By Paula Graham
Catholic Herald correspondent
Lay ministry takes root in new parish cluster
PHILLIPS --Five years ago Fr. Terrence Fitzmaurice, OSB, planted a seed at Our Lady of the North parish in Phillips. "He saw a greater need to minister to the people in the local nursing home and wanted to cultivate it," said Deacon Jim Celba. "He planted the seed and asked me to water it." Thanks to the dedication and service of the lay ministers, lay leaders of prayer and assistant lay leaders, Fitzmaurice's seedling is now thriving.
Every Sunday members of OLN's lay leaders of prayer and their assistants conduct a 10:30 a.m. service at the Pleasant View Nursing Home in Phillips. "It's a Catholic service, but it's amazing how ecumenical it is," said Celba. "We have people of many faiths attending including people from outside the nursing home. Our goal is to welcome all people to listen to the word of the Lord (and) for the Catholics, of course, also to receive the body of Christ."
Under Celba's cultivation the lay ministry is taking root throughout the year-old cluster parish of Our Lady of the North, St. John the Baptist, Prentice, and St. Paul the Apostle, Catawba. "At the beginning we had two lay ministers," said Celba. "Now the cluster has three lay ministers, 15 lay leaders of prayer and 12 assistants." And the opportunities and responsibilities of this ministry are spreading.
Mary Lou Dunbar and Laddie Holoubek, who completed the diocesan-wide lay leaders of prayer training program in October 2001, conduct Sunday services at the nursing home, distribute communion to room-bound patients and visit and pray with patients. They also conduct prayer services at Our Lady of the North.
Dunbar had already been volunteering at the nursing home for several years when Celba asked if she'd be interested in becoming a lay leader of prayer. "It was something I wanted to try, so I went for the training," Dunbar said and added that the Holy Spirit leads her when she stops to pray with patients. "I'll hold their hand, ask if they'd like to pray, say an Our Father. People are so appreciative. They love us to come in and talk to them. Sometimes I wonder why I said what I did. I would never get anywhere without the Holy Spirit."
Laddie Holoubek says he just keeps walking in "deeper and deeper." Twenty years ago he started as a reader, then a eucharistic minister. "Then I got a call asking if I'd distribute communion at the nursing home. Deacon Jim convinced me to become a lay leader of prayer. I like to meet people that I can help. I feel good about myself and what I've done," he said. Now, said Holoubek, his wife Dolores has "been captured as an assistant."
Celba and Fr. Gerald Hagen, pastor of the cluster, train the ministers for nursing home visits. "You have to custom fit your visit to the patient in the nursing home," said Celba. "It's a judgment call when you go into the room as to what you will do. Are you going to give them the full host, or just a bit? Some need a drink of water. Will it be an extended visit or a short prayer? It depends on each resident. The length of the visit doesn't really matter. Just the point that our ministers go and visit these people is sufficient in God's eyes. I really do believe that," said Celba.
With the formation of this parish cluster in August 2001, lay prayer leaders were asked to assume another challenging responsibility. "As a general rule, priests are allowed to do four masses a weekend, yet we need a five-slot weekend for our cluster," said Celba. "Due to limited space, Our Lady of the North needs three Masses to accommodate its parishioners. St. John and St. Paul used to have two weekend Masses. They are down to one each."
Since it was impossible to offer the needed Masses, the cluster instituted a prayer service called Sunday Celebration without a Priest. Once every five weeks, as the cluster rotates through its five-slot schedule, the lay leaders of prayer and prayer ministers conduct a weekend service. In creating a book of the service, Celba customized "A Ritual for Laypersons" to fit the needs of the cluster. It was approved by Fr. Gabriel Baltes, OSB, director of the diocesan Office of Worship.
Celba finds the opportunity for lay involvement growing steadily. "As the shortage of priests continues, more and more work will need to be assumed by lay people. The opportunity for priests to make home visits is getting limited. Lay people will need to start assisting the pastor." Celba would like to start a program of hospital visitation at OLN to back up the work of Hagen as well as their retired priests Fr. J. P. Slowey and Fr. Jack Regh. "And I'd like to see the Catawba and Prentice prayer ministers started in nursing home ministry. At this point they are not. " He added that when they have a clearer blueprint for the future they will look for other opportunities in lay ministry to serve God's people."
Celba encourages interested cluster members to talk to him about the lay leaders of prayer program. The group meets twice a year. "It started as an informal program. Thanks to wonderful and gifted people, it has evolved into what it is today. I very firmly feel the Holy Spirit guides a person's prayer ability as he or she continues in this ministry. Once you allow the Holy Spirit to enter into your heart and mind, it's there. All you have to do is snap your fingers."
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2002