As number of lay ministers grows, ‘God is providing’

School of Ministry graduates 69, 23 of whom will work in special ministries for five years.

MARLENE QUARONI | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Posted: 06.14.09

Maria Victoria Leander of St. Rose of Lima Parish, who is being re-commissioned in evangelization ministry, receives her certificate from Archbishop John C. Favalora during the annual graduation and commissioning ceremony for the archdiocese’s two-year School of Ministry.

MARLENE QUARONI | FC
Maria Victoria Leander of St. Rose of Lima Parish, who is being re-commissioned in evangelization ministry, receives her certificate from Archbishop John C. Favalora during the annual graduation and commissioning ceremony for the archdiocese’s two-year School of Ministry.

MIAMI | Eveline Brutus wants worshippers in her ministry to reach deeper within themselves to find God when they pray.

“Often there’s a lot of show and noise,” said Brutus, a newly commissioned lay minister for St. Joseph Haitian Mission in Pompano Beach. “I would like the groups to realize that prayer is internal, not showy.”

Brutus, 49, the sister-in-law of Father Ferry Brutus, the mission’s pastor, was among 69 people who graduated June 6 from the Archdiocese of Miami’s School of Ministry, a two-year program started in 1977. Classes are taught by degreed professionals so that laypeople can learn to be better disciples and evangelizers.

Of the new graduates, 23 made an additional commitment to work in a specific ministry for the next five years. Among them was Brutus, who was commissioned as a prayer minister for her parish. In addition, 25 existing lay ministers were recommissioned for another five years of service to the Church.

Franciscan Sister Ann McDermott, who is retiring, was honored for her years of work with the lay ministry office during the June 6 graduation and commissioning ceremony for the archdiocese’s two–year School of Ministry.

Brutus, a former nun from Cap Haitien, Haiti, said that the prayer groups at her church, including Holy Family, Legion of Mary and the charismatics, are influenced by Protestant ways of praying.

“I’d like to organize a silent retreat,” she said. “I’d like to help them to discover Jesus Christ.”

Archbishop John C. Favalora praised the lay ministers for their role in helping the clergy.

“God is providing for us all that we need,” he said.

The archbishop called the ministers the light and the salt of the earth.

“Salt brings out the flavor in food. The work of the Church is to bring out the goodness in people,” he said. “Light placed on a jewel or work of art in a museum brings out the beauty that God placed in his creation. I pray that you will always be good salt and good light for the people.”

For several years, Franciscan Sister Ann McDermott served as director of the Lay Ministry Office. During the ceremony, the current director, Cheryl Whapham, recognized Sister McDermott with a bouquet of roses for her years of service to the ministry.

Archdiocese of Miami Front Page