Did You Know

Because of our Youth Minister, Deacon Bill Polakowski, and our Director of Religious Education, Genevieve Rivera, and a truly amazing team of Volunteer teachers, mentors, and ‘helpers’, we are able to offer all of our Youth an extraordinary variety of programs and events to support them in their spiritual growth and maturity from pre-school (Catechesis of the Good Shepherd) through High School – and beyond!
All of these programs are offered at no cost. We are able to do this because of the 100% commitment of our Parish to religious education and formation – these programs and events are ‘budgeted’ and supported by your generosity – AND because of the generous sharing of their time and their talents by so many VOLUNTEERS! A wonderful example of this collaboration on the part of so many occurred last weekend - when 75 Teens enrolled in our two-year Confirmation program experienced a spiritually powerful weekend Retreat at La Purisima Retreat Center in Hereford! (Ten Teen-Confirmation students joined us from Our Lady of the Mountains Parish for the Retreat!) A ‘Team’ of 26 adults assisted with the Retreat: Carl Ashmead, Melissa Borges, Randi Burros, Brianna Chavez, Matthew Dicky, Jon and Diana Eggers, Logan Fitzpatrick, Chuck and Brandie Granke, Amy Kjolsrud (OLM), Jersey Lane, Arabella Martinez, Kate Polakowski, Yvonne Ramey, Ilse Garcia, Genevieve Rivera, Damian and Karla Rueda, Julian, Fernando and Kristin Valenzuela (OLM), David and Danielle Weinberg, Christina Wernette, and a number of our older Teens: Aiden Fitzpatrick, Jackson Weinberg, Andrew Ramey, Mariah Moreno, Amaya Serrano, Lily White, Jandee Howton, and Lucia Kjolsrud (OLM) who have been Confirmed came to help! ALL VOLUNTEERS! Special thanks to the Knights of Columbus, who supported the Retreat and a special thanks to “Chef” Robert Benton and son, Matt, who provided the delicious meals for the Retreat participants! A special blessing was the presence of our Deacon Carlos Nagore, who came from his parish assignment in Tucson to serve at the Retreat! ALL VOLUNTEERS!

Again, speaking of the vital role and gift of our VOLUNTEERS: our two-man Maintenance Team – Michael Prostka and Ben Horner – are able to provide quality maintenance for our two-campus Parish (St. Andrew’s and Good Shepherd) because of the generosity of our VOLUNTEERS, especially James Harper, James Ramey, Val Robles, Dan Pierce, and John Hill! While many organizations have not recovered from the catastrophic collapse of Volunteerism following COVID, the Church – and especially our Parish – have witnessed an outstanding resurgence of VOLUNTEER activities and support! The reason for this is not hard to discover. We are the Church – not an organization but an organism: the Body of Christ – and every single member shares in the health and dynamism of the whole! When each member exercises her or his unique God-given gifts and abilities, the health and vitality of the whole Body is impacted and the collective good becomes even more than the sum of the parts! Consider where in the Body that your gifts – talents – abilities need to be exercised and know that you are making an eternal difference beyond your capacity to imagine!