Mairead Corrigan Sacrificial Giving Talk
November, 2012
Listen to this talk (.mp3 file)
Good
morning. My family has been at St. James my whole life. My parents were
married here, and my sisters and I were all baptized here. I have three
sisters: Siobhan and Clare, my older sisters, and Nora, my younger sister.
When I was
younger I did not always enjoy coming to church. Most of the time Nora and I
would sit on the kneelers and try to fish the small pencils out of the envelope
holders. I remember in the summer of 2007, the last book of the Harry Potter
series came out. We had ordered the book, so that when we arrived home from a
camping trip it was waiting for us. However, it was Sunday, meaning before we
could start reading the book we had to go to church. This was not received well.
Later this taught me the lesson that mass comes before material things. To make
us more excited to come to church, my parents encouraged each of us daughters to
join a ministry. Siobhan became a youth usher, Clare and I became altar servers,
and Nora is a youth reader.
Living
with three sisters can be difficult. Your clothes could go missing, and there
are plenty of practical jokes. For example, Siobhan and Clare always liked to
try and help Nora and me at church. They once informed me that “the word” that
needs to be said for us to be healed was "hippopotamus." So every time we said
“…for only say the word and we shall be healed," we would all whisper
"hippopotamus" under our breath. Sadly it took some time before I realized I had
been tricked. As we all grew older, it became harder for us to trick each other.
Also my sisters each began to focus on our faith in ways that inspire me.
Siobhan is a great advocate for social justice and is in her senior year of
college, where she was part of a program dedicated to social justice.
Clare is
the sister you probably see me with most, because we are both altar servers.
Clare made sure that I was present at church, especially on the days I did not
particularly want to go or felt too tired. Together Clare and I were formed into
altar servers. At ten o’clock mass the altar servers are like a small family.
Although we may not all agree on what the best sport is or the best movie, we
see past these trivial differences and enjoy each other’s company. There are
several of us who have really grown up together including Isaac, Andrew, and
Jack. I do not have any brothers in my family but if I did I would want them to
be like these guys. One of the people who helped us grow up is Celeste McDonell,
she has guided us in becoming leaders for the younger servers. She encouraged me
to be confident and responsible. Although I usually serve the ten o’clock mass
all the servers work together on holy days and special events. By working
together we share a responsibility to support the mass as a spiritual time.
Last May I
was confirmed at St. James. During the time leading up to confirmation, many
people asked the teenagers to make sure we were doing it for us and not because
of our parents. My parents and my family have had a great impact on me, so when
I heard this I actually had to stop and think. During this time I had realized I
had never asked myself why I was Catholic. Once again the altar servers
made me grasp just how much St. James means to me, and how I should trust in my
faith. The altar servers were a reminder about how much I love coming to church,
because we all show up on Sunday because we want to be here.
I wonder
how I was ever able to get from the girl doodling in the bulletin to where I am
now. Even though I know I may have struggles later on, thinking about my time at
St. James will always remind me why I believe. My family has taught me many
things, but teaching me how to practice our faith has been the most important
lesson. St. James is a unique place to attend mass and I know I will miss it if
I go away for college next year. However I know that St. James will always
be here, and I will always be with St. James. St. James is family.
Mairead Corrigan
