The Schnieders Family: Embracing the Call to Serve

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A Letter From Our Pastor: A Month and Year to Honor St. Joseph

Over the years, Larry Schnieders has learned valuable lessons about stewardship, especially about what it means to give one’s time and talent to Our Lord.

“As I’ve gotten older, and hopefully wiser, I have learned some things about participation in ministries,” Larry says. “One is that I wish I had been more involved in them when I was younger. Of course, I can give the excuse that I was just too busy with work and family. I could also argue that I didn’t have any special or useful talents to contribute. I now realize that we all have gifts that can benefit ministries, whether they are great or small.”

Consequently, he can’t help but agree with the words of St. Teresa of Calcutta.

“She worded it best when she said, ‘Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love,’” Larry says. “Maybe I won’t do great things in my life, but I can strive to do little things that will help.”

And doing “little” things with great love is what Larry and his wife, Mary Ann, enjoy doing for our parish family, day in and day out. Since they joined our parish in 1988, they have offered their gifts and talents to our community in wonderful ways. In the past, Larry was involved with the Parish Council and the Holy Name Society. He is currently involved in the Men’s Prayer Group, the Knights of Columbus, and as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. In previous years, Mary Ann helped out with the Parish School of Religion and the Cleaning Angels Ministry. She is currently involved in the Oktoberfest Chinese Auction and the St. Vincent de Paul Society. She has also recently signed up to help with funeral luncheons.

“The Chinese Auction is the best in the area and it has drawn quite a few attendees to our festival,” Larry says. “In addition to the Masses, there is always a church event going on that we can attend. Some of these are simple events like Lenten suppers or parish picnics, but some are very big, like our annual Oktoberfest. We feel like we are part of a community.”

Furthermore, they also have a great desire to radiate the light of Jesus Christ to those around them in darkness.

“We are called to evangelize, and I think this means we need to be involved in ministries where we’re spreading the Word of Christ outside the comfortable walls of Immaculate Conception,” Larry says. “We need to move outside our comfort zone to spread the Word of God. Watching the evening news just reinforces how the world needs to hear the Gospel.”

Larry and Mary Ann have two grown sons who both live in the Washington, D.C., area — Matthew; and Patrick, who is married to Christina Gardner, and has one son, Gabriel Gardner-Schnieders. Witnessing the example of their sons, Larry and Mary Ann continue to be awed and inspired by how the love for stewardship can carry across generations.

“We believe we are called to service,” Larry says. “I am a convert to Catholicism so, in the past, I didn’t really understand this, but Mary Ann did, and she influenced our family in this way. She is a Registered Nurse and both of our sons served in medical fields in the military after they acquired college degrees. Patrick did infectious disease research in the U.S. Army and Matthew is attending medical school through the U.S. Air Force. It’s very gratifying seeing them using their God-given talent to help others.”