We are John and Melissa Joerger. We have been parishioners of Ascension for 21 years. We’ve been married for almost 26 years and have four children who attended Ascension school from K through 8th grade and are now ages 20-24 – all who are in college or graduate school. We’ve been very blessed to lead the Respect Life Ministry for approximately 11 years. When we took over as the coordinators, our family was pretty young, but it was such a beautiful ministry to do as a family, and our children refer to the experience many times when asked what helped shape their faith life.
We are both very passionate about life issues, but have had very different paths to make it something we wanted to devote our time and energy toward. John is a cradle Catholic, the second youngest of 11 siblings. He grew up in a very traditionally Catholic family that respected life at all stages, at all times without exception. That is what he was taught, and learned to believe and respect on his own as he became an adult. On the other hand, I am a convert, an only child, raised by a single mother as my father passed away when I was very young. My mom was quietly pro-choice. We didn’t ever discuss it – so it wasn’t really an issue for me until becoming an adult when I began wrestling with what I truly believe. When I joined the Catholic Church in 1997, the RCIA process educated me about the Church and Her teachings and the “why’s” of everything. Going through NFP classes when we were engaged and understanding God’s beautiful design and purpose of our bodies and human life really helped to cement my beliefs.
I feel very blessed that John and I have had such different pathways to get us to where we are as it allows us to have different perspectives as how best to implement ideas and reach others. While leading the Respect Life Ministry, we’ve focused our time and energy on increasing awareness of life issues, educating parishioners about the issues and/or events and encouraging parishioners to get involved and take action. We recently decided to step back and give someone else an opportunity to lead this ministry. It has been such a blessing to us and we plan to stay very involved. As with most ministry work, it always seems as though so much more can and should be done. Protecting the dignity of LIFE is a broad issue – it is the foundation of all things as if we didn’t have life, we would have nothing else!
If you would like more information on becoming a member of the Respect Life Ministry or would just like to learn more, please contact Cathy Madrid at cathyfmadrid@gmail.com.