St. Martin de Porres Parish
#1 COLLOBORATIVE SUNDAY MASS AND PICNIC- An outdoor Mass and picnic with a group of 3 inner city churches. We share this event once in the summer
This is our 2019 summer picnic. The picnic is in a park, and it is a collaborative picnic with 2 other parishes in Milwaukee. All three churches are in the inner city and close together. The day starts off with a Sunday Mass outside in the morning at 11:00 a.m. at the park. The choirs are combined for the Mass, and the songs and music are beautiful. The times of the Masses at all three churches are somewhat altered so that people who do not want to come to the picnic can still go to their church for Mass. The Pastors at the different churches come to the Mass and concelebrate with the combined group. After Mass there is a huge lunch with dishes of food for a potluck. There are many ethnic dishes and plenty of drinks. There were all sorts of different games for the young and old. This picnic allows for great fellowship followed by fun and games, a lot of great conversation and laughter. This photo shows some of the children water soaking one of the Pastors.
#2 ACOLYTES - One teen and one new acolyte serving a Sunday Mass.
This is a Sunday Mass where one of our priests was adjusting his mic so he could talk to our congregation and the two young people who were servers. He shared his experience of his first time being a server. He shared that he could still remember how nervous he had been. He said he had several practices and training classes, as these children had, but when he stood there in front of his church and looked out at all the people, he forgot everything. That brought laughter throughout the congregation. He reminded them, especially the younger little girl, that servicing Mass is a great service and not to be discouraged but to continue with her new ministry. He commended and encouraged the older teen to be a leader among them. The priest asked the congregation to be patient and encouraging with our young people. Then there was a standing ovation from the parish and big smiles on the servers faces.
#3 HER MUSICAL TALENT – Teen sharing her musical talent with our parish at a funeral
This is one of our teens who played a solo at the funeral of one of our beloved members. The family of the deceased requested that she be part of the service. She has played solos for us 2 other times during services at Mass. Those times were at a Good Friday Service and the other was for a regular Mass. She has great love of music and loves to share her gift with the parish. While she was playing for this funeral it was the time when the family was spending their last time with their beloved one before the casket was closed for the last time. The sound of her flute was beautiful. The piece of music she chose was lovely. It was very peaceful and quiet and quite appropriate for this time of the service. The husband of the deceased thanked her publicly at the repast and she received a standing ovation from all who were there. She later shared that she felt that her gift of music helped the family.
And she was assured that it absolutely did.
#4 MULTICULTURAL YOUTH DAY – Youth from several churches in the inner city, came together for a faith filled day of reflection.
There was a multicultural youth day for all youth in our communities. The teens from our church attended this event. There were several churches who had teens there. The day had a theme which was about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We started the day with a continental breakfast followed by morning prayer. We had a keynote speaker and had small group discussion about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We broke for lunch which was prepared by a parishioner who prepared ethnic foods. After lunch we had a session on artworks, i.e. creative, visual, spoken, songs, dance and skits. This session was so creative beyond belief. There were some who wrote poems. Others who did skits. There was a teen who did a rap song, very creative from another teen’s writing. After this session we took a break and then we moved to the church for adoration where out pastor spoke to the teens, he explained adoration and we then spent a while in silence. This portion of the day ended with a solo of soft music. The day was very successful, and grace filled. We plan to have other events bringing our teens together.
#5 REVIVAL WEEKEND – Revival at our church for two days. A yearly event to invite all to a two-day time of renewal.
Annually we celebrate the feast day of St. Martin de Porres which is the name of our church. It is a two-day event. We have a guest speaker. This year the priest who came was from Chicago. He spoke to us and gave us the strength and determination needed to continue with our ministries. He spoke to us about nurturing our young people, respecting our elders, praying for the people out in our neighborhood who are lost along with standing strong in our faith and to continue to growth in faith. It was a wonderful two days. Our church environment was festive which included our statue of St. Martin de Porres. On Sunday our revivalist had Mass with us and afterward we a huge feast day meal. Our hall was full of members of our church. We had a great meal prepared by the ladies of our parish. It was a wonderful parish celebration.
