St. Mary’s • Our Lady Of Lourdes • Holy Family
THE BULK MAIL
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Mary Ellen and Margaret Barnes have been helping with the parish bulletins and envelope mailings for more than 20 years.
that hasn’t stopped them from helping out. “We told the parish we would like to help with anything we can that allows us to do it nonvisually,” Margaret says. “That’s what they came up with.” The sisters help with envelope labels whenever the parish has a large number of
mailings, such as at Christmas and Easter. In the past, they have also stuffed the envelopes. They help with the bulletins whenever there are inserts, typically once every few months. Assisting with the parish mailings and bulletins is something that suits Margaret and Mary Ellen because they
God wants you to go out and help others and show others that you can do things with limited abilities. Everybody is useful in some way, and I guess we found our way.
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t times in our spiritual lives, we may feel that we must do big things in order to make any kind of difference in building up the Church. We might become discouraged that what we do is not enough. Many of the saints lived ordinary lives, however, and God calls us to do what we can with what He has given us. Even seemingly small efforts are significant. As St. Teresa of Calcutta once said, “Be faithful in small things, because it is in them that your strength lies.” Margaret and Mary Ellen Barnes have faithfully assisted St. Mary’s with our bulk mailing lists, stuffing and labeling envelopes, folding bulletins, and placing inserts in them for over 20 years. The two sisters have been parishioners at St. Mary’s for their entire lives. “We’ve always wanted to help in the Church but we didn’t know what we could do,” Margaret says. Both Margaret and Mary Ellen are legally blind, so they have limits as to what they can do to serve the parish. But
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Mary Ellen Barnes
