Have you ever thought about serving at Mass? Have you ever wondered why some parishioners are always serving at Mass? We are always in need of people to help at Mass, particularly Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMHC). Here are some stories from current EMHC’s about how they were called to serve the Lord in this very special ministry:

Tom Bennett:
One year, I think it was in 1988, I decided I would do my best to go to daily Mass each day during Lent. That year there was a 5:30 PM Mass that I was usually able to attend. Since there weren’t many people at the Mass, I asked the priest, Father Gerber, one afternoon if there was anything he’d like me to do to help out. He asked if I would do the Reading. I felt comfortable with that since in High School I had been an announcer on the school district’s radio station. As Lent was coming to an end, Father Gerber asked me to contact the Lector Coordinator to become a regular lector because they were very short of lectors at the time. After I had been a lector for a number of years, I overheard Father Walsh one day asking another parishioner if he would consider becoming an Extraordinary Minister. Considering how I came to be a lector and seeing how this other parishioner was being asked to become an Extraordinary Minister, I thought that the only way you came to serve at Mass was to be asked by one of the priests.

In 1997 or so, my mother spent a week in St. Joseph’s Hospital. On her way home, she told me that for the entire week that she had been in this Catholic hospital, she didn’t once receive Communion. I told her that I would become an Extraordinary Minister and that she would never have to worry about getting Communion again. I asked around at church and, much to my surprise, it didn’t take a priest hunting me down and asking me for me to get more involved in the church. I signed up for the training and during the training signed up for serving at the hospitals. I was taking Communion to the sick every 4 weeks shortly after that, but it wasn’t until 2003 before I had an opportunity to take Communion to my mother. She had just had a heart attack from which she was not expected to live. I arrived at the hospital at the same time as the Monsignor from her parish arrived to anoint her. It was a really special event – not only giving my mother Communion but also hearing for the first time my non-Catholic, very non-religious father recite the Our Father with all of us. (On a side note, my mother is still alive and well two years later and my father has since joined the Catholic Church!)

In about 1999, I became a co-coordinator at the noon Mass with Rosemary Connor and in 2001, I took over coordinating the Hospital Ministry from Don Smerker, who had been instrumental, through example, in my becoming more involved at church. Since about 2003 I have been too busy for the lecturing. However, I often think back to those Lenten Masses with as few as 20 people in the congregation and thank God I had had the courage to ask if I could help…

Rosemary Connor:
I became an Extraordinary Minister because I wanted to serve the Lord in some capacity. The Lord has been very good to me and I wanted to give something back in return. Serving the Host each Sunday is both a humbling and joyful experience and helps me strengthen my commitment to being a good servant of the Lord.

Kelly Westover:
I guess it lightly occurred to me about how nice it would be to bring communion to my mother when she had cancer (third-stage, rapid growth; Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma). The thought then came simultaneously that I was unworthy because I was just a once-a-week Sunday Catholic and I could never possibly know enough or be as good to become an E.M.
A few years later you came asking. When I hesitated, it was due to the thought that the ministry was reserved for the "select few" in which I had previously placed in my head that it was definitely not I.

Your persistence guided my thoughts to; "Could it be that God wants me to do this?", and "If Our Lord is moving someone so much in a way to keep asking me, He must be more sure of my abilities than I am aware of myself".

That's when I said "Okay, Lord you know what is best. Where you lead, I will follow and If it pleases you, you will encourage, strengthen and enlighten me. I'll leave it all up to you and see where it goes".

The rest is history.

I never worry about what comes next because every day is a surprise to me. Every day He gives us our "Daily Bread" which is placed before us in what lies ahead, accompanied with His love, which feeds us and gives us what we need to do our best each day.

By doing our best is our own way of saying to Him "I love you too".

Russ Pitrone:
I became a Eucharistic Minister in the Diocese of Buffalo New York back in 1977. My pastor invited me and then told me to become mandated. Who me? The phony response. He and I became very close. I started daily mass then because I felt the need to become more spiritual. I have been an EM all these years. It has enriched my life. As to hospital ministry, I have always had a strong feeling for the sick. I have felt that the hospital is place to think seriously where one is at spiritually and how to become more spiritual. The sick are a great example. Those of us who have been blessed with good health can be more thankful. Our frets in our daily lives are nothing compared with the sufferings of the many people we visit It is truly a wonderful ministry. I am grateful that my former pastor and dear friend asked me to be an EM.

Gerry Peppard:
I was in Swedish Hospital in 2003 for esophageal cancer surgery. I was in intensive care for three days and then four days in a regular room on the surgery recovery floor (the 8th floor). The visits from the EM's meant so much to me that I decided then and there that if I recovered, I would bring the Eucharist to the hospitalized too. Regular visits from family and friends are very much appreciated when confined to a hospital, but a daily visit from our Lord can't be beat.

Colleen Goffredi:
I became an EM because Joan Grant asked me out of the blue. She didn't even know me and I don't know if anyone gave my name to her, but I was honored to be asked. I just really enjoy taking Communion to the sick. To see a smiling face that is so glad Jesus came to visit makes my day. It is a blessing to go and bring Christ to those in the hospital. I was nervous at first, but it is a beautiful ministry.

Tammy Meier:
Why I became and continue to serve as a Eucharistic Minister for the Hospitals……

My sister became ill with cancer and when I went to visit her in the hospital it was a dreary place and everything was focused on her illness. Her room wasn’t all pretty and decked out like the rooms new mothers get these days. The place was screaming for the human touch and a big dose of spirituality. (One of those decorating shows could lend a hand to hospital rooms too! I am sure they could make the rooms sterile but with some more warmth and color on a budget even as tight as the hospitals. Ha ha!)

I try to wear bright clothing to add a burst of color and then a smiling face interested in the person and their spirit. I don’t ask questions about their illness or their medical state. We pray together and I offer them the most powerful medicine of all, The Body of Christ. I let them talk if they want to and I listen. Wow, what a privilege!

God calls us to help the sick. Honestly, sometimes I feel a little guilty when leaving the hospital because I have received so much in return while trying to help others. This is one of the most rewarding ministries I have been involved in. I believe God keeps me in it as much for me as for the sick. This isn’t just about driving the Eucharist over to the hospital. It is so much more than that and every time I go I know that there was a reason that I was there that particular day with those particular patients. Don’t believe me? Give it a whirl and see what happens to you!

I will share a secret with you though. There is almost always an obstacle in completing God’s work. Every time I am scheduled a conflict arises for the exact day and time. Don’t be fooled into thinking that if God means for me to do this he will provide the time. If God didn’t mean for you to do this you wouldn’t be reading this right now. It is his adversary that tries to throw as many hurdles in the way as possible to stop you from carrying out God’s call. What hurdle is he throwing at you?

Herb Barkow:
My story is quite simple… Being retired, I have the time and I guess the talent to talk to people in hospitals. I started being a EM in Montana back when it first became a lay person privilege to give Communion out... so I did, and I kept doing it, first in church, and now in Denver at Porter hospital. I feel after leaving the hospital an extraordinary high, I feel good about what I did, and feel like I’m walking on clouds. Talking and being in touch with people and sometimes their families who are present with the sick person in their hospital room. As far as why I did it in the first place - I don't know. It just seemed the thing to do because I have the time. And the bonding with the people who you go with is a big factor - a plus you might say.