What is the Ministry of Praise?
In Minnesota, a first grader brought her 106-year-old great grandmother to show-and-tell. The other children were amazed that the lady before them was 100 years older than they. Also, the woman was quite alert and profound. They asked her many questions about what it was like growing up a hundred years ago. They asked her questions about how she had lived her life. Finally one child asked why she thought she had lived so long. The venerable lady told the children that she thought God had kept her on Earth for so long so that she could pray for her family and for all of them. The public school teacher trembled at the introduction of a taboo subject into her classroom, but the children delighted in knowing that this dear old lady was praying for them. The century-wise woman was delighted to tell the children how much she cared for them.
The Ministry of Praise encourages the bonding of generations within a parish. Some parishes have developed the Ministry in beautiful and innovative ways. In one parish, the ministers each received the name of a child preparing for first communion. The ministers were encouraged to send a note of support to the child. The children, in turn, sent thank-you letters and promised to pray to our Lord for their minister on their first communion day. In another parish, the ministers were invited to pray to the students in a particular religious education class. The students, in turn adopted their prayer supporters with special projects to show their appreciation. In still another parish, the birthdays of all the ministers were recorded and one minister's special project was to send birthday cards to all the other ministers.