My wife, Lilliam, and I are members of the Community Outreach ministry, Eucharist ministers and serve regularly at the Soup Kitchen at St. Joseph’s Social Service Center in Elizabeth.  Lilliam recently joined the Rosary Society.  Early on, I was invited to work on the Senior Citizens’ Valentine’s Party and soon took over coordinating all aspects of the event.  That party changed over last year to our St. Patrick’s Day Luncheon & Party.  I have been coordinating those senior citizens events for many years, which are successful due to the diligent planning assistance from our ministry members, the generous food donations from our members and fellow parishioners and the service of our ministry members and parish-wide volunteers at the event itself.  

Although raised Catholic and a weekly Mass attendee, due to my devout mother, like too many, once on my own, I fell away from the Church in the mid-late 1960s, while attending a Jesuit all men’s university in Los Angeles.  I was still not an active church goer when I moved to Berkeley Heights from California in 1983.  Through God’s grace, my wife, Lilliam, and I met at work here in New Jersey and eventually we received a calling from God to return to church, after her father passed away in 1990.   Once regularly back at church, our faith and service journey was heavily influenced by our priests here at Little Flower and several active disciple parishioners.  We were encouraged by God thru Fr. Bernauer (at Reconciliation) to formalize our relationship by getting married, which we did in 1991.  After our marriage and renewed participation at weekly Mass, we were called to service by God, as we felt we should get involved in Church activities and “give something back.”

Lilliam and I are most often seen together and we are constantly rewarded for our service by the responses we see from those whom we are serving, whether they be seniors, the homeless or those otherwise economically challenged and in need, or those receiving the Eucharist.  We are also constantly impressed and receive great joy by the demonstrated energy, dedication, exuberance and love displayed by our family of disciple parishioners, as they engage in their ministries, whether they are the ones we are directly involved in, those from which we receive the benefits, or those that we otherwise observe.