The St. Matthew’s Cathedral and St. Thomas Apostle young adult groups had spent months planning this evening, getting live entertainment, arranging the food, acquiring additional chairs.
Saturday night church basement conversations about football, the Marine Corps Marathon, German songs, Mass, marriage, Black Forest cake, beer, German wine and other topics filled my ears.
No, this Saturday night, the bright minds and hearts of two urban Catholic parishes are happily pouring beer, serving different sausages and cooked vegetables, slicing pieces of cake and strudel, and bussing tables. The atmosphere was relaxed, almost playful. The volunteers were happy to be working that Saturday night and happy to see all the faces in the room. Everyone was greeted with smiles. Everyone had active brains and worked to remember names and faces of new people whom they had just met minutes before.
I must declare that volunteering does have both a mental, and spiritual benefit. I believe that the volunteers displayed the cultivation of virtuous vigour, with a glance toward spiritual development. And spiritual development, remains very important to us both as individuals and collectively as members of the Church. We all want to be the best Christians that we can and to help each others be the best, too. That is the reason that we participate in events such as this so that others can participate in other events.
The murmur of well-read conversation rocketed from the various tables, pullulated now and again with a sense of community, sense of hope. Here in this basement, Faith punctuated our thoughts and actions.
Well, the volunteers were the evening’s "grown-ups" and they attacked the role with all the exercise and enthusiasm that you would expect in the climactic battle scene in a Hollywood action movie. They were champions that night. They were heroes.
Because of their efforts, the young adult groups at both parishes will also receive some financial, and spiritual, gain. They, because of their efforts, are likely to inspire others to join the groups, and attend Masses and other events.
The evening, as anybody who was present will tell you, included posters on the wall, crepe paper attached to the ceiling, authentic German dancers, a German singer with authentic German instruments athletics, beer gulping, wine sipping, soda slurping, food gobbling, and so on. Not to mention sporadic requests for “everyone to dance” and the ever popular to do and to observe the Chicken Dance.
This evening was unquestionably very enjoyable.
Beyond that night volunteers are always needed to keep both groups alive and growing! Regular participation at meetings and other sponsored events may help to strengthen our spiritual lives. Is it time to participate? Remember volunteers are always needed.
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