Florida Catholic | Called To Serve

Called to serve

School of Ministry graduates say two–year course made them ‘better Catholics’.

YEDICA LEAL–GONZALEZ | SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA CATHOLIC

Published: 06.06.08

Martha and Cesar Roman are commissioned for the prayer ministry at St. John Neumann Parish in Kendall after completing the two–year School of Ministry. The annual commissioning ceremony took place May 31 at St. Mary Cathedral, with Archbishop John C. Favalora presiding.
MARLENE QUARONI | FC

MIAMI | Ingrid and Louie Trapp could not have imagined that a few years after getting their annulments, they would be taking part in the process again – this time, to guide other couples through it.

“We both had gone through this experience and we thought it would be a good pastoral project,” said Ingrid Trapp, 52, who along with her husband, Louie, 60, is a 2008 graduate of the archdiocesan School of Ministry.

Both were commissioned to serve as advocates in the archdiocesan tribunal during a May 31 ceremony at St. Mary Cathedral.

The Trapps, who married in 2004 and are members of St. John Neumann Parish in Kendall, were among 60 School of Ministry graduates who received their certificates from Archbishop John C. Favalora.

Of those, 34 were newly commissioned to serve their parishes in more than a dozen different ministries, from outreach to the sick to evangelization, from family life to youth and young adult ministry, from social advocacy to hospitality. Another 35 renewed their five-year commitment to service in a similar range of ministries.

Jorge Rolo, 41, also a member of St. John Neumann and an active participant in the Emmaus retreats at the parish, was commissioned to lead the retreats and offer follow-up formation to the participants.

“Every active Catholic needs ongoing formation and when I got the invitation from my pastor, Msgr. Pablo Navarro, to participate in this program, I saw it as an opportunity to grow in my faith,” Rolo said.

The School of Ministry is part of the archdiocese’s Office of Lay Ministry and Adult Faith Formation. To graduate, students must attend one class a week from September to May for a period of two years. Classes are taught at various parishes throughout the archdiocese in English, Spanish and Creole by degreed professionals who volunteer their time.

At the beginning of their second year of study, School of Ministry students may opt to be commissioned for a particular ministry. To do so, they must choose a pastoral project and begin working on it. Those who wish to be commissioned must be recommended by their pastors or spiritual directors, be in good standing with the church, have had good attendance at the classes and have participated in the year-end retreat.

Every five years, lay ministers have the option of renewing their ministerial commitment. Since its inception in 1977, more than 1,500 people have completed the two-year School of Ministry and hundreds of them have been commissioned to serve as lay ministers.

“We both work full time, we drove separately and ate in the car. It was worth the sacrifice. Sacrifice gives value to what you are doing,” said Ingrid Trapp.

“I wanted to keep working with Emmaus, and this program has given me the tools to be a better servant,” said Rolo. “We are all called to serve but sometimes we respond to that call without having sufficient formation. That is why this program is so important, because it helps us discern our talents.”

“We need to have a well-formed laity so they can evangelize and help us create the kingdom of God,” said Cheryl Whapham, director of the Office of Lay Ministry and Adult Faith Formation. “This program forms them so that they will be better disciples of Christ.”

“We have learned things that you do not learn by just going to Mass,” said Ingrid Trapp. “We feel as if we are better persons and better Catholics after having gone through this experience.”

Leal-Gonzalez writes for La Voz Católica, the monthly Spanish-language newspaper of the Archdiocese of Miami.

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