|
From our Pastoral Intern Eben MacDonald
I thought I had it all! I owned a lovely home, had
a nice car, worked in an interesting job, made a handsome living, was
active in my parish, had two dogs, and was looking forward to settling
down to a nice life. But something was missing. I didn’t feel completely
fulfilled. Seeking to fill the void in my life, I began volunteering for
parish ministry at my home parish, Saint Mel in Woodland Hills.
I started as a lector, putting the skills I had
learned as part of my theatre training in service of the Gospel. This
was and continues to be an extremely rewarding ministry for me, to be
able to be a minister of God’s Word and to strive to embody the Word for
others. A short time later, I became a Eucharistic minister. What an
awesome privilege to not only be able to receive the Precious Body and
Blood of Christ in the Eucharist but to be able to share Jesus with
others as a minister of Holy Communion! After a time, I was invited to
join the liturgy committee in the parish. I was happy to be involved in
efforts to improve and enhance the worship in the parish. As I learned
more about liturgy, my pastor invited me to serve as Master of
Ceremonies for all of our major liturgies, e.g. Holy Week and the Easter
Triduum, Christmas, Confirmation, etc. This ministry gave me valuable
experience serving on the altar. As a result, when I entered the
seminary I had a high comfort level with liturgical ministry. After a
few years, I was invited to join a very special ministry: R.C.I.A., the
Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. Journeying with those seeking
to come into the Catholic Church was an extremely rewarding ministry for
me.
I began to notice something about myself in parish ministry. The more I
became involved in ministry, the more life and energy I was drawing from
it. When someone would ask “How was your day,” I would talk more about
my time in parish ministry than about my job. It wasn’t long before
thoughts of priesthood began to return. I thought I had left the thought
of priesthood behind but God was asking me to take another look!
More to follow… |
