LITURGICAL MINISTRIES

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 The Mass is often referred to as the liturgy. The word liturgy is from the Greek word leitourgia, which means “the work of the people.” The Mass is not the work of one person – the priest – but the entire community that is worshiping God. 

 We want to thank our many ministers for their stewardship of time and talent.  Our Liturgies would not be as meaningful without your time and talent.  We encourage your involvement in these ministries. 

  According to the ancient tradition and the teaching of the Church, the readings at Mass other than the Gospel are proclaimed by ministers called Lectors. Lectors bring the living Word of God to the liturgical assembly. In and through them, God speaks to the gathered faithful. The ministry of the Word is treated reverently and with great dignity.

The Word of God is proclaimed during the liturgy. Effective proclamation presupposes faith and rouses faith in those who hear the Word proclaimed. It requires the delivery of the message with clarity, conviction and appropriate pace. It also requires serious study of God’s Word, proclamation skills, and practical preparation. The Lector is willing to commit to a bi-monthly schedule, to prepare properly for service and to arrive on time dressed appropriately for the assigned Mass.

 Children’s Liturgy of the Word is not faith formation classes, arts-and-crafts activities, or babysitting during Mass. Rather, it is for young children, age 4-8 years, whom have not received First Communion. They leave the sanctuary during the Liturgy of the Word to hear the scripture readings proclaimed and explained at an age-appropriate level. The children then profess a child-friendly version of the Apostle’s Creed, and everyone offers petitions for prayer.

They extend the consecrated Body and Blood of Christ to their fellow parishioners. He/she leads a Christian life and participates fully in the life of the parish and the wider community. Only fully initiated members of the faith community, in full Communion with the Church, can serve as Ministers of the Eucharist.

Ushers are ministers of hospitality who welcome the Assembly into the house of the Church. They are warm and welcoming to friends and strangers, and good at noticing what needs to be done. They are servants of the assembly who assist in finding seats, directing the flow of processions, facilitating the collections, and attending to other physical needs of our Mass-goers.

Family Hospitality is offering your family’s time to help make our parish a warm and welcoming place to worship. “Family” refers to those that are single, married, divorced, widowed, widower, with or without children and families of all ages. If you have children, use this opportunity to model for them what it means to serve our parish family as servant leaders. We want them to be involved in the ministry in whatever way you feel they can serve based on their maturity level. 

Hospitality ministers will often give the first impression of our parish for those coming to worship – whether parishioners or visitors. Our goals are to transmit authentic joy of the Gospel we profess to believe and live by and help everyone gathered have a tremendous worship experience.