The people he meets will tell you they are thankful for the time he spends with them, playing games, watching TV, leading them in prayer, and singing along with gusto.
He will tell you just the opposite. He is the one who is grateful, he says, because his volunteer work fills him with grace and inner joy.
Either way you look at it, Thursdays are great days for Seminarian Anh Do Mai and his new friends at Holy Family Manor, the Diocese of Allentown’s skilled nursing care and rehabilitation center in Bethlehem.
Mai, 21, was born in Vietnam and moved to the United States with his family when he was nine. He was a pharmacy major at Temple University when he heard the call to become a priest in the Diocese, and entered the seminary.
Early in their training, seminarians do community outreach on Thursdays, to gain practical experience and to learn what it is like to serve Christ by serving his people.
Mai’s Thursdays are filled with visiting with Holy Family Manor residents, taking part in group activities, helping transport people from place to place, assisting with spiritual activities, and getting to know them better.
“Volunteer work, whether it be serving people in need, or simply spending time with people who appreciate our presence,” says Mai, “is one of the ways that all of us can experience Jesus Christ in our everyday life.”
“Because We Are Catholic” tells the stories of how the people of the Diocese of Allentown make a difference in the lives of others, bringing the Light of Christ to each other and to our community.
