Archbishop J. Michael Miller expressed his appreciation for the heroes of the pandemic Nov. 20 at Holy Rosary Cathedral, honouring 29 people with the Archdiocese’s Stewardship Award.
“During the dark two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, these women and men offered extraordinary service to our parish communities, often even risking their own health to serve others,” he told the gathering.
The recipients maintained safe worship spaces in churches for the celebration of Mass, welcomed parishioners when social anxiety was keeping people apart, and kept ministries running as smoothly as possible despite enduring inconvenience and hardship, the archbishop said.
“In countless ways these unsung, self-effacing heroes of ours imitated Christ the King by demonstrating that ‘to reign in the Kingdom is to serve one’s brothers and sisters.’ Each in his or her own way served the Kingdom, of which they hope to become heirs, precisely through their works of generous devotion and exceptional creativity.”
Speaking to the recipients, the archbishop said, “I know that you never expected to be honoured for your service. It is, however, right that we should recognize your heroic service during that very trying time for our Church. In you we also acknowledge the many others who likewise, in a humble way, gave of themselves to serve their parish and the wider community.”
Lorna Acosta
Our Lady of Mercy (Burnaby)
Lorna Acosta went above and beyond to offer food and a listening ear to families in need through the All Were Filled Project.
Renato Brotto
St. Matthew (Surrey)
Renato Brotto is a faithful parishioner and a reliable trouble-shooter around the parish.
Erin Byer
St. Bernadette (Surrey)
Erin Byer, the parish’s volunteer bingo manager, diligently strove to keep the program running as much as possible, applying protocols and communicating about them, and handling patrons’ concerns.
Terrence Chan
St. Bernadette (Surrey)
Terrence Chan, a very devout Catholic, helped to protect worshippers, for example, by ensuring in his friendly manner that everyone followed mask protocols, while also filling in as janitor.
Alex Djauhari
St. Anthony of Padua (Vancouver)
Alex Djauhari used his technical skills to help the parish pivot quickly to accessible online Masses and helped ensure that people were still able to receive the sacraments of baptism and holy matrimony.
Doris Joseph
St. Anthony of Padua (Vancouver)
Doris Joseph has served tirelessly as sacristan and striven to protect people’s safety during the pandemic.
Vijay Krishnan
Holy Rosary Cathedral (Vancouver)
Vijay Krishnan has been a model of taking responsibility and ensuring respectful communication among staff and volunteers in the kitchen and the sacristy.
Venita Kwan
St. Joseph (Port Moody)
By her unfaltering and devout presence, Venita Kwan enriched the daily private prayer time in the parish church, reliably keeping it open to worshippers from throughout the Tri-Cities.
Man Wing Li
St. Francis Xavier (Vancouver)
Wing Li has worked diligently to protect priests and parishioners, for example, building a platform so Mass could be celebrated outdoors and communicating with the school principal about reported cases. He has helped UBC offer culturally sensitive health promotion to senior parishioners through its interCultural Online health Network (iCON) workshops.
Johnny Maala
St. Bernadette (Surrey)
Johnny Maala has been a warm, gracious, and reliable volunteer around the parish.
David Matthew
St. Bernadette (Surrey)
David Matthew, a friendly greeter at Mass, has been generous with his time, helping ensure that things run smoothly at both St. Bernadette and Star of the Sea.
Bofleton “Bob” Mayormita
St. Mary (Vancouver)
Robert Tan
Our Lady of Mercy (Burnaby)
As the District Deputy and the Regional Membership Director and Past Faithful Navigator, respectively, Bob Mayormita and Robert Tan helped organize the Knights’ distribution of coats to Indigenous children in the First Nations Seabird community in Agassiz, assisted Agassiz dairy farmers, strove to protect their parishes from COVID, and were involved with St. Mary’s Street Outreach and the Men’s Shelter at St. Paul’s Hospital.
Cecilia Moore
Corpus Christi (Vancouver)
Cecilia Moore has brought music therapy and prayerful accompaniment to long-term care residents and hospital patients, some of whom were dying. Thanks to her sensitive outreach, patients who have asked for assisted suicide have often found a reason to go on living.
Makiko and Carmine Morelli
Holy Cross (Burnaby)
Carmine and Makiko Morelli set up online devotions and organized measures intended to let the parish reopen smoothly and safely.
Larry Mueller
All Saints (Coquitlam)
Larry Mueller is the reliable go-to guy for whatever needs to be done around the parish; among his specific responsibilities, he organizes the pancake breakfast and with his wife he assists with the funeral committee.
Kevin and Gail O’Mahony
Christ the Redeemer (West Vancouver)
Kevin and Gail O’Mahony both serve in the sacristy, Kevin as head sacristan while Gail designed and sewed beautiful large banners for the sanctuary. Both supported the livestream Masses.
Guillermo “Willy” Paez
St. Monica (Richmond)
Entirely as a volunteer, Bro. Willy Paez has faithfully performed all sorts of building maintenance, including upgrading the church’s sound and lighting, maintaining filters in the HVAC system, and supporting other protocols intended to keep everyone safe.
Gerardo “Gerry” Petines
St. Matthew (Surrey)
As head usher among many other roles, Gerry Petines has generously given of his time to ensure that enough Masses could be celebrated.
Valerie Spurrell
St. Patrick (Maple Ridge)
Val Spurrell applied her expertise in public health to maintaining good communication with staff and volunteers about procedures for both work and public worship. Both motherly and firm, she also supported the pastor when he became ill with COVID.
Rina Teo
Christ the Redeemer (West Vancouver)
Rina Teo organized Morning Prayer on Zoom and the Rosary at night and has served faithfully as a sacristan for the livestream Masses.
Andrew and Rose Tin Hla
St. Augustine (Vancouver)
Andrew and Rose Tin Hla have served in holiness in countless ways, from helping anyone in need to lovingly scrubbing down graffiti left by vandals.
Winfred van der Sande
St. Anthony (West Vancouver)
Winfred van der Sande, a diligent and visionary volunteer, led the immediate pivot to livestreaming.
Jorge Conrad Villacarlos
St. Joseph (Langley)
Jorge Villacarlos provided leadership and training to support livestreaming of Mass and other devotions, and as Grand Knight he organized the drive-through Communion after Sunday Masses.
Cathy Weaver
Holy Rosary Cathedral
Cathy Weaver’s spirit of stewardship from years of quietly faithful behind-the-scenes support continues to influence the cathedral community. Priests, staff, and parishioners have known that Cathy was accompanying them with her prayers and affection.
Eleanor Wong
St. Matthew (Surrey)
As youth ministry coordinator since 2020, Eleanor Wong has responded creatively to the challenges by building an active online community for young people and modelling the constructive use of social media to share reflections and words of hope.
