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