Our Lady's Ministry
Our Lady's Ministry is a small non-profit organization with a big heart. Helping the poorest of the poor worldwide, this South San Francisco-based lay ministry has provided assistance to people in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.
The founders are cousins and St. Bruno Parish members Carlos Valencia and Jorge Zavala. They met more than 29 years ago when Zavala, just 10 years old, immigrated to the United States from El Salvador.
Zavala underwent a spiritual conversion and joined Our Lady's Prayer Group. Together with Valencia, they started Our Lady's Ministry in 1995 to carry out their commitment to mission work.
"The way that we teach how to be a missionary is by becoming a disciple of Christ," Zavala told Catholic San Francisco. "If we become a disciple of Christ then we can discover more how to be a better missionary."
Made up of some 30 lay Catholic volunteers and a spiritual director, Father Ted Shipp, a retired Archdiocese of San Francisco priest, Our Lady's Ministry helps the poor by bringing clothes, food and the word of God to those in need. The group also brings financial assistance to dioceses and Catholic ministries in host countries, ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 according to need.
Members travel by invitation only and work directly with Catholic priests, sisters and prelates in host countries. The cousins just returned from their second trip to the Philippines, working with the Missionaries of Charity among malnourished children and the extreme poor of Cebu. They also visited the federal prison in Muntilupa City, in keeping with Christ's teaching in Matthew's Gospel to visit the least of our brothers and sisters.
The cousins had been invited on their second mission to the Phillipines by Cardinal Ricardo Vidal of the Archdiocese of Cebu.
In January they were in Ghana, where Bishop Lucas Abadamloora of the Diocese of Bolgatanga was delighted to receive their aid.
Their work, funded by dozens of donors, most of whom give small amounts, also has taken them to Guadalajara, Mexico and Lima, Peru.
"We bring clothes, a lot of clothes, medicine, and of course financial help, and rosaries and medals," Valencia said.
Our Lady's Ministry is an expression of the charity that Pope Benedict XVI described in his papal encyclical, "Deus Caritas Est," in which he said, "Seeing with the eyes of Christ, I can give to others much more than their outward necessities; I can give them the look of love which they crave."
Rooted in Catholic spirituality, members of the ministry are encouraged to attend Mass, pray the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, recite the Liturgy of the Hours and pray the rosary daily.
One of the main requirements to be a member is to "live as Christ has called us, either in the single life or in the married life," Zavala said.
Living chaste and answering the call to holiness is vital to members of the organization. "(Father Ted) reminds us all the time the world doesn't need just good people, but it needs holy people," Zavala said.
Members range in age from 15 to over 70. Most are single, and all have a deep love for Mary.
"Since this ministry is named after our Lady, we try to do everything for Our Lady, and I think that's what makes everybody try to do their best," said Zavala, whose inspirations are Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
Valencia explained that Our Lady's Ministry loves to help seminarians. The ministry focuses greatly on helping men fulfill their dreams of becoming other Christs.
"We are all called to be holy," said Valencia, who added that he has been helping the poor, needy, rejected and forgotten since he was little. Valencia said it is in his blood.
"It's very beautiful to see all the single people trying their best to be holy."
Although the ministry may be humble - "Our Lady always worked quietly," Valencia says - it has been noticed in the highest places in the Church. In 2004, Zavala and Valencia had the privilege of meeting Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. With the help of Father James Flanagan, founder of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, they presented the pope with a letter explaining the work of Our Lady's Ministry.
"I remember when I presented the letter, he just smiled at me, he tapped my cheeks two times and blessed me," Valencia said. "Then he touched Jorge and blessed both of us for what we were doing.'
The pope, Valencia recalled, "kept smiling at us, he kept holding my arm and he was just so happy to be with us."
By Audrey Cabrera Amort
From May 8, 2009 issue of Catholic San Francisco.
