Tom Sategna and his wife, Debbie, have been married for 51 years. They found a parish home at Immaculate Conception Church in Lihue not long after moving to Kauai eight years ago. (Courtesy Catholic Stewardship Consultants)
By Catholic Stewardship Consultants
www.CatholicSteward.com
Tom Sategna has a true love for serving at his home parish, Immaculate Conception Church in Lihue. But what blesses him even more is when someone steps up to serve and finds their niche in a ministry.
Tom serves as the vice chair of the Diocesan Stewardship Committee, representing the Kauai Vicariate.
“I got involved with the Stewardship Committee because I truly believe in stewardship as the way I strive to live my life both at church and away from church,” Sategna said.
Sategna and his wife, Debbie, have been married for 51 years. They moved to Kauai about eight years ago and quickly found a parish home at Immaculate Conception. From the first Mass they attended, they knew there was something special at Immaculate Conception.
His parish and parish family are his favorite parts of life on Kauai.
“I feel like we are family, and I truly believe that the Holy Spirit is very present and at work in our parish,” he said.
Sategna serves in several ministries at Immaculate Conception. What’s most important to him is helping others find a way to serve.
He recalled a stewardship gathering a few years ago during which many people defined stewardship as giving of their talents and treasures.
One woman shared the true joy she receives from serving as an extraordinary minister of holy Communion. But, to her, it meant more to help someone else share the same experience.
“She said even greater than the experience of serving as an extraordinary minister of holy Communion was when she gave up serving to let someone else who hadn’t previously served to experience what she had,” Sategna said. “To me, this truly defines stewardship, and it is how I approach it to this day.”
Sategna recognizes that most people join a ministry because they have been personally invited. He’s heard people say they didn’t think they were needed or that they didn’t feel worthy of serving — but they got involved because someone asked them.
“Seeing these individuals who didn’t think they belonged or weren’t needed serving in different ministries is where I get the most satisfaction,” he said.
Consider those around you at your parish and invite them to get involved. It takes all of us to help our parishes function.
“As I tell people all the time, sometimes a simple sincere ask is all someone might need to share their time and talents,” Sategna said.
Since getting involved at Immaculate Conception, Sategna has experienced an increase in his faith, and he wants the same for everyone.
“It has helped me in the way I see and treat others, especially in the way I want to help those who are less fortunate and are in need,” he said.
In his free time, Sategna enjoys spending time with his wife and family. He also loves to golf and fly fish.
