Ministries
Giving of Our Time & Talent
The heart of a parish is the Eucharist, but the parish family is the body that makes it a unique and vibrant community. The Cathedral of Saint Patrick provides parishioners with a wide variety of ways to be part of a communal family while practicing stewardship. Through our parish ministries, one can learn and grow as an individual, meet others who share their values, and reach out to serve the larger parish and community.
Stewards of God's gifts are not passive beneficiaries. We cooperate with God in our own redemption and in the redemption of others. We are also obliged to be stewards of the Church - collaborators and cooperators in continuing the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, which is the Church's essential mission. This mission - proclaiming and teaching, serving and sanctifying - is our task. It is the personal responsibility of each one of us as stewards of the Church.
All members of the Church have their own roles to play in carrying out its mission:
- Parents, who nurture their children in the light of faith;
- Parishioners, who work in concrete ways to make their parishes true communities of faith and vibrant sources of service to the larger community;
- All Catholics, who give generous support - time, money, prayers, and personal service according to their circumstances - to parish and diocesan programs and to the universal Church.
The four pillars of formation, prayer, service and hospitality invite parishioners to experience, witness and live the stewardship way of life in response to their baptismal call to discipleship. Individually, each baptized person is called to give of time, talent and treasure to strengthen these four pillars that support the parish community. Conversely, by making our parish a place of hospitality, prayer, formation and service, we provide greater opportunities for the sharing of time, talent and treasure. Strengthening the pillars of hospitality, prayer, formation and service make us faithful disciples to the love given us freely by our loving God. As faithful stewards, our only response to these gifts received is gratitude. Living stewardship is a disciple’s response to our God, who has given us everything that is good!
Formation
This pillar of stewardship enlivens the desire on the part of the steward to share what one has received and to share with a generous, grateful and loving heart. As stewardship is a formidable task involving education of the mind and conversion of the heart, each parish organization plays a role in the faith formation of its parishioners.
Prayer
This pillar of stewardship enables the Christian to nurture a personal relationship with God. While parishioners find great fulfillment in giving themselves to parish life, prayer purifies and intensifies the intention of the steward. Prayer increases our yearning to receive the Eucharist. Nourished by the Word of God and the Eucharist, we are strengthened as a parish family to go and to serve the Lord. Stewardship is a lived response of the disciple to follow this command.
Service
This pillar of stewardship engages the steward not only in works for the parish but for the diocese, the community and the Universal Church. Although service is what most thinks of in relation to stewardship, service brings into practice the three other pillars of hospitality, prayer and formation.
Hospitality
This pillar of stewardship encourages welcoming new members to the parish. When parishioners feel welcomed, it fosters a sense of ownership and personal involvement in lived stewardship to the parish family
