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By Suzanne Haugh, Special To The Bulletin
MARIETTA-Terry Jansen, coordinator for perpetual adoration at Transfiguration
Church, compares participation by parishioners in eucharistic devotion
and their involvement in various ministries to a well-known riddle. "It's
one of those things; I don't know what came first-the chicken or the egg,"
she said. "Some come first to adoration and then go out into ministry
or they already are doing that and adoration gives them time to recharge
their battery inside." While not all parishioners who minister participate
in adoration, Marilyn MacInnes, operations administrator, said a lot of
people do visit the adoration chapel of the very active parish to be "more
involved in the prayer life of the parish." She credited prayer partners,
people assigned to the same hour of adoration, as one possible source
for gently pulling people into ministries. "Maybe they're talking to each
other afterwards as they walk out to their cars and they invite them to
something else they're doing . . . And some just come and are called to
a ministry." Pat Bayer, a parishioner at Transfiguration, has been involved
in the St. Vincent de Paul Society for five years, serving now as chapter
president. SVDP volunteers assist clients who need financial help, and
they also run a life skills program for clients to foster independence
through classes on financial planning, job hunting and computer skills,
among others. They organize a coat drive for people who live in area trailer
parks, and provide face-painting for the children there when they drop
off donations. Among other areas of service, Society members organize
meals for the needy at Thanksgiving and orchestrate the parish's Christmas
Giving Tree. "St. Vincent de Paul at Transfiguration is very active,"
Bayer said. "There's always something going on." Recently, the chapter
received an award from the parish for its service. "I feel the Lord has
called me to this and I'm trying to do my best in what he wants me to
do," she said. "I find help with perpetual adoration." Bayer always takes
time in the morning to be quiet, but now she has added an hour of adoration.
"I think the presence of the Eucharist makes me realize the presence of
the Lord more deeply when I'm in church," she said. Bayer finds her hour
on Mondays a time to often sift through, among other things, "the little
problems" that can come up with overseeing SVDP. "That's when I go to
adoration to get the strength I need to make the right decisions." Eucharistic
adoration plays a part in helping make the parish thrive, she said. "We
have a generous parish. When we need something, they always meet the need."
During the days following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, she has observed
a few more people present in the adoration chapel. "People are seeing
that prayer is needed more and more, especially at this time in our nation.
We need to pray." Like Bayer, Judy and Bruce Goddard were active in various
ministries before becoming hourly guardians of perpetual adoration. Judy,
a cradle Catholic, made a Cursillo weekend in 1977 that marked her passage
into a more active faith life. "My faith became much more personal," said
Judy, who has worked with Rite of Christian Initiation, the wedding guild
and is a eucharistic minister. "Before it was more just of concepts. It
became more important for me to be personally involved and sometimes I
can become too much so and have to pull back." Bruce, who converted to
Catholicism, is involved in Transfiguration's ministry to a parish in
Haiti. "After visiting Haiti I got to see the needs of the people and
parish, and how the poor live in abject poverty," he said. He believes
many Americans are isolated from the reality of Third World countries.
"I'm much more aware of what I'm spending and I try to give more, not
only to those in Haiti, but give more in other areas. I'm more aware of
how I spend my resources." The couple also serves as division coordinators
for perpetual adoration, making sure someone is with the Lord from 6 p.m.
to midnight. Judy's hour is from 11 p.m. to midnight. "People today are
pulled in many directions and they owe themselves one hour of adoration
a week," she said. "Adoration is a beacon of light. It's my time to be
with the Lord . . . It's just a renewal every week. The hour goes so quickly.
People will ask me what I do in there for an hour. I feel like I'm just
barely there." Transfiguration is a very Eucharist-centered community,
Bruce said. "The idea of adoration was not hard to establish, although
it could always be better." For Bruce, whose adoration hour is 3 to 4
a.m., waking early in the morning is automatic. "It's like getting up
and breathing, getting up and praying. It's so peaceful to be in the presence
of the Lord . . . I'd really feel something was missing if I didn't do
it." While his time in adoration allows him to "recharge my battery,"
he also finds it's a place to listen to where the Lord is leading him,
which is evident, he said, in his involvement in the Haiti ministry. Adoration
has made an impact on the community and has affected how he approaches
the Eucharist, he added. "Now I'm so keenly and acutely aware of the presence
of Christ in the Eucharist. Adoration enhances my belief and feeling."
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