This essay was originally written for Catholic Schools Week (Jan. 29-Feb. 4, 2017) by Saint Thomas the Apostle 6th grader Sam. Mr. Ray Boisvenue was featured in the cover story of the April 2017 edition of FAITH Grand Rapids magazine; that article is available here. Photo of Sam is courtesy of his family. Photo of Mr. Ray for FAITH Grand Rapids magazine by Holly Dolci.
Have you ever wished you could go back in time and visit the legendary saints? From John the Baptist to doubtful Thomas, all these wonderful people have one thing in common -- they have given their lives to God. A lot of people would want to meet them in person, but they don’t realize that there are saints among us right now. Some are easy to spot, but others are a little trickier to find. I have found one of those trickier saints and want you to know why I respect and classify this person as a saint.
The saint I know is Mr. Ray. He is the wonderful man that helps students train to become altar servers. I bet you are wondering why I chose him -- I did because he helped me train to become an altar server and grow in my Catholic faith.
Mr. Ray is a tall, older man with white hair and glasses. Some people I immediately like when I first meet them, and some I don’t. Mr. Ray falls into the first category -- he has a good vibe and is someone that is serious, but very friendly. He helped me through altar serving a lot. He could tell that I was very nervous, and told me that I had nothing to worry about. Right before I went to serve for the first time, we went into the little chapel to pray. When we did, I felt like the Holy Spirit came over me and got rid of my fear and anxiety. When I came home, I told my mom about my experience.
Mr. Ray remained at my side while I served. He helped me with a lot of other things also, like bringing the book to Father Jim [Chelich] up to the altar. Mr. Ray was an inspiration to my life that I will remember forever. Ever since I was a little kid, I always wanted to be an altar server. Once my mom found out that I could be an altar server, she signed me up at once. I was really glad that she did that, because it was one of the things that was on my bucket list. Being an altar server is very fun. Church is interesting, but actually participating in church is a thrill. It is also kind of nerve-wracking. One minute you're holding fire, the next holding paper. But Mr. Ray taught me simple ways to remember how to handle these things with grace and ease. As I said earlier, he is a very patient man and slowly walked me through these new concepts. He would always greet me with a hello, and somehow snuck in well-timed humor that made me feel a whole lot better about altar serving.
I wasn’t the only one who was taught altar serving by Mr. Ray. All the altar servers I know were also taught by him -- they agree he is a very nice man and they were fortunate to be taught by him. These are some of the many of the reasons that I classify Mr. Ray as a saint. It is clear that he has given his life to God, like all the saints before him.
Saint Thomas the Apostle serves more than 350 students in preschool through 8th grade. Learn more here.
Sam is a 6th grader at Saint Thomas the Apostle Catholic School in Grand Rapids.