Ministers explain inspiration to serve

RCIA coordinator for ten years....Youth minister for six....Hospice volunteer since 1990....

What inspires people to become involved in a ministry, as a paid job or volunteer activity, and continue it for years? The Evangelist got some answers by talking to Catholics across the Albany Diocese.

'MINISTRY JOB'

Nancy Calkins, pastoral associate for social ministry at St. Vincent de Paul parish in Albany, is also a family assessor for Hope House, which treats people with addictions. She enjoys both activities and calls her involvement with St. Vincent de Paul her "ministry job."

She started off as a volunteer looking to use her abilities to benefit her parish. "I felt that's where my talents could be of help to people," she explained.

She enjoys working at the food pantry, which serves around 200 families per month. "It's so basic -- to have food," she said. "You can't really get anything else done unless you have certain basics like food and housing. I like the fact that it's very tangible."

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WELCOME TO CHURCH

Ralph and Carmela DiGiorgio, parishioners at Immaculate Conception Church in Schenectady, have been part of a core group running the RCIA program for nearly a decade.

They were approached by the then-pastor, Rev. Ed Deimeke, who asked if they would like to get involved. They knew nothing about the RCIA but wanted to help, so they took a leap of faith.

"Since we got into it, I have learned so much more about the Catholic faith; and, every year, we learn more and more," said Mr. DiGiorgio. "Doing this work is our whole purpose of being baptized. Primarily, I'm trying to live according to the will of Jesus. I feel like I should do something."

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BEING FAITHFUL

Although Doris Cottone, a parishioner of Blessed Sacrament Church in Bolton Landing, is mostly retired from parish ministry, she agrees that what kept her involved was a commitment to keeping Christ central in her life.

"You can just walk into church and look up at the cross, and that's all you need," she explained. "What can we do for Him? If you want a bottom line, that's it."

Mrs. Cottone respects her pastor, Rev. Peter Young, and wanted to help him by kicking in with the little things that keep the parish running smoothly: putting the bulletin together, washing the altar cloths, getting albs and chasubles cleaned, doing secretarial work, and serving as hostess at parish coffee hours.

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CONFIRMED IN FAITH

Renee Patti, youth minister at Our Lady of Victory parish in Troy, never thought she'd be a youth minister. But, after her daughter graduated from primary school there and went on to Catholic Central High School, she felt it was important to keep her connected to her OLV classmates, many of whom had gone on to public school.

She volunteered to help the faith formation director arrange service projects and retreats to unite the teens, and immediately loved the work. As a full-time youth minister, her major goal is to help them be ready for a time when greater lay involvement will be necessary to keep a parish running.

"I want the teens to know what they do is important," she explained. "This is a great way to plant the seed so that the Church is a positive thing for them, and they'll be involved with their parishes later on."

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FINAL DAYS

In 1990, Dan O'Connell, a parishioner of St. Jude's Church in Wynantskill, felt an urge to do something "meaningful" in addition to his work for New York State. He pored through advertisements for volunteers until he found a notice that intrigued him: the Hospice of Rensselaer County.

"I didn't know whether I could do it," he said. But his volunteer job soon developed into a full-fledged ministry -- and career: Fifteen years later, he is a licensed practical nurse, working in a hospice unit in Troy.

"It's a complete change from pushing paper," he said. "I consider it a privilege to be invited into someone's home at a private, intimate time in their life, [and] to be accepted there to help them and their family deal with the crisis that they are going through."

Music interest segued to ministry

Marie Woodward's involvement in music at Christ the King Church in Westmere stems from a lifelong interest that morphed into a ministry. Now, she can't imagine a Catholic life without praise and prayer through music.

Music first entwined itself with her life as a junior high school student in Massachusetts, where she was involved in her parish youth league and church choir.

Music "kept me [in the Church] when other things were really difficult for me. Singing is absolutely a way of being present to God and feeling that God is present to me," she said.

Ms. Woodward, a cantor at Christ the King, also directs the youth choir. She said that these activities, in part, define her life.

"My whole week is centered towards Sunday and the Psalm," she said, "and my year [centers] around the celebrations of the Church. It gives an outline and a direction to my life." (KD)

Couple ministers together in faith

Stephen and Melissa Lape were living in the Diocese of Rochester and looking for something to get involved with as a couple. They found a fit with Marriage Encounter.

"At first," Mr. Lape recounted, "we thought: 'Do we want to add one more thing to our lives?' After having some conversations with other people [who volunteered with ME], we decided to go ahead with it. We enjoyed doing it together, as opposed to doing something apart. We could work together, do together, be together."

When they moved into the Albany Diocese, the Lapes' involvement with Marriage Encounter inspired Rev. Joseph Cebula, pastor of Our Lady of the Assumption parish in Rotterdam, to invite them to inaugurate a marriage mentorship program.

"It's rewarding seeing the couples make changes in their lives," Mr. Lape said of their work. (KD)

(4/7/05)