MY SERVICE IN MARY, MIRROR OF JUSTICE PARISH, COMEMBO, MAKATI

MARY, MIRROR OF JUSTICE

"Service is essential and indispensable to God as it requires us to be a part in evangelization"

It is an honor and a privilege to serve as a Lay Minister in our Parish, the Mary, Mirror of Justice in Comembo, Makati City. I am serving God first and foremost. Also, I am serving the church assisting the Priest in his Ministry giving Holy Communion to the faithful and the sick. Through the encouragement of Fr. Eric Castro I did not hesitate to accept his invitation to join the Seminar for the Extraordinary Minister of the Holy Communion at the Arzobispado de Manila in Intramuros, Manila. But before that, I finished my PREX Seminar in our Parish as one of the requisites of becoming a Layman to join in any service of the Parish.


My wife Edith is also a member of Greeters and Collectors in our Parish. She has been serving in her ministry for more than 3 years now. She has been my best inspiration to join the service because she is very consistent and conscientious in her duties. On every Sunday that I hear mass, I usually go along where Edith is scheduled to serve. Whether it is at 5pm where the service is in English or at 9am where it is the Children's Mass or in any hour where she is scheduled to serve. My wife's spirituality is so infectious that in the process I urged myself to serve the Parish in any ministry.

Service is very essential and indispensable to God as it requires us to be a part in the evangelization. Without the help of the Laymen, Priests would be useless and ineffective in performing their ministry. It is our duty to serve in the church whatever we can do to help. It is an act of piety and devotion to God. By this way He will be generous with His blessings to us. He will protect and guide us in every way. When I thought of following my wife Edith in her service, I decided that my service is my way of renewing and communicating with the Lord.

The first thing that came to my mind was to serve as a Minister of the Holy Communion. Being a Minister of the Holy Communion is like being a priest because, after him, no one can give or perform of giving a communion except a Lay Minister. It is a job of trust, confidence, honor and piety that must characterize in a Lay Minister. He will be holding the Sacred Host, the flesh and blood of the Lord, Jesus Christ. The main function of the Lay Ministers is to assist the Priest in giving the Communion and facilitate the flow of the Liturgy of the Mass in the process. Also, he will be performing to give Communion to the sick.


Right now I am happy with my service. My duty is on Sundays only as I work on weekdays. We are 15 Lay Ministers in the Parish. We have a monthly meeting at 3rd Saturday to discuss our schedules, activities, birthday celebrations, concerns and functions. Fr. Eric Castro is very supportive to us. He could be stern or serious in any point of interest of any agenda but it is only a way of pointing out what is right especially in our service. On the lighter side, he can be fun. He even conducts a weekly jogging for us. We also have recollections and fellowships. Bonding is very important in our ministry in order to promote camaraderie among ourselves. Fr. Eric is a good inspiration to me in my service. Apparently, there is only one thing that I will be sad is when he will definitely leave us.The seeds of love had been planted in our hearts and surely we will miss him. 

A lay minister is preparing a Sacred Host to give Holy Communion to the sick

Me and my wife Edith