St Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish is a welcoming community of people united in faith and guided by the Holy Spirit in serving Our Lord Jesus Christ by dedicating our time, talents and efforts to the service of others through our ministries. Each ministry makes an invaluable contribution to the flowing of the Holy Spirit – giving life and substance to the Word, to our Liturgies, and to the Sacraments. There are many opportunities for parishioners to take part in the parish life at St. Elizabeth’s. All parishioners are invited to become actively involved in the parish ministries, and we extend sincere gratitude to all who currently contribute to this important aspect of the parish community.

We are always actively looking for parishioners who may be interested in joining one or more of our ministries. If you are interested, and don’t know who to talk to, you have several options. You can always tell Father of your interest to get involved, especially if you would like to become a lector or Eucharistic Minister. You can speak with a choir member or usher if that is where your interest is. We also have a list of “who should I call’ in our weekly bulletin and a contact list on our website. Getting involved in a ministry will help you continue to grow your faith.

If you join a ministry we encourage you to sign-up for FlockNote so you get updates quickly by either email or txt, your choice. See the FlockNote page for more information.

On a recent Saturday morning, Fr. Pawel Tomcyk was the guest speaker for our Liturgy Formation Day. He spoke about Attending Mass, Serving Mass and Promoting Mass. In between the talks, we had small and large group discussions about how we see our role in our chosen ministry and how we can improve and recommit ourselves to the Eucharist and the community of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish.

If you weren't able to join us, take some time to watch the videos below. The key points are captured on the right, but there is so much more delivered in each message Fr. Pawel shared with us.

Key Points-

• Jesus is fully present in the Eucharist in every mass
• You can't do Christianity without receiving the Eucharist
• The Eucharist is a sacrifice; the perfect gift of the Son to the Father in reconciliation of our sins

Key Points-

• Being in a ministry is a 'calling within a calling'
  • Called to communion at mass
  • Called also to do something else (Usher, lector, etc)
• God handpicked you to serve in the Divine Liturgy where heaven meets the earth
• There are 2 altars; the altar of the Word (the ambo) where God gave us His word, and the altar of the Eucharist where God gave us His Son. We are fed from both.

Key Points-
  Fr. Pawel suggests 5 reasons people don't
attend mass:

1. Eucharist is just a symbol
2. Mass is boring
3. The Priest is terrible
4. Too busy
5. Don't need to go to mass because they already feel spiritual

• Mass is about the sacrifice
• Mass is what I can bring to the mass
• Mass is to bring your sacrifice to the altar