Following Mary's Lead

Long before I arrived at Mary, Queen of Peace, the Ministry Fair was a staple of parish life, held near the Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 22). What a wonderful way to connect our patroness to “ministry,” which is service to God’s kingdom. What a wonderful reminder that the Blessed Mother is a model of stewardship, which is what the Ministry Fair is all about. Good stewards care for something that does not belong to them. The gifts and talents we have are not own; they belong to God, who loans them to us in love. How can we be good stewards of these gifts? Mary shows us the way. She shows us that when God grants us a gift, we nurture that gift in love, as she nurtured Jesus, and then give that gift back to God – as she did with her son.

This weekend is a time to think about stewardship, about how we recognize that all we have is given to us by God. This weekend is a time for parishioners to connect with the many ways they can share their gifts in the parish – to sign up to lector or sing or teach or serve. It is also an opportunity for our Mary, Queen of Peace family to see, in one place, the vibrancy of this parish we call home. Finally, it is a way to offer others the help they may need through pastoral care or faith formation.

The Ministry Fair has borne much fruit at MQP over the past almost 30 years, and I am sure it will continue to do so as many of you embrace a life of stewardship, nurturing your gifts and giving them back to glorify God and build up His kingdom of love right here in our corner of the world. I hope you all have time to stop by the Cafeteria after Mass, to make a connection you may not even know you need to make. For instance, I remember the Ministry Fair that took place just a couple of months after my arrival in 2023. It was after a 9:30 Mass when a couple who just happened to be at MQP – they were not parishioners here at the time – walked over to the Ministry Fair and found just the person they needed. The wife and all of the children had been wanting to become Catholic, and they struck up a conversation with Nicole Johnson, who leads the Order of Christian Initiation. That family came into the Church at the Easter Vigil in 2024, all because they happened upon the Ministry Fair.

So don’t miss your chance to happen upon something wonderful. God is waiting for you to follow the lead of the Blessed Mother, to nurture what He has bestowed upon you and return it to Him in gratitude.