Stewardship committee energizes Our Lady of Victory

After more than 100 years of existence, Our Lady of Victory Parish in Beeville is undergoing a noticeable renewal. Father Lukose Thirunelliparambil, who has been pastor at the church for the past eight years, says all the markers–from Mass attendance to Sunday collections–are up.

The upbeat outlook is due in large part to the help provided by the diocesan Office of Parish Stewardship & Development, which assisted the parish to implement an active stewardship program.

“If I ask a person to do something for the church they are honored. They feel part of the church,” Father Luke, as his flock knows him, said.

After a hundred years of existence any organization can become stagnant. Our Lady of Victory may have fallen into this category on occasion during its century of existence.

How the parish chose Our Lady of Victory as its patron is not recorded in the archives of the diocese. It may well have been that the bishop’s order creating it as a mission of St. Joseph in Beeville may have been issued on Our Lady of Victory’s Feast Day on Oct. 7, 1908, for seven weeks later Bishop Peter Verdaguer made his way from his home in Laredo to Beeville on Dec. 1, 1908 to dedicate the new church.

Father Juan Coma founded the church “for the Spanish speaking people of Beeville.” The mission grew quickly and by 1924 it was made a full-fledged parish and was placed under the charge of the Franciscan Friars. Up to that time Passionist priests had overseen it.

Father Toribio Christman, OFM was the first resident pastor. In September 1924, a school was opened at Our Lady of Victory under the care of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament. In 1930, Missionaries of the Holy Family were assigned the care of Our Lady of Victory, with Father Anthony Elsing, MSF as the first pastor. To relieve the rapid growth, the diocese erected St. James as a mission of Our Lady of Victory in 1947.

Times have changed. The parish no longer operates a school. The sisters are gone, the Missionaries of Holy Family are no longer at the parish and St. James is now a parish all its own.

New times call for new measures. Father Luke, who came to Our Lady of Victory in 2004, can attest to the ongoing transformation.

After the stewardship committee was formed a year ago people responded with great vigor. Collections went up 25 percent, daily Mass attendance is up, participation in the Lenten missions exceeded previous years, the church was packed for Stations of the Cross during Lent and those making the Sacrament of Penance increased.

In short, the parish’s spirituality has risen sharply.

All it took was somebody to ask the people to participate. That was the suggestion that Veronica Alaniz gave to Father Luke when the stewardship committee first started. Father Luke had noticed that Alaniz, her husband and children were faithful participants at Mass and other parish events, so he asked her to chair the new stewardship committee.

“We meet to incorporate new ideas in our church to bring more people to get involved that are not involved,” Alaniz said. The committee “got a lot of positive comments” on these new ideas.
Among the new initiatives are letters from the pastor. Letters bearing Father Luke’s signature are regularly sent to parishioners to keep them up to date on parish activities and to solicit their help with the various events.

Stewardship cards were handed out at all Masses asking parishioners to commit to spiritual activities, such as praying daily, attending daily Mass more often, going to confession at least every two weeks, attending Stations of the Cross, etc.

In October, the parish hosted a marriage retreat attended by some 20 couples. “It was awesome,” Father Luke said. “It brought them closer to each other and to God. They understood better the meaning of the sacrament.”

Another project the committee undertook was distributing a flyer listing all the parish ministries, what they did and how people could participate. With 361 families enrolled, the response has been encouraging. Older ministries such as the Holy Name Society and the St. Anne’s Society, as well as newer groups such as the Knights of Columbus, Life in the Spirit and the CYO, all benefited from this initiative.

Father Luke is particularly proud of his altar servers and the youth group, which is very active under the leadership of youth ministers, the husband and wife team of Rene and Ana Guerrero. The parish has 40 altar servers and more are signing up. The youth group is very active with their own projects and with lending a helping hand to other parish events, such as the couples’ retreat and the parish Halloween night. They participate in community service projects as well.

In December, the CYO will participate in a family weekend retreat in Corpus Christi and will make a one-day pilgrimage to the Minor Basilica at San Juan. 

Alaniz and her committee members, which include Laly Arteaga, Laly Cardenas, Yolanda Chamberlain, Maria Garcia, Nora Salazar and Annamarie Silvas, are continuing to meet and planning for future events. People like the new activities, Alaniz said, and the committee will fine-tune them to make them better for next year.

Father Luke was also encouraged with the parish’s response to the Legacy of Faith~Future of Hope capitol campaign which exceeded its goal. Proceeds from the campaign will be used to repair church buildings.

“I’m glad that I have a great group to help,” Father Luke said. “Every parish in the diocese, no matter how big or small it should have this stewardship committee.”