Nanette Salcedo is on the Stewardship Council at her parish, St. Joseph Church in Makawao, and for the wider Maui-Lanai Vicariate. (Courtesy Catholic Stewardship Consultants)
By Catholic Stewardship Consultants
www.CatholicSteward.com
Nanette Salcedo has been Catholic her whole life, attending Maria Lanakila Church in Lahaina and now St. Joseph Church in Makawao.
But in the last year, the Maui resident started to more fully appreciate and understand the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
Bringing the Eucharist to the homebound has helped in her transformation.
Salcedo said she enjoys bringing the Eucharist to people in their last months of life.
“I’ve enjoyed spending time with them,” she said. “I’ve loved having this fellowship and knowing how much they desire the presence of Jesus. It’s been a journey for me.”
“I love serving during Mass but to bring the Eucharist into people’s homes is a blessing to myself and others,” Salcedo said. “I’ve developed friendships with the elderly and their families.”
In addition, Salcedo is a co-leader for the extraordinary ministers of holy Communion. She was personally asked to become an extraordinary minister and began serving when her children were altar servers.
“I have since thanked the person who asked me,” she said. “The ministry has meant a lot to me.”
Salcedo and her husband, John, also help at the cemetery during parish clean-up day. She is also a member of the Stewardship Council for St. Joseph and for the Maui-Lanai Vicariate.
Last summer, Salcedo had the opportunity to go to the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis. She said the event was transformative for her faith.
“It was a wonderful bubble of our faith,” Salcedo said. “The people we would talk to all had the same sense of love for our faith and belief in our faith.”
Salcedo now holds on to the Eucharistic adoration portions of the National Eucharistic Congress in her mind every time she goes to adoration. The experience in Indianapolis was very powerful.
“I can picture the feeling, being with so many others in front of the Eucharist,” Salcedo said.
Salcedo said she was looking forward to attending the Msgr. McGread Stewardship Conference in Wichita, Kansas, which took place last month.
“I am excited to bring the stewardship message back to the parish,” she said.
Salcedo attends adoration weekly and Mass every day. She also goes to St. Anthony Church in Wailuku for the Divine Mercy chaplet each week with John. She hopes to establish a Divine Mercy group at St. Joseph.
“I love experiencing the collective power of prayer and the fellowship,” Salcedo said. “When we pray together, it’s far-reaching.”
In her free time, Salcedo enjoys spending time with family and friends, doing yardwork, walking on the beach with the family’s dog and volunteering.
Salcedo appreciates all those who have given their time to the parish in the past. She is humbly following their example and the foundation they built, and encourages parishioners to get involved in some way in the parish.
“Even if you have been a parishioner for 50 years, it’s never too late to get closer to God and deepen that relationship,” she said. “I am an example.”
