Last weekend at the cathedral, Bishop Frank Caggiano conferred the St. Augustine Medal on over 170 people in recognition of their exceptional service to parishes, schools, and Catholic Charities throughout the Diocese. Among the recipients of this year’s award was Eden Huang, who I’m sure is very upset with me as she reads this. If you have ever been to the 4pm Vigil Mass at St. Gabriel’s, there’s a good chance Eden was the one who greeted you in the vestibule. If you’ve ever stopped down in McDermott Hall for coffee & donuts after the 9am Mass, you have probably encountered her cheerfully tidying up the coffee station. She is also a mainstay of the 2000 Hail Marys hospitality team, making everything run smoothly. Last Saturday, when I arrived to the cathedral for the ceremony, I found Eden already seated, warmly chatting with everyone in our row as though she had known them for years. Typical Eden. She is a most worthy recipient of the St. Augustine Medal.
What makes our recipients of this award, past and present, so special is that their service flows from their love for our parish. They see the parish as their home, its members their family. They care for it as though it were their own, because it is. The parish is our section of the vineyard of the Lord, entrusted to us for a time to tend and cultivate and harvest, which we do in ways big and small. Picking up a piece of litter in the parking lot. Staying after an event to help put away tables and chairs. Offering a word of encouragement to parents of young children sitting near you. Including in your prayers the names listed in the bulletin of the sick and those serving in the military. Inviting members of the parish who haven’t joined us at Mass for a while to come back. Attending wakes and funerals. Even working on your marriage and praying with your family. These things have more effect than we realize on the Church in our midst. “Let all that you do be done in love,” writes St. Paul (1 Cor 16:14), and the Lord will make blossom our little plot in the vineyard.
posted 10/4/25
The Parish of St. Cecilia-St. Gabriel 