Joyful Servant

Servite Domino in laetitia! I will serve God cheerfully.

James and I had our formative years in Catholic schools, Augustinian nuns and Benedictine monks specifically. We went to Mass each Sunday with our parents, dutifully participating in every prayer and traditional church practice. We were blessed to witness the 1995 World Youth Day in Manila. But as we part our ways from our parents, we parted too from our Sunday masses and other church practices. But when we got married and started our own family. We were compelled to attend Sunday masses and practice some church holidays to introduce faith to our boys. We sent them to Catholic school to fill in our responsibility as parent to teach them about Jesus.

I was happy with what has transpired to Enzo. When he was in Grade 4, he joined the Friends of St Augustine Club. He told me the club prepared them to serve at mass. Aside from the first Friday mass at school, he also attended regularly the early Wednesday mass at school of his own volition because he wanted to learn to serve. He told me; he can watch the altar server more closely during Wednesday mass because they had it in the prayer room, not in the school chapel.

When he was in Grade 6, he was able to serve on their weekly Wednesday mass at the prayer room. He said he assisted the altar server by preparing the table for the Eucharistic celebration. He was very happy with that small task and looking forward to serving on their Friday mass. But that did not happen as the family moved overseas.

God bless his desires to serve. His big break happened when he joined the St Arethas Ministry of Altar Server in 2017. He served at community masses weekly and occasional high masses at different embassy. His commitment to the ministry progress as a senior altar server. Then later on, influenced his brother, Vito, to join the ministry. Enzo's happiest service was the eucharistic celebration with Bishop Camillo at French Residence last year (January2020). He could not contain the fulfillment he felt after his service. He was glowing. He had his brightest smile. Indeed, the church became a positive force in my children's lives, especially with Enzo. I felt pure joy in his services. And through their services to the church, my boys learned about responsibility, like showing up prepared when they are assigned and volunteering to help their brothers in the altar server community during training.

It gave me so much joy to see them serving at mass. They reminded me of my brother who was once an altar server and seminarian. Somehow, it became my assurance that Anthony is still with us watching over my children. If only I had captured every moment, my fear hits me hard. The time my boys were together serving at mass had passed and became memories.

.... a joyful servant to God, to the ministry, and to his brothers in ASM.

We would like to thank Tito Conrad, his mentor in Altar Server Ministry. His kind words and memories of Enzo are concrete expressions of our son's loving relationship with Jesus. He is remembered as a joyful servant to God, to the ministry, and to his brothers in ASM.

Allow me to eulogize Enzo with his splendid service in the Ministry of the Altar Servers. To my recollection, I first met Enzo when he heeded to the Ministry's invitation to be an Altar Server. He attended the A.S. Formation and Training in August 2017, and was commissioned by Fr. Alfonso on October 21, 2017, at the Austrian Embassy garden. From then on, Enzo became an active member of the Ministry, that aside from his service at his own community, the CFC, he was often called to serve at the various solemn High Masses of the Parish. As far as i can recall, his first SHM service was on December 29, 2017, at USERA, where, because of his height, he was assigned as the Cross Bearer. A funny thing happened after the said Mass: I called Enzo but he sort of not heard me or ignored me because I called him James, the name of his father! It was my mistake. His next big assignment was on March 24, 2018, Holy Thursday, where he was assigned as one of the candle bearers. The said service was held in a private event place. There were other services of the Ministry to which he was called to serve at different venues, some of them were at private event place, Usera, Belgian Embassy, British Embassy, and Mexican Embassy, to name a few. Attributing to his good moral example as an A.S., and his willingness to serve even at a moment's notice, Enzo, was raised up as a Senior Altar Server during the Ministry's annual Lenten Recollection on March 23, 2019. He was recommissioned by none other than Fr. Francis. I was so proud of and happy for Enzo for his achievements in the Ministry. Everything else is history after Enzo's recommissioning. He underwent further training as a Senior Altar Server, he was assigned his own EC AS Group, and he served in various functions at Mass, such as a Thurifer. He also assisted in the Formation and Training Seminars for new Altar Servers. I remember that Vito, his younger brother, looked up to him with amazement, that's why Vito eventually joined also the Ministry. During his seminar, Vito and I spoke a lot about what Enzo was doing in the Ministry as a Senior Altar Server. Vito was very interested on his elder brother's achievements. He wanted to follow Enzo's footsteps. Enzo was the type of a young man who was always on the go, full of life, one who easily laughed and giggled, and he made many of the Altar Servers, including me, laughed with his boyish, but polite and respectful, attitudes. One time we were having a practice in the AS HQ for a solemn High Mass, where Enzo was assigned to be the Thurifer. He was playful during the practice, and made all of us all laugh. I'll never forget those happy moments with Enzo. Such a fine, jolly young man. Everybody's friend. A committed servant of the Lord. That's what I want Enzo, whom I treated like my own brother, my own son, to remember for as long as I live. So long, my Beloved Altar Server Enzo. Know that you're loved by many in the Ministry. Sleep peacefully now, and rest in the warm embrace of your Lord and Creator.