As we serve at Sunday, Daily, and Holy Day Masses in our roles from Altar Server and Lector to Eucharist Minister, we are all called to be welcoming to our guests, visitors, and parishioners. It is part of our mission here at MQOA to welcome everyone who walks through our doors and into a holy, peaceful, and healing space. We want to get to know them over time, build trust, and invite them into a relationship with Jesus. This takes time but it starts with a simple hello and a smile.
We have established a great welcoming experience here at MQOA, but we always want to assess and improve on what we offer. We have centralized two welcoming locations at our entrances with enough space for our bulletins and music sheets in both languages, along with a bookshelf that continues to grow with resources.
As we continue to grow our volunteers, we want to focus on spending more time with people and less time handing out our bulletin and music sheets. We can point out where people can grab the bulletin, music sheet, or books and allow them the choice. Although this change may take some getting used to, it is also an opportunity to put names to faces and stories to names.
Before welcoming our guests, we encourage everyone to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give them what they need to welcome a person like themselves. We have done the same, and it has led us to make great friendships and get to know more and more people in this great community.
Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or comments on this change.