Commissioning Day

My commissioning for lay ministry is today. I choose ‘catechetical leadership’ as my ministry. I will be teaching the Confirmation class starting next year.

So many people are asking what this is so I am adding the following clarifications. (thank you to a classmate who first posted this)

Lay ministers serve in many different capacities; their duties can vary according to their denomination. According to the Catholic Bishops of the United States, lay ministers are "co-workers in the vineyard of the Lord."

Lay ecclesial ministry is the term adopted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to identify the relatively new category of pastoral ministers in the Catholic Church who serve the Church but are not ordained.

According to the USCCB, this ecclesial ministry includes:
• Authorization of the hierarchy to serve publicly in the local Church
• Leadership in a particular area of ministry
• Close mutual collaboration with the pastoral ministry of bishops, priests, and deacons
• Preparation and formation appropriate to the level of responsibilities that are assigned to them including; human, spiritual, pastoral, and theological dimensions.

 

Home from the Commissioning ceremony. 

It was a beautiful service and again I am reminded of how lucky we are to have such an amazing Bishop. He makes such an effort to have something to say to every single person he talks to.  He even remembers when he saw you last. 



It's pretty dark, but this is Fr. Martin handing me my certificate.





Congratulations to all my wonderful classmates from the Malone site, and also from Ogdensburg and Ticonderoga.  What a great group of people. I am so glad I got to meet you all and look forward to seeing you around the Diocese.

Obviously not the official picture, but I liked how half of everybody was laughing.

 Donna, Fr. Martin, Cassie, and me.

 

Now on to the rest of the week. 

I will be heading to Boston tomorrow to join the rest of our group that left bright and early this morning on our annual service trip to Catholic Heart Workcamp.  It is an amazing week filled with service work, and praise and worship. 

I’m excited for all of our new group members that are joining us for the first time this year.  I know the week will be an amazing time for them, spent surrounded by other youth that have the same beliefs and values as they do.  This week they will get to see what service to others really means. They will learn that there are people in the world that have so much less materially then they do, but that these people are so full of love and thanksgiving for what we as a group have done for them in just a few short days. 

They will get to see a glimpse of how much love Jesus has for them through the testimony of the other campers by their active participation in the activities, including daily Mass, adoration, reconciliation, and prayer. The Holy Spirit is active all week.

I find such joy in seeing our youth so filled with God’s grace. I can’t wait to join them.