Attending mass is a nice moment of the week. When everyone gathers, the church hosts people to worship God. With the help of a priest of course, but he does not do that alone. There is also people doing altar service, to make sure mass goes smoothly.
One of the youngest members of parochie Maria’s English community, Andres, regularly helps with this important task. So the community is happy to have him do that. Because as Andres himself puts it: “I am a very happy kid and I like to serve people.”
Faith is important to him because being close to God is bringing him hope. “And I’d like people to know that Jesus is always beside you. If you pray, you are doing a good deed.”
Being from the Philippines, there is a slight difference in the way Mass is celebrated. A family is chosen there to lead in an offertory, giving fruit to the priest. Other than that, mass is quite similar in Den Bosch.
Andres likes the tradition of the colors the priests wear differ throughout the liturgical year: “Because it’s so nice and colorful,” he smiles. His favorite is the blue color: “Because that’s the color of Mary. And if Mary hadn’t been there, Jesus wouldn’t have been either.”
How nice for him and his family to have found a parish in the Netherlands that is named after Mary: that should make them feel right at home!