Go Team Faith

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to Faith Break. Finding God moments in your everyday. Each week on Faith Break, hosts Karen Luke, and Ann Gallagher bring spiritual refreshment to your daily life. It's Super Bowl Sunday. On Today's episode for February 9, 2025, Karen and Ann open our church's playbook and acknowledge the many players working together to create a beautiful worship experience in our community. Hey, everybody. Hi. Welcome back to Faith Break. I am Anne Gallagher. [00:00:42] Speaker B: And I am Karen Luke. [00:00:43] Speaker A: We are friends, co workers, moms, wives, and we are spending time each week finding the God moments in our everyday. So today is a special day, Karen, for a lot of people, especially in this part of the world. This is gonna be dropping on Super Bowl Sunday. [00:01:04] Speaker B: Go Bills. [00:01:05] Speaker A: Okay, so I have a confession to make. [00:01:08] Speaker B: Oh, gosh. [00:01:08] Speaker A: Which you know already, but the Gallaghers are just not football people. So we actually. I don't think we've watched a football game together as a family ever. So tonight we're probably gonna be watching a movie or. I don't even know, something else. But I know that you are huge Bills fans, like most of the people around here. So at the time of our recording, we don't quite know how things are gonna go down for the season yet. But can you help me understand what is so awesome about football? Please? [00:01:43] Speaker B: Okay. So I wasn't really a big football fan either until we got the house. Jeremy and I got the house. And Jer was always a football fan. Like, always a Bills fan. I grew up with my dad liking the Browns, which is a team worse than the Bills historically. And so it was never fun to watch. Cause my dad always yelled at the tv. He was, like, always yelling. But Jer and I, that would be, like, our Sunday afternoon is we would watch football, and then it just got to be where our friends got involved, and we would have parties. So it's more about, like, who's with you? [00:02:20] Speaker A: The community. [00:02:21] Speaker B: The community makes sense. But then, of course, now with Josh Allen, and they're really good. It's really fun to watch and really stressful. [00:02:31] Speaker A: Yeah. We will also sometimes, like, when we have a confirmation class that happens to be during when the Bills are playing, we have to, like, have, like, designated break times where somebody can, like, check the school. [00:02:41] Speaker B: They can check the score and let. [00:02:42] Speaker A: Everybody know, because otherwise the teens would just be like, yeah. [00:02:45] Speaker B: And it's really fun to watch how everyone comes in in their Bills gear. [00:02:50] Speaker A: Oh, on Sunday mornings. [00:02:51] Speaker B: Sunday mornings at church last weekend, we had one of our ushers was like, hey, Karen, let's do over under. How Many people are wearing Bill's stuff. And I was like, I'm totally taking the over. He's like, really? I'm like, yeah. But what he didn't know is we had religious ed and all the little kids were running bills. [00:03:10] Speaker A: I had seen these kids come in. [00:03:11] Speaker B: Earlier, so I totally knew, and obviously I won, but it's just. [00:03:15] Speaker A: What did you win? [00:03:16] Speaker B: Nothing. Just the bragging rights. Cause he's a Bengals fan. [00:03:20] Speaker A: Oh, okay. [00:03:22] Speaker B: But, yeah, so it was. It's just. It's just like the. Like, you've never been to a game then, like, at the stadium? [00:03:30] Speaker A: Nope. [00:03:30] Speaker B: Okay. So those are. It's just. There's something about the fan base of, like, of Buffalo Bills. [00:03:37] Speaker A: It's like a religion around here. Yeah, I do that. [00:03:40] Speaker B: It's just fun. It's just good. [00:03:42] Speaker A: So today we're gonna talk about how the church is like a team. So we're gonna talk about team Faith today. But first, we should share our God moments for the week. [00:03:50] Speaker B: Yes. [00:03:50] Speaker A: So where did you see God this week? [00:03:52] Speaker B: Okay. I'm so excited to announce I'm a great aunt. Yay. [00:03:58] Speaker A: You didn't even tell me this yet. She had the baby. [00:04:00] Speaker B: She had the baby. Yes. Monday afternoon. And it was a rough labor, and so we're just blessed that she's safe and my great nephew is safe. So my God moment is not only that I'm a great aunt, but we went up to see the baby yesterday, and the kids came with us, and they got to hold him. And this Connor is just ecstatic because until baby Luke was born, he was the youngest boy. [00:04:36] Speaker A: Okay. [00:04:36] Speaker B: So we have friends who have died daughters that are younger than him, but there are no boy. He's, like, the only boy. So he was ecstatic that this baby is a boy, and Emma is just ecstatic to have a baby cousin. [00:04:53] Speaker A: Now, have your kids held babies before? Are they comfortable with babies? [00:04:56] Speaker B: Yes, they're comfortable with babies, but this is the youngest. Only, like a day old that they held a baby. So naturally, I was like, are you okay? Are you. Let me. [00:05:08] Speaker A: Oh. [00:05:09] Speaker B: And the parents, my niece and nephew, Susie and Nathaniel, they're like, oh, they're fine. They're like, already. They're like, yeah, just wash your hands. But it was just. It was so such a blessing to not only see a new person in this world, but to see my nephew, which is Jeremy's nephew, but I've known him since he was, like, I don't know, 13. Just, like, holding the baby, and, like, he's a dad now, and speaking of bills. He had a bill's jersey on, and it was custom made. And the back said 01 was the number. And it said number one dad. And it was so cute. I'm like, okay, he's a dad. It's so weird. [00:05:55] Speaker A: I love it. It's such a good God moment. [00:05:57] Speaker B: Yeah. So what is yours? [00:06:00] Speaker A: So mine was a family moment, and my daughter Bridget was in a show last weekend. She did Beetlejuice, and I wish I had seen the movie back in, like, the 90s or whatever, but I had never seen the musical. And she did it with my cousin's daughter. So they're the same age and they're like besties. And it was just so fun to see them have so much fun on stage. And they were like, for a couple of the songs, they were, like, holding hands. Like, I don't even think they knew they were doing it. They were just, like, singing and, like, it was just super fun. You know, we went in a big group with my cousin and her husband and Brian and I. And just like. So, yeah, I love how community and family can look. You know, it's not just the people in your house. It's like your extended circle of care, whatever that looks like for you. [00:06:52] Speaker B: And I know it sounds so cliche, but seeing your children happy. [00:06:57] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:06:58] Speaker B: Is a God moment, especially as they. [00:07:00] Speaker A: Get older in the teenage years and, like, you don't always get to see that as much as you did when they were little. So, yeah, that was a huge blessing. It was super fun last weekend. [00:07:10] Speaker B: I love it. Thank you for sharing. So, church as a team. [00:07:17] Speaker A: Church as a team. [00:07:18] Speaker B: There's a lot of stuff going on in that. [00:07:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:21] Speaker B: Umbrella. [00:07:21] Speaker A: Do you want to start with the scripture passage we wanted to focus on this week? [00:07:24] Speaker B: Yes. [00:07:25] Speaker A: There's. There's actually a lot of places in the Bible that talk about, you know, people, the church coming together and people having different gifts and sharing them. But I think we would encourage our readers and listeners today, if you're looking for some holy reading this week, to take a look at First Corinthians, chapter 12. Really, like, the whole chapter is. Gets at this whole idea that everybody has their own unique gifts that contribute to the whole, that make up the church and that we're not complete unless we have everybody, everybody together, all working together towards the same goal. So it's way too much for us to read the whole chapter or focus on the whole chapter today in the podcast. But just to give you a little taste, these will probably be familiar to you. They do come up pretty regularly in the lectionary, although not right now. We're just choosing to go this way. First Corinthians 12, 4, 7 says, There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same spirit. There are different forms of service, but the same Lord, and there are different workings, but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. So I love the idea that, like, the gifts that God has given us are not for our own use, but they're for the use of the community. [00:08:49] Speaker B: Right. [00:08:50] Speaker A: The use of the whole. [00:08:51] Speaker B: Yeah. And we're attuned to that because we're in ministry, and especially during confirmation, we talk to the kids about their unique gifts. But so if you haven't thought about it, it's good to. I mean, we each have our own gifts and our strengths, and we each have our weaknesses. And then to put yourself in with people who have a strength of one of your weakness provides this amazing collaboration. And that's what I love about the church, because we all come from different places and we all have our own gifts. Like, obviously, we see our volunteer teachers, they have a special gift, and then you have somebody that's like, that is definitely not mine to work with kids, but they are great at being a lector or a eucharistic minister, whatever. So I love that. The other one that we hear a lot, I think this is also a wedding. You could choose it for a wedding as well as a funeral, but it's First Corinthians, chapter 12, verses 12 through 13. As a body is one, though it has many parts, and all parts of the body, though many are one body. So also Christ. For in one spirit, we are all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons. And we were all given to drink of one spirit. [00:10:23] Speaker A: Right. So we're not supposed to be the same. We're supposed to be different. Right. And oftentimes different, I don't know, subpopulations that maybe in the rest of society might be totally separated. In the church, we need to come together and work together. Whether that's like politics or economics or whatever it is in the church, none of that matters. We all have to be the same. Not even the same body, the same family, but the same body. [00:10:50] Speaker B: Right. I would be really scared if everyone was like me. Connor is like me. And I'm like, oh, my gosh, he's the best. Like, we can't. That would be a whole lot of. Lot of stuff. [00:11:05] Speaker A: But no, but it's in the diversity of gifts that, like, great things can happen, Right? [00:11:09] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:11:09] Speaker A: I definitely think that that's one of the biggest parts of being a team, whether it's, like, on our staff or in our parishes as a whole, is that, yeah, no one person can do this alone. Right. [00:11:19] Speaker B: Do you feel like you have to have this openness of that understanding? Because I'm thinking, like, if we're. If we only surround ourselves with people who think like us, or like an echo chamber, pray like us, that it just becomes stagnant. [00:11:41] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. You know, I had really interesting conversations with sue, our music minister, about how different people pray differently with music and how she considers it really an important part of her job to make sure that everyone who comes to Mass can pray through the music. So that means it's not always going to be the same. It's going to have different styles, and it's going to have different tones and for different occasions. And, you know, and I just. I think that's a really important thing to keep in mind for the church, that not everybody's going to come to God in the same way. [00:12:15] Speaker B: Right. And it's okay. [00:12:18] Speaker A: And it's okay. We don't all have to do it the same way. So. Okay. How is the church like, a team? Do you ever, like, look around on a Sunday morning? All the time and try to count about. Well, like recently at Transfiguration, Margie and Sue got up, and we're recruiting for new volunteers for the liturgical ministries. And it's like, you realize how many people it really takes, like, greeting people who are coming in, Eucharistic ministers, the music ministers, the lectors, like, hospitality people, people who get the donuts and make the coffee and, like, all these things. I mean, like, it's dozens of people every weekend who are contributing just to make the Mass happen. And that's even before we get to our outreach ministries, our formation ministries, and all the people who are helping us run our programs for kids and teens. It's just like this, like, symphony of different voices and gifts that are coming together. [00:13:15] Speaker B: And you don't realize that until you're in the midst of it. Because I remember. I mean, I probably. I can't remember the last time I was asked this, but I have been asked multiple times, what's your. What's your job? [00:13:28] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:13:28] Speaker B: And I'm like, what do you mean, what's my job? I'm here. And they're like, full time. [00:13:32] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, what do you do during the week? [00:13:34] Speaker B: What do you do during the week? And I'm like, let me tell you. But it's this understanding of, like, it just. You don't realize what goes into it until you're actually helping with it. And I was talking to the first communion families. I was like, hey, do you guys think about the songs and what have you heard at Mass? Like, the songs aren't just because sue and Pam like that song. It's based on the liturgy and the readings. And I went into this whole thing, and the parents are like, seriously? But it's not like a bad. It's not like an. It's not even like an ignorance or whatever, but we don't know what we don't know until it's brought to our attention. So, like, I'm really excited to see the parents and the kids. You can, like, see, once they know that their eyes and their ear, you. [00:14:27] Speaker A: Can, like, oh, yeah, they're more aware. [00:14:30] Speaker B: They're more aware of, like, the whole process. The whole process of the math. So that's cool. [00:14:38] Speaker A: Okay. So, like, a team comes together, and it has different people in it who each have a different role to play. Right? But they're all working for the same goal. So. Which I guess for, like, a sports team would be like, winning the game. [00:14:50] Speaker B: Go Bills. [00:14:53] Speaker A: I actually think one of the things where sometimes people run into conflict and tension in the church is the whole idea about, okay, well, if we're on the same team, like, what's our mission? It's like, what is the. What does the church exist to do? And how do we do that? How do we work together to make that happen? I mean, it's one of these things where, like, there are some clear scriptural answers, but, like, what it looks like in real life is not maybe quite as clear cut. [00:15:18] Speaker B: Well, not only that, but we have the church overall mission. But then I feel like each parish or whoever is leading that parish has their own mission. [00:15:31] Speaker A: And we've been around long enough in parish ministry to probably each of us in different faith communities to have been through several rounds of, like, committees trying to write a mission statement for the church or a vision statement for the church. And, like, lots and lots of meetings and lots and lots of wordsmithing, and it's probably we're making it too complicated. [00:15:49] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely. [00:15:49] Speaker A: Way more complicated than it needs to be. Because I think. All right, so I'm just gonna say the mission of the church is to share the love of Christ in the world. [00:15:58] Speaker B: Yeah. Be like, yeah, right. [00:16:01] Speaker A: Like, I mean, that's why we're here. [00:16:03] Speaker B: For the old School people, like, what would Jesus do? [00:16:05] Speaker A: The old school people in the 90s. That's us. [00:16:08] Speaker B: Yeah, I know. [00:16:11] Speaker A: No, I don't think we count as old school in the church world just yet. [00:16:14] Speaker B: Well, but no, if you think about it, the whole essence of the mission is to take what we've learned from the Gospel and incorporate it in our everyday life. So if we're at Mass and we're listening to the scripture passages, the last part of our Mass is, go forth to serve God and one another. [00:16:42] Speaker A: And we've had some interesting conversations around, like, parish council and staff about that. We have. So we have two parishes in our faith community who have different mottos. That's not even mission statements, but just, like, mottos that we use. So in my opinion. All right, let's just talk about the mottos and then we'll see. Because I think they're better when they're together. [00:17:01] Speaker B: Oh, yeah? Yeah. Okay. [00:17:02] Speaker A: So the transfiguration motto is it is good for us to be here, which is a quote from the transfiguration story in Scripture, where the apostles are up on the mountain with Jesus and the he's revealed to them in a new way, and they're just like, this is so good to be here and to experience this grace together. [00:17:20] Speaker B: Right. [00:17:20] Speaker A: It's awesome. And the St. Catherine's motto is, be. [00:17:24] Speaker B: Who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire. [00:17:28] Speaker A: Fantastic. [00:17:29] Speaker B: So it's just like, do it. Just do it up and get out there. [00:17:33] Speaker A: And I actually think that our mottos complement each other in a way to sort of, like, almost correct the weaknesses of each one and make them better. Right. Because although I love the transfiguration one, the downside of it is that you're not meant to stay on the mountain. Right. You get the grace on the mountain because you're called to go down from the mountain and into the world. And that's where the St. Catherine's motto is so strong. Because we need to be who we were meant to be and change the world. Right. [00:18:03] Speaker B: And we've talked about our mountain moments, like those high moments in our life, and then when we come off the mountain or come down from that, it's just like, no one's with me, but everyone is with you. [00:18:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:18:14] Speaker B: And we are, like, called to be who we are meant to be. And that's going to take work. Right. Like, I still don't know what I'm meant to be. Right. [00:18:26] Speaker A: When you grow up. Yeah. No, me too. When I. Adulting pretty much on a Daily basis. But. [00:18:32] Speaker B: But continuing that mountain moment, that awareness, that yearning for God, that grace, that uplifting. Just like how you want every moment to be in your life is just this living in this. Like. [00:18:54] Speaker A: Yeah. And the transfig motto is A we and the St. Catherine's motto is an A you or an I. Right. So I think thinking about it as a community is another good way to kind of balance those out. I don't know. [00:19:08] Speaker B: We're. [00:19:08] Speaker A: We're in a very interesting time in the church just for our. For our two faith communities. But also I just think in the wider church there's a lot of change going on. And in the coming years there, I think there'll be even more structural change. But we'll. The challenge is going to be to keep close to the mission. Right. Because our mission was never to prop up buildings and structures. It was to bring the good news to the world. And what that looks like 10 years from now or 50 years from now might look different than it does now. Yeah. [00:19:44] Speaker B: So when we leave the comfort of the parish after Mass or when. Cause I mean, you could do church. And I'm not downplaying the importance of Eucharist and coming to Mass, but we are called to be church everywhere we go. So how do we show that? [00:20:05] Speaker A: So you come to Mass so that. [00:20:06] Speaker B: You can come to Mass to get all you need and then go out. [00:20:08] Speaker A: To go out and serve and change. Yeah. [00:20:10] Speaker B: So like, how do we continue that spirit or show that spirit? You know, was it St. Francis that said, preach the gospel and if necessary. [00:20:23] Speaker A: Use words that's attributed to him? I'm gonna go with it. I love that our friend Don Smith might have. Might challenge the authenticity. [00:20:31] Speaker B: I would say call in Don, but we don't have a call in. [00:20:33] Speaker A: We'll have him on as a guest soon for sure. [00:20:36] Speaker B: But that's so true. On our behavior is our actions are louder than our words. [00:20:42] Speaker A: Yes. We talked at staff. We've never actually done this, but I think we should about getting spiritwear for the parishes. It's tricky now because we still have two different names and two different mottos and two different. We do it for vbs, but we should get here. This is my proposal right now. I'm calling on our readers, our listeners and viewers to step up and help us make this happen. If you have this expertise. But we need some spirit wear that is dual branded or whole branded for our whole faith community somehow that we can all wear when we go out and like deliver Christmas baskets or prepare a meal at a soup Kitchen or, you know, whatever. Or just, like, go grocery shopping at Wegmans and are nice to the person in front of us, like. Or. [00:21:33] Speaker B: Bumper stickers. [00:21:34] Speaker A: Bumper stickers. Jeff, that was a great idea. I love my church. Right. Like, I just think showing some team spirit and how much. How much we love our faith community, but also to identify ourselves as that when we go out and do good work in the world would be so great. Well, I mean, so I think we should get some swag. [00:21:55] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, going back to sports teams when they do fundraisers, you know, like, at school, when I was on the soccer team, we wore our jackets or our jerseys when we went out to do stuff together. So it, like, showed this not only camaraderie, but that we were a part of a bigger something. [00:22:15] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:22:16] Speaker B: Right. And that's what I love about the vvs. T shirts. [00:22:19] Speaker A: Sure. [00:22:20] Speaker B: Because, I mean, not only will we do it because we know, because they're all color coded by. [00:22:25] Speaker A: We want to keep track of where. [00:22:26] Speaker B: All the colors, but, I mean, it's just. Yeah, it's just like a great. We could have an over. Under how many people wear our swag rather than a football jersey. [00:22:40] Speaker A: That would. One day. One day we'll get there. [00:22:42] Speaker B: Okay, viewers and listeners, if you want to take on this challenge, I'm throwing the red challenge flag. [00:22:50] Speaker A: Yep. Yep. [00:22:52] Speaker B: Come up with something. [00:22:53] Speaker A: We need a design, and we need. You know, what should we get? [00:22:56] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:57] Speaker A: T shirts, hoodies, something. Bumper stickers. [00:22:59] Speaker B: I love it. And we'll be the first ones to wear it. [00:23:03] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, because when you think about it, we are really in a. In a grace time for our two communities right now, even though it is messy and it is painful at times to be two faith communities who are coming together, and we're not even sure in what way or how fast or in what capacity that what this is gonna look like ultimately. But, like, there's so much to be grateful for right now. [00:23:24] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:23:25] Speaker A: And, you know, so you and I are both, like, what, a year and a half into being employed by both parishes, and for me, it's been. It's been like falling in love with a whole nother church that's now part of the family. And, like, you get to meet all these new people, and you can incorporate all these new, beautiful traditions between the two places. And I don't know. I'm really hopeful for the future. And. [00:23:49] Speaker B: And think of all the new baby swag we have, the new baptisms. New baptisms we. Sorry, I'm on. [00:23:57] Speaker A: That's a great idea. [00:23:58] Speaker B: Oh, My gosh. And last week, Father Rob was talking about wanting a camera above the St. Catherine's baptismal font. And Jeff and I have talked about that, too. And I'm looking over at Jeff, but really that he's behind the camera. But I feel so blessed to be the minister to prep for baptism because I get to be right up there, and the babies, their faces, and they're just smiling. [00:24:30] Speaker A: Miley, we had that really engaging. [00:24:32] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. [00:24:33] Speaker A: A couple of weeks ago, she was. [00:24:35] Speaker B: Like, you know, like, the colleges have, like, baby alum. Onesies could totally do something. I mean, we've had, like, we've had like, 20 baptisms in the last year and a half. [00:24:50] Speaker A: That's amazing. [00:24:51] Speaker B: So I think that's a win. And we are growing. And some people might not see that as growth because not necessarily. They might not be able to be at Mass all the time. But these are families that are calling because they want. [00:25:10] Speaker A: They have a desire to be. [00:25:11] Speaker B: They have this desire to belong and their children to belong. And they don't talk about how, oh, well, I'm calling because my grandma wants me to. [00:25:22] Speaker A: Right. [00:25:24] Speaker B: And I've had. And I mentioned this to you before, there's been a lot of dads calling to set up baptism prep, which. Kudos. Because, you know, we don't. I want to shout out. I want to make sure that we recognize that, because sometimes we don't think about the father's position. And wasn't there you mentioned something a while back, like if the dad attends, the family is more likely to attend? [00:25:54] Speaker A: I think. Yeah. There are stats that show that in terms of, like, people who continue religious involvement throughout their lives, like, if they come to church with both parents, as opposed to just Mom, I could totally. [00:26:05] Speaker B: See, like, my grandpa was that. [00:26:08] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:26:09] Speaker B: All right. So we talked about how we can show spirit, belonging. [00:26:16] Speaker A: You started talking about belonging. Can you talk about belonging? [00:26:18] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:26:18] Speaker A: We feel to this team. So we have, like, welcoming committee, welcoming ministry, and different, you know, welcoming to Mass, welcoming to the parish. There's different, like, layers of it that are happening differently in different churches. And we, you know the song All Are Welcome. There's two All Are welcome songs. Yeah. [00:26:38] Speaker B: We need to differentiate. [00:26:40] Speaker A: I'm thinking I love both of them. Like, all are welcome. And then it says all belong. And so I was thinking about that song and I was thinking about how being welcomed and belonging might not be the same thing necessarily, because when you come to my house for dinner, I welcome you to my house. But, like, the people in my family who live There belong to the family. So we talk a lot about trying to be a welcoming church, which is a good thing. But I think what we really need to be is a church where everybody belongs. [00:27:22] Speaker B: Yeah, that differentiation is really important. [00:27:25] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's trickier, Right. Because I mean, it's hard to be welcoming. [00:27:30] Speaker B: You can still. Well, yeah, you can feel welcomed into a space, but you might not necessarily feel like you belong there. [00:27:38] Speaker A: That you're at home there. [00:27:39] Speaker B: That you're at home there. Yeah. I think about on Christmas when we have a lot of the parishioners who. That is a huge celebration for them and their family. And you have some people who come at 2:00 to, you know, get their pew. But it's so funny, I don't know if this happens at transfig, Cause I haven't had a chance to be down there for the early Mass. But do people fill in from the back to the front? [00:28:10] Speaker A: Generally speaking? I would say generally speaking, the front pews are always the last two. [00:28:15] Speaker B: And it's so funny because we put up chairs in the back at St. Catherine's this year and there was like four front row pews, like completely open. [00:28:24] Speaker A: I mean, we're Catholics. Catholics do not sit in the front. That's like a cultural thing. [00:28:28] Speaker B: I think I do. I would rather sit up front because then I can actually see instead of being. [00:28:33] Speaker A: Yeah. And for little kids, I think it's. [00:28:34] Speaker B: Great to be up front, especially first communion families. But it was funny. Like, I went back to the people that are sitting on these metal, hard chairs, like behind the pillow. [00:28:43] Speaker A: St. Catherine's has cushions, not these ones. [00:28:46] Speaker B: So we actually set up like, we had extra, like, metal chairs, but so. [00:28:50] Speaker A: They'Re sitting in an uncomfortable chair. Sitting in a cushy pew. [00:28:53] Speaker B: Oh, I'm sorry. Yes. [00:28:54] Speaker A: Is that what you're meant? [00:28:55] Speaker B: Yeah. So I'd go up and I'm like, hey, we have like a pew for like seven people your whole family could fit. And they're like, ah, we're good, we're good. Okay. And so I ended up giving it to somebody else. And then at the end they're like, man, really wish that I took that front pew. It's like doing that. Like, it's not. It's not scary. [00:29:16] Speaker A: I think taking those first few steps can be really hard, though, and really scary. Like the family who calls for baptism without knowing much about what the parish is like or what it's gonna mean to be involved, you know, who might struggle to get to Mass every week and might feel judged if they don't come every week, you know, I mean, I just think if we think about the church like a family or like one body, right. It's like everything is important. And so, like, maybe you've got little kids and you can't, like, come out for evening meetings and be on the parish council right now or whatever your situation is. Like, that doesn't mean you're not an important part of the community. Like, just by showing up and being with us, you're part of us. [00:29:59] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:30:00] Speaker A: And then at the same time, too, I do think that belonging to a family has responsibilities, too. Right. So, like, to invite everybody in our parishes to find some way to be active. There's so many opportunities and just like, it doesn't have to be a huge time commitment either, you know? [00:30:22] Speaker B: So I want to talk about the opportunities because, like, we have our lists of things that the parish you can get involved in, but that's only a limited portion of the greater community. [00:30:37] Speaker A: Sure. [00:30:38] Speaker B: So, like, I'm thinking. And we tell our confirmation kids this, too. Like, if you have a service thing that you want to do that's not on this list or in our booklet or whatever, do it, like, let us know. So here's another challenge. Like, you can still be involved in the parish and not be on a parish committee or ministry. Like, if you have an idea, we could, you know, you could be the leader of that idea. [00:31:11] Speaker A: Can you talk about that one family you were telling me about the other day? Yes. [00:31:15] Speaker B: So one of our faith formation families from Transfiguration was telling me that her family, and I believe, like, two or three other of her friends, families. Each month, one family takes on a service project. So they coordinate, contacting the person, figuring out what they need, and then they coordinate the date. And then those four families go together and serve. [00:31:46] Speaker A: Right. [00:31:47] Speaker B: And so she says it's great because I only have to coordinate once a month. And we try to make it on, like, the same, like, the third weekend. So it kind of gets. Everyone kind of knows what the date is. But she's like, but we just go then. And, you know, I've mentioned this before. Like, I love our outreaches that we do at the churches, but sometimes I feel like it's just a donate, donating, just donate. And not the second part of actually going to see where these items are. I know for, like, my kids at school, they had a sock collection. And what did I do? I went to the store by myself, bought a pair of socks and shoved them in Connor's backpack. [00:32:33] Speaker A: Right. [00:32:34] Speaker B: And it was supposed to be something for him to do. And I was like, oh, it's just a headache trying to, you know, because he would want to get like the fancy socks. And I'm like, they just want warm crew socks, you know. And I was like, I'm just gonna do it myself. But this is like the whole family is doing it and it's something where you go to it. And I love that idea that it's more than just. [00:32:56] Speaker A: And really, when churches come together, like, we can have a big impact when we do big things, like the Christmas shirt. And like, we can give a lot. [00:33:02] Speaker B: We have like over 200 families, I think. [00:33:05] Speaker A: Right. It's amazing. And I hear like teens and families all the time saying, like, oh, can we organize, like serving a meal at a soup kitchen or doing. And like, the truth about some of those hands on activities is that they really work best when you have a small group. And. But we would love to recruit some folks from our community who might be willing to like set up a meal, a community meal, at a shelter a couple of times a year. And we'll help you recruit people to do them to come and attend. Because it's hard, you know, it's hard to get like the whole youth group together to go do something or the whole faith formation to do something. [00:33:48] Speaker B: And also, we're just resources. I mean, like, we are ministers in the church and this is our job. But just because we don't think of it doesn't mean that it's not important or the things that we think of are the only things that we could do. So I love the fact of like. Okay, here's another football analogy. [00:34:08] Speaker A: Here we go. [00:34:09] Speaker B: Okay. The Buffalo Bills are. They have a phrase called everyone eats. Okay. And that means they don't have just like one or two people that can catch or get a touchdown. Like anyone on the field at any time should be ready. [00:34:25] Speaker A: I love it. [00:34:26] Speaker B: Okay, so that's what I'm kind of thinking. Like, we want everyone to eat. Like, we want everyone to come with their ideas, to share their ideas in that. Not just because the staff we have in the bulletin these certain things for Advent or these certain things for Lent, that's the only thing that can be done. [00:34:46] Speaker A: Yeah. You can live your faith in whatever way you see fit in your workplace. In our community, it doesn't have to be an official church ministry. Just wear your church swag when you go out and do it though, right? [00:34:56] Speaker B: Yeah, church swag. [00:34:57] Speaker A: Did you come with some ideas or places? I wasn't sure who you were. [00:35:00] Speaker B: Yeah. So the family that I'm spe. Speaking of, and I'm not gonna mention their name because I didn't connect with them, and I don't know if they would really want me to put their name out there, but. So I have not researched a lot of these. I haven't googled them yet. But these are places that they've already done or will be doing. Rock food, not bombs. So I think that is something to do with, like, firearms, like, trying to get stuff off the street and healthier food into the homes. People's pantry. Oh, I did do this one. And I really. I love this idea. Happy birthday. Cha cha cha. So you go out and you can either donate birthday items to this organization, and then they create birthday in a box for families, or you can host a birthday party. I'm using the word host lightly. A birthday party for a person, for a kid. And you'd get the kid's wish list of toys or a theme, and then you go out and purchase everything for that birthday party and then deliver it to the home. So whatever theme they would want. Margaret Home is on here. Autism up. Think or treat. So that is obviously during a Halloween area or Halloween time. Catholic Charities has adopt a family. So that's similar to our Christmas baskets and things like that. Toys for tots. And they also have one Salvation army has Stuff the bus. [00:36:46] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:36:46] Speaker B: So like, putting all school supplies for September. And then the American Cancer Society, they helped with meals at one of the homes. [00:36:57] Speaker A: So there are lots of ways to help in the community. [00:36:59] Speaker B: So many things. [00:37:00] Speaker A: And we might be able to come up with some that we can help our families to do. But. [00:37:04] Speaker B: And then there's also the Rochester wish list. Have you ever. [00:37:09] Speaker A: No, I've never heard of that. [00:37:10] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. The wish list is amazing. Just type in Rochester Wishlist. And it has hundreds of nonprofit organizations that you can choose from, and it's items that they need for their programs. So it could be pencils, pens, stuffed animals, whatever. But it's a one shop shop list of things that you can do. [00:37:32] Speaker A: And we have some ministries that our parishes do partner with. Rochester Hope in the City on Saturday mornings is one. Bethany House has community meals that small groups can take responsibility for every Wednesday. And I think St. Joe's House downtown is another Catholic worker house that frequently needs, like, food donations and things like that. So there are lots and lots of ways to share Christ's love in the world beyond our parish walls. Yep. Also just inviting someone to come to church with you is another thing we haven't talked about, but is a great thing to do. All right. I think we're, like, almost wrapping it up here, but I just have one more question. [00:38:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:38:20] Speaker A: So if the church is a team, what does it look like to win? Like, what would our faith family look like if we were just like, everyone. [00:38:31] Speaker B: Sits in the front pew. No. [00:38:35] Speaker A: In their church jersey with a friend they've just invited to come with them that day? Right. [00:38:41] Speaker B: I mean, in all honesty, I think it's seeing the growth in our parishes. [00:38:51] Speaker A: Yeah. So obviously, like, growing in numbers would be part of that. If we were winning, we would be bringing new people in. [00:38:58] Speaker B: But not only that, I think going a step further would be that everyone is accountable to the team and has some sort of task outside of the parish walls. [00:39:14] Speaker A: So every person on the team is growing into a place where they can use their God given gifts in the best, most effective, most meaningful way, but not just within our walls, but moving outward. Right. Yeah. And there's also, like this constant tension too, with church and ministry because, like, we want measurable results for things and, you know, we want to, like, see growth happening in, like, you know, visible ways and, you know, being accountable and all that. But a lot of what we do in church is planting seeds that we don't necessarily get to harvest. [00:39:55] Speaker B: Right. And with sharing our parishes and our resources, it's really hard to see that growth because we have so many opportunities for Mass. [00:40:10] Speaker A: You might never see the people. [00:40:12] Speaker B: You might never even see all the religious ed kids at transfiguration because it's after. It's, you know, before Mass at 10:45. So I guess I just wanted to put that out there too, that even though you personally might not be seeing specific, measurable things, us as a whole. [00:40:41] Speaker A: The growth is happening. [00:40:42] Speaker B: The growth is happening, but sometimes you just can't see it. [00:40:48] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's a long view too. Right. Because it's like it's ultimately God who makes the growth happen. Not. [00:40:53] Speaker B: Yeah, we're in it to win it. [00:40:56] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, we're playing a long game. [00:40:59] Speaker B: Hey, there was a football term. [00:41:01] Speaker A: I did it. I have no idea what that means in football. I think we might have a couple of scripture passages. There's this quote, you know, Corinthians, written by St. Paul, who was like, like, he spread the good news to, like, the entire ancient world, basically. But he set up these communities and then there were leaders in the communities who had to, like, keep it going and build it and grow it from there. And so this is from 1st Corinthians 3:5 to 9 says, what is Apollos after all? And what is Paul ministers through whom you became believers. Just as the Lord assigned each one, so I planted. Apollos watered, but God caused the growth. Therefore neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything but only God who causes the growth, the one who plants and the one who waters are equal. And each will receive wages in proportion to his labor. For we are God's co workers, you are the field God's field, God's building. Right. So, like, to be church means that we're. We're watering seeds. Maybe we plant, maybe we water. But it's like the game is God's, right? It's God's game. [00:42:10] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:42:11] Speaker A: So I think that's it for us today, right? [00:42:14] Speaker B: Yeah. Yay. [00:42:15] Speaker A: Okay, thanks. [00:42:16] Speaker B: Go Super Bowl. [00:42:17] Speaker A: Enjoy the game tonight. I hope it goes well for all of you actual football people out there. We'll see you next week. [00:42:25] Speaker B: Bye. [00:42:27] Speaker A: Thanks for taking a faith break with us today. Karen, Luke and Anne Gallagher, our lay ministers with the parishes of St. Catherine of Siena in Menden, New York, and Church of the Transfiguration in Pittsford, New York. More about our parishes, including weekly live streamed Sunday Mass, can be [email protected] or transfigurationpittsford.org Engineering Today is by Jeff Beckett. Join us for new episodes of Faithbreak and each week in studio on YouTube or on your favorite audio podcast or music. [00:43:05] Speaker B: Applause.