Ministry of Praise

A SPECIAL MINISTRY FOR THE SICK, HANDICAPPED, HOMEBOUND AND ELDERLY

The purpose of the Ministry of Praise for members to offer their prayers, joys, sacrifices and sufferings to God for the needs of the parish and of the universal church.

OUR HISTORY
written by Rev. Lawrence Malcolm

In the nineteen eighties, Sr. Mary Charla Gannon, RSM, gave up her teaching career and entered into parish work at St. Bede the Venerable Parish on Chicago’s southwest side. As she spent most of her day visiting the homebound, she felt that many of them seemed distant from the parish. Unable to attend Mass and unable to join many of the parish organizations, they felt left out. So, Sr. Mary Charla started an organization just for them, the Ministry of Praise. They promised to say a booklet of prayers every day for the intentions the pastor asked them to pray for. As the ministry took off, volunteers mailed cards to them on their birthday and at Christmas and Easter. School children wrote to them, thanking them for the prayers they received while preparing for First Confession, First Communion or Confirmation. 

Even some of the newly married couples wrote to the person praying for their successful marriage. These homebound people felt that they were a dynamic part of the parish.

Other parishes heard about the success of this program and requested materials for their parish. A video was made, booklets were translated into Spanish, a website was founded and soon word about the Ministry of Praise was spreading across the nation. Also, inquiries were coming in from Canada, Australia and Ireland. Ministry of Praise truly became international. Now how did St. Gerald get involved in all this? Sr. Mary Charla Gannon, RSM, was a woman who got things done. As she entered retirement, she had to hand over her precious ministry to someone. She got to know this dynamic priest (Father Lawrence Malcolm) who was the pastor of St. Gerald. So, she bequeathed the ministry to him (or I got stuck with it). We continue to send out books and crosses throughout the year. But since I have this other job of being the pastor of St. Gerald’s, I really do not have time to devote and promote this ministry. We need a new video and the website needs to be updated. Over the years, Sr. Mary Charla put some money aside to do promotional work and we have not spent it. If anyone in the parish would like to help out in this ministry, God will reward you and many a homebound soul will say a prayer for you.