'Know Your Fellow Parishioner' Tagged Posts (Page 2)

Sometimes God works through miscommunication.  As a godparent to four children enrolled in religious education classes, Becky Albertson thought she was supposed to help them find a yearlong service project.  By the time she discovered that the requirement was for only one day of service, it was too late.  Becky had given her heart to The Branches, an outreach center for the homeless in Rio Grande. Becky contacted The Branches at a time of critical need.  Still a new organization…

Altar server Gerard Burton is known for the extraordinary grace that he brings to his role.  He would rather call it a humble effort to return through worship a little of what God lavishes on the world. “When I think of God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit,” he said, “I just think of everything beautiful that they have created.  So Mass is a beautiful way to give back.”  Altar serving is also a means for Gerard to honor the…

Galdino Tapia used to believe that Mass was a place to go simply to sit and listen.  These days, he helps to make the Mass what it is. Galdino leads the Luc de Cristo music ministry that plays regularly at the Spanish-language Mass at St. Frances Cabrini Church.  Over the past 15 years, he has helped to build up the Hispanic congregation into the vibrant community that it is today.  “I came from a family that was Catholic by custom,”…

“A long road in the right direction.” That is how Bill Stanwood described his roundabout journey into the field of education. The phrase could also well describe the way by which Bill has steadily walked his faith.  Born nearly 80 years ago in Pitman and raised there as a Methodist, Bill enrolled at the University of Delaware where he “fell in love with this Catholic girl.” Bill and Kris, who will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary this year, were married…

When it came to organizing the Ladies of the Knights of Columbus, Mary Ann Hascher wanted to keep it simple.  “No dues, no minutes,” she said.  “We just try to be there for people who need us when they need us.”  As a support to the St. Damien Council of the Knights of Columbus, the Ladies help with major events like the popular spaghetti dinner and the annual honoring of the police, among other functions. The group also donates to…

From his earliest years Bill Flanders knew that church was a place where he could talk to God.  In time, church became the place where Bill would hear God talk to him. Raised in St. Cecilia Parish in the Fox Chase neighborhood of Philadelphia, Bill began, even as a child, to incorporate daily morning Mass into his life. It became a quiet routine that he maintained as he took on a career and a family of his own. “To know…