By: Brynn Evans, Si Qi Gundrum, Zachary Hein, and Addison Melzark
How would you like to find yourself in the presence of God? Zachary Hein, an Eighth grader at Holy Trinity Catholic School in Kewaskum, has been there nearly a thousand times. Zach, an altar boy since the fourth grade and the senior server this past year, serves God at Mass and believes this is something every faithful child should aspire to.
“You are doing what God wants, and you are helping out the priest,” Zach said, “And during the consecration, the priest is Jesus, and Jesus is the priest, and that means you are serving God and the Holy Spirit, too.”
Serving has made Zach’s relationship with God stronger and more open. Before each Mass, Zach prays and asks God to guide him. He feels more comfortable sharing his worries and other thoughts and feelings with God. Serving has also connected Zach to parishioners, the faithful in the community, and other servers.
This past year, Zach was in charge of the younger servers, preparing everything for the priest, and making sure the Mass ran smoothly.
“It’s kind of scary knowing that I’m the one in charge of everything and everybody, but it’s reassuring knowing that I know what to do, that God knows what to do, and that God will help me,” Zach said, “The best part is knowing that there are people looking up to you wanting to be like you.”
To become a server, students are required to join the server’s guild at school and attend server training sessions led by Father Patrick. For those interested in serving, however, Zach wants you to know that being an altar boy is a serious commitment.
“You’ve got to be willing to behave yourself and be reverent,” Zach said, “Focus on God.”
Zach regularly serves at three different parishes, Holy Trinity, St. Michael’s, and St. Matthias, at times as many as three times per week during the school year and four or five times per week during the summer.
To a lot of people, being an altar boy may not seem like a big deal. After all, it does not take great skill to hold a candle, ring a bell, or swing a thurible (the metal container in which incense is burned during worship services).
For Zach, however, and for others who serve, there is a very real sense that they are growing in their relationship with Jesus.
“We help others focus and make the Mass more beautiful,” Zach explains. And when the smoke is shaken from the thurible, “It represents our prayers going up to God.”