ST. VINCENT de PAUL A LIFE BUILT ON FAITH AND SERVICE:
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ou might say that Erik Rodriguez and Malena Serrano-Rodriguez were already a little closer to God than Earth on the day they met. As flight attendants for American Airlines, they first got to know one another in the sky, from opposite ends of a drink cart. Malena noticed Erik’s servant heart as he warmly smiled and chatted with passengers. As for Erik, he knew immediately that this incredible woman was “the one”! As Erik and Malena began dating, their shared Catholic faith brought them even closer together. Now, 19 years of marriage and two children later, the couple continues to keep their faith at the very center of family life. Both Erik and Malena were given a strong foundation in the faith from an early age, with their grandparents as role models. “My family has always been very involved with the Church,” Erik says. “My grandfather was a Eucharistic Minister for the longest time, and all the priests used to go to my grandparents’ house for lunch. Both my grandparents sacrificed a lot to help build the church in our neighborhood in Puerto Rico.” Two thousand miles across the water from Erik’s home in Puerto Rico, Malena grew up attending Mass in her native Mexico before moving to Texas at the age of
13. Some of her earliest memories involve helping her great-grandmother tend to the flowers at the church and watching as her grandmothers donned their best Sunday dresses and mantillas for Mass. “I have all these great memories,” Malena says. “I still think I have to thank them, my great-grandmother and grandmothers, for instilling that in me. They probably never knew how much their faith impacted the young kids at the time. And of course, Erik and I now try to pass that on to our daughters. It’s a joyful thing, I think, that we do in passing that on.” Indeed, a love of faith and service is truly a family affair for Erik and Malena as their two daughters — Karla, 16, and Frida, 11 — have come to enjoy participating in parish life as well. A move to our area brought the family to St. Vincent de Paul just three years ago, but they already feel very much at home in our parish as they find various ways to serve. Karla plays the saxophone in the choir, and Frida is an altar server. For both girls, filling these roles has helped with their understanding and focus during Mass. “It’s easier to keep up with Mass and pay attention and know where we are,” Karla says of playing in the
The Rodriguez family — (from left) Malena, Karla, Frida and Erik.
(From left) Karla and Frida Rodriguez enjoy helping with the Bear Collection Ministry.
