Photo by James A. McBride
Msgr. Victor Muro, pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Vineland, stands with Sam and Rose Soto. The bilingual couple are involved in several parish ministries.
VINELAND — Sam and Rose Soto of Malaga use their bilingual abilities and their people skills to enhance their stewardship ministries at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish.
Sam’s full-time job is as a counselor at Community Adult Medical Day Care Center in Vineland where he uses his linguistic abilities to help his clients when the need arises.
Rose, also fluent in Spanish, is a nurse specializing in retinal ophthalmology at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. She said she isn’t called upon often at the hospital to use her Spanish skills — the facility has translators on the staff — but she is available if they should ever need her services.
When Immaculate Heart of Mary merges with St. Francis Parish, also Vineland, the Sotos expect to expand their stewardship ministries.
Married 15 years, the Sotos have always considered Immaculate Heart of Mary their parish. Sam doesn’t know if he’ll be assigned to this parish or the expanded parish when he’s ordained a deacon sometime next year but noted, “I will go where they need me.”
Both started their stewardship about the same time. And what they do for the parish helps them in their jobs.
“When I become a deacon it will benefit my work even more with my clients at the day care center,” said Sam. On a monthly basis he takes clients to the church for reconciliation.
Both Sam and Rose have been Eucharistic Ministers for two years and Sam is part of the Homebound Ministry where he brings Communion to those who can’t get to Mass. Rose is in charge of 26 Eucharistic Ministers in the parish.
Both decided to give of their time, talent, and treasure to Immaculate Heart of Mary because they saw a need.
“We had and still have a passion to help the community,” said Sam. Msgr. Victor Muro, pastor of Immaculate Heart, had gotten back to them after they had inquired about helping the parish and he told them it would be a privilege to have them serve the church.
“We thought about it longer and decided it was a beautiful thing to help the parish and the community,” Sam said, “and it would be a beautiful experience to serve a culture, to spread the Word of God.”
Sam says his full-time job at the day care center includes visits to hospitals and taking clients to Masses and, on some occasions, going to funerals.
“This was a natural progression for me into the stewardship ministry,” he went on. “It was as if God had put me in this situation at the day care, put me into this field to help people.”
Sam said his job is to “qualify” individuals, to make sure they can get into Medicare and Medicaid and other programs and services. “I look for the right candidates for these and I guide them,” he explained.
Sam deals with various clients at the center who have problems and he uses his ministry to help them. For instance, one is a blind woman who fell into a depression after the death of her husband.
“I was able to arrange for various community services that could help her,” he noted. “And when I would visit her, with her permission, we would pray together and sing together.”
A level of trust built up between them and she repeatedly thanked him for all that he had done. Unfortunately, in recent days, her health deteriorated and she had to be placed in a nursing home, but Sam still visits her and is able to lift her spirits when they both sing her favorite song in Spanish, “Viejo San Juan.”
Rose and her husband are religious instructors; she is a religious education teacher and Sam is an RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) instructor. Both are also lectors and youth ministers and as part of their fund-raising ministry, they run the annual Valentine’s Day Dance.
“The year 2009 will be our 16th year running the parish’s dance,” Rose said. “We started our stewardship with Marriage Encounter. That’s how we started the dance.”
Both go to local individuals and businesses to get donations of goods, services, and other items as door prizes for the annual dance. And they said they are always successful and, each year, they get more than the previous year.
The Sotos haven’t really calculated how much they’ve influenced friends into becoming stewards for the church.
“We’ll ask people when we need help in the church and they’ll respond,” Rose said. “We’re a positive influence, I suppose. People see us everyday and they see us being involved and Msgr. Muro will make comments about what we do to people, spiritually… I suppose these are all influences. But we do it because it’s natural for us to do it together. We get involved with different groups and we volunteer our services. We use our talent and time whenever we can. And above all else, we enjoy doing our share.”
Msgr. Muro, who has encouraged the Sotos to get involved with the parish’s activities, calls them, “an ideal couple who are dignified and set examples for others.”
He said there are many people in the parish who volunteer to help Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Sotos are respected by the whole parish because they are humble people and “are always willing to serve and to help.”
For more information on stewardship contact Russell Davis, Office of Stewardship, at 856-583-6102.
Sam’s full-time job is as a counselor at Community Adult Medical Day Care Center in Vineland where he uses his linguistic abilities to help his clients when the need arises.
Rose, also fluent in Spanish, is a nurse specializing in retinal ophthalmology at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. She said she isn’t called upon often at the hospital to use her Spanish skills — the facility has translators on the staff — but she is available if they should ever need her services.
When Immaculate Heart of Mary merges with St. Francis Parish, also Vineland, the Sotos expect to expand their stewardship ministries.
Married 15 years, the Sotos have always considered Immaculate Heart of Mary their parish. Sam doesn’t know if he’ll be assigned to this parish or the expanded parish when he’s ordained a deacon sometime next year but noted, “I will go where they need me.”
Both started their stewardship about the same time. And what they do for the parish helps them in their jobs.
“When I become a deacon it will benefit my work even more with my clients at the day care center,” said Sam. On a monthly basis he takes clients to the church for reconciliation.
Both Sam an
d Rose have been Eucharistic Ministers for two years and Sam is part of the Homebound Ministry where he brings Communion to those who can’t get to Mass. Rose is in charge of 26 Eucharistic Ministers in the parish.
Both decided to give of their time, talent, and treasure to Immaculate Heart of Mary because they saw a need.
“We had and still have a passion to help the community,” said Sam. Msgr. Victor Muro, pastor of Immaculate Heart, had gotten back to them after they had inquired about helping the parish and he told them it would be a privilege to have them serve the church.
“We thought about it longer and decided it was a beautiful thing to help the parish and the community,” Sam said, “and it would be a beautiful experience to serve a culture, to spread the Word of God.”
Sam says his full-time job at the day care center includes visits to hospitals and taking clients to Masses and, on some occasions, going to funerals.
“This was a natural progression for me into the stewardship ministry,” he went on. “It was as if God had put me in this situation at the day care, put me into this field to help people.”
Sam said his job is to “qualify” individuals, to make sure they can get into Medicare and Medicaid and other programs and services. “I look for the right candidates for these and I guide them,” he explained.
Sam deals with various clients at the center who have problems and he uses his ministry to help them. For instance, one is a blind woman who fell into a depression after the death of her husband.
“I was able to arrange for various community services that could help her,” he noted. “And when I would visit her, with her permission, we would pray together and sing together.”
A level of trust built up between them and she repeatedly thanked him for all that he had done. Unfortunately, in recent days, her health deteriorated and she had to be placed in a nursing home, but Sam still visits her and is able to lift her spirits when they both sing her favorite song in Spanish, “Viejo San Juan.”
Rose and her husband are religious instructors; she is a religious education teacher and Sam is an RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) instructor. Both are also lectors and youth ministers and as part of their fund-raising ministry, they run the annual Valentine’s Day Dance.
“The year 2009 will be our 16th year running the parish’s dance,” Rose said. “We started our stewardship with Marriage Encounter. That’s how we started the dance.”
Both go to local individuals and businesses to get donations of goods, services, and other items as door prizes for the annual dance. And they said they are always successful and, each year, they get more than the previous year.
The Sotos haven’t really calculated how much they’ve influenced friends into becoming stewards for the church.
“We’ll ask people when we need help in the church and they’ll respond,” Rose said. “We’re a positive influence, I suppose. People see us everyday and they see us being involved and Msgr. Muro will make comments about what we do to people, spiritually… I suppose these are all influences. But we do it because it’s natural for us to do it together. We get involved with different groups and we volunteer our services. We use our talent and time whenever we can. And above all else, we enjoy doing our share.”
Msgr. Muro, who has encouraged the Sotos to get involved with the parish’s activities, calls them, “an ideal couple who are dignified and set examples for others.”
He said there are many people in the parish who volunteer to help Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Sotos are respected by the whole parish because they are humble people and “are always willing to serve and to help.”
For more information on stewardship contact Russell Davis, Office of Stewardship, at 856-583-6102.