On February 6th, Sarah Richards from St Francis de Sales was awarded the Golden Rose award from the Vicariate One Archdiocese Council of Catholic Women (ACCW), for her service, spirituality and leadership.
Parishes across the vicariate were invited to recognize young women who have gone above and beyond in their service and leadership. Since they didn’t hold this event last year, we are also able to recognize Madelyn & Katie Zolnierek and their parents accepted the award for them.
Sarah Richards is a natural leader and not only participates in youth group activities and retreats but encourages others to join too. She is welcoming to all and models the kindness and compassion that Jesus calls us all to share. She cares deeply about her faith and is open to initiating insightful conversations about her faith journey.
Sarah is a leader in our peer ministry program and has volunteered to lead multiple Confirmation Castle retreats. She doesn’t hesitate to share where she sees God working in her life and how she sees God working through others. In small group discussions, she is compassionate and creates an environment for sharing and no-judging which is essential for open communication and a meaningful retreat
Recently, Sarah encouraged her peers to join her at Eucharistic Adoration on the evening of her birthday. Seeing groups of teens enter the church to spend time with Jesus was inspiring and impressive.
Sarah has been serving our whole parish by streaming Masses every Sunday. She was invited and trained by our previous tech team members (Madeyln & Katie) before they left for college and since then, she has continued to stream 9am Sunday Mass. Her efforts allow us to stream Mass to those who can not come into the church, which is especially important during this time. She is also training new tech team members. Beside streaming to people at home she ensures that the prayers during Mass are also projected to the screen for those sitting inside the church. This allows everyone in the church to feel confident in participating, especially those who may have been away from the Mass for a while.
Madelyn and Katie Zolnierek were also honored for their service, spirituality and leadership. Both Madelyn and Katie were invited to join the tech team by the previous team who were heading off to college. We began streaming Mass when the churches were instructed to close in March 2020. At that time our teen tech team helped stream daily noon Mass as well as 9am Mass on Sunday. When these teens left for college Katie & Madelyn jumped in to take over. They not only helped at the 9am Mass on Sunday, but they also volunteered for so many other Masses including Holy Thursday, Stations of the Cross, Good Friday and Easter. They streamed the many 1st Communion and Confirmation Masses held since there was a capacity limit in the church. Thankfully, the grandparents and others who were unable to join the Masses were able to watch through YouTube and Facebook. And then, before they left for college, they brought Sarah into the loft and trained her. During this winter break from college they rejoined Sarah in the loft and it was great seeing them all working together again.
Katie and Madelyn also helped fill the 1000 Lenten bags which included our own Lenten prayer book as well as a candle, Holy Water and other items that people could use to enhance their Lent experience at home. On Ash Wednesday, they helped run bags out to the parking lot to be shared with the hundreds of people who participated in the “covid safe” drive-up Ash distribution.
Madelyn and Katie led our first post-covid Confirmation Castle retreat in June. They shared their faith with high school teens with gentleness, love and compassion. This retreat involved taking our two night event and condensing it into a one (long) day. They were part of the team of peer ministers who were extremely flexible, understanding and willing to help make this important retreat a success. We couldn't have done it without them.
