people, the most important things are that the work of God is getting done and that people feel loved.  In so doing, we are successfully serving as the hands of feet of Jesus Christ.

Church construction, May 6, 2010

5 questions to help you discern starting a ministry

There are a plethora of ministry opportunities at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, but what if you feel called to build God's Kingdom in an area that hasn't yet been given the attention of a specific ministry?  Great question!

1. Does this ministry already exist within the parish, either as a formal ministry all its own or as an effort of a particular ministry?
   Take a look at the Web site, pick up a ministries brochure from the church or church office or call the church office to find out!  No need to reinvent the wheel.
   
   
2. If not, is this a cause about which I feel very passionate?
   Starting a ministry can be very time intensive and an effort that might not show its fruits until further down the road.  Leading this type of project takes someone who will persevere and do all it takes to get a successful ministry off the ground.  If you're not sure you can commit to this type of requirement, reconsider starting an entire ministry.  Talk to ministry leaders who oversee a similar cause; they might be interested in adopting the effort as a focus of their ministry.
   
   
3. Can I put my energy toward something else in the parish?
   Think of the possibilities of what you could do with your time in the parish if you weren't busy starting a ministry from scratch.  What about a Bible study?  Or volunteering with your family in a ministry that has a similar cause?  Your time, especially that spent with your family, has value, too, and it's important to look at the cost of everything in terms of the ministries in which you volunteer and the time you spend doing it as well.
   
   
4. Have I prayed about the calling to start this ministry?
   
   
   
   
   Photo courtesy of Compassion InternationalA significant amount of time spent reflecting and going to prayer about this idea is essential.  You want to be sure that you want to see this idea through because you feel it's where God is leading you -- not because of any self-driven motives.
   
   
5. Am I a good leader?
   Leadership skills will be a primary reason this ministry idea succeeds or fails.  Dealing with conflict or anger, running a meeting, managing volunteers, building confidence and empowering small groups are tasks frequently practiced by ministry leaders.  Remember that good leaders are also good servants, and you will have to be willing to be open to different ideas and possibilities. 

Which of these questions is the most challenging for you?  Are there ministry ideas in your head that you need to give yourself permission to put aside?