By Catholic Stewardship Consultants
www.CatholicSteward.com
Jimmy Kwan has a simple explanation for how he became so involved at St. John Vianney Church in Kailua: He stuck around.
Stay after enough parish events, he discovered, and someone will eventually need a hand. Help once, and there is a pretty good chance they will remember you the next time.
“I kind of just hang around after the event and then ask if they need help — and they always do,” Kwan said. “Basically, you might say by osmosis, you just stick around. They need your help, they’ll ask, and then next time around they’ll ask you again.”
That willingness to stick around has grown into decades of service for Kwan and his wife, Lynda. Today, hospitality is woven throughout much of what the couple does at St. John Vianney — whether they are welcoming people to Mass, preparing food and drinks for a parish gathering or doing the less-visible work before and after an event.
Jimmy leads the parish Service Commission and is often among the first to arrive and last to leave when the parish hosts a social event. He shops for food and drinks, helps with setup and cleanup, and prepares coffee, juice and pastries for the monthly Hospitality Sunday gatherings after Mass.
Jimmy and Lynda also serve as hospitality ministers at the Saturday 5 p.m. Mass, welcoming parishioners and visitors, helping prepare for Mass and assisting with the offertory collection.
For the Kwans, those seemingly small acts are part of something larger — helping people know they have a place in the parish community.
“We want to make people feel comfortable and like a valued part of our parish family, not just a weekly ‘visitor,’” Jimmy said.
Lynda helps extend that welcome to newcomers by assembling visitor gift bags at home. The bags include rosaries made by the parish Ladies Sodality, along with prayer cards and parish contact information — tangible reminders that visitors are noticed and welcomed at St. John Vianney Church.
The couple has taken on an even larger role in parish hospitality following the move of longtime parishioners Gary Wiseman and Earl Walker to Texas. Wiseman and Walker had spent years leading many of St. John Vianney’s hospitality efforts, and the Kwans are helping continue what they began.
Among those traditions is the Bishop’s Annual Scholarship Breakfast, which has grown to include more than 20 sponsors and serves as an important fundraiser for scholarships at the parish school.
For Jimmy, the instinct to serve goes back much further than his years at St. John Vianney.
One of 10 children, he grew up watching his mother make faith and service a regular part of family life. She also made sure her children got to Mass — every day.
His mother took Jimmy and his siblings to daily Mass each morning before school. Sometimes that meant arriving late to class, but the sisters at their Catholic school knew where the Kwan children had been.
Decades later, the lesson his mother taught him remains evident in the way Jimmy approaches parish life. Service does not necessarily begin with signing up for a committee or making a major commitment; sometimes it begins simply by paying attention to the people around you and recognizing where another set of hands could help.
“If you’re able-bodied and willing,” Jimmy said, “there’s always a place to help.”
That is also the advice Jimmy and Lynda would offer parishioners who may want to become involved but are uncertain where to begin. You don’t have to start by taking on a major responsibility.
“Don’t worry about making a big commitment right away,” he said. “Simply show up, stay after an event, and ask if help is needed.”
In the process, service becomes more than completing a task. It provides opportunities to meet fellow parishioners, form friendships and become more deeply connected to parish life.
“Once people get involved, they realize it’s not such a great sacrifice to do so,” he said. “In fact, they eventually form a strong bond with other parishioners.”
For Jimmy and Lynda, that sense of belonging ultimately comes back to something even simpler. Being part of a parish family means being willing to serve that family when and where you can.
“When we think of the sacrifices Jesus made for us, it’s the least we can do,” Jimmy said.