Name: Rita Gress

Parish: Member of St. Mary Church, Ireland, for 54 years

Married, number of children: Married to Lee A. Gress; 10 children, 34 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Where and when were you born? I grew up on a farm, three miles east of Jasper. There were seven girls and five boys in my family, but the oldest daughter died when she was 16 months old. I was the second oldest and oldest girl, so I helped my mother with the housework and took care of the younger children. I also helped gather eggs and did some milking.

Tell me three things about yourself that defines who you are. I’ve always worked hard, and I pray for others a lot. I’m just a follower of the Lord. I try to do what He wants me to do.

What is your first memory of church? When I made my First Communion. We were members of St. Joseph Church in Jasper. I remember wearing a blue dotted-swiss dress. The children from the country made their First Communion at a different time than the children who attended St. Joseph Grade School. We only had religious education for an hour on Saturday morning.

Who was your hero or someone you looked up to as a child? I looked up to my mother a lot because she had gone to a parochial school, and she knew all the answers to my religious questions.

Who is your hero now? Pope John Paul II, because remains true to the teachings of the church.

What are your childhood memories? We picked a lot of blackberries when we were little because my mother used to can them, and she made a lot of jelly. My dad also made 50-100 gallons of blackberry wine, and sometimes we picked berries to sell. I’d pick for a couple of hours until we had a couple of gallons, then I’d go home and make blackberry pie for dinner while the rest of my brothers and sisters would keep on picking.

Where was your first job? I helped a lot of people out when they had a baby or when they were sick. I also did housekeeping for a couple in town that had three children for $18 a week. When I had my own children, I was always a stay-at-home mother, except for helping with our farm. Today, I do the biggest part of the bookwork for the farming operation, which is a big job in itself. We own dairy cows and hogs, and we raise corn and beans.

Have your ever experienced God’s intervention in your life? Four things have drastically changed my life. The first was when I was expecting our oldest child. I was very sick and nauseous for eight months and was unable to go to church a lot of the time. When that was over, I had a very strong realization that I went to church because I wanted to go and not because I was supposed to go. I went because I really needed it in my life. Second, as my children grew, I had a very strong feeling within myself that I was supposed to start reading the Bible every day. After the kids were off to school and before my husband came in for breakfast after doing the milking, I would sit down and read the Scriptures. I read the Bible through many, many times, sitting there thinking, “God, will I ever understand what this is all about?” Third, when Father Shetler was at Ireland, he started the Christian Family movement here, and that was when I first began to see how lay people can be involved in church work. Fourth, when I was 50 years old, I was baptized in the Spirit during a seminar at Holy Family Church in Jasper, and that really opened up the revelation of the Scriptures. My faith has always been strong, but being baptized in the Spirit was a life-changing experience for me. I experienced the presence of God in my life so much stronger then, and I gained a much better understanding of the Scriptures.

 What form does stewardship take in your life? How do you give of your time, talent and treasure to your parish? I taught high school Bible class for a number of years. After that, for about 10 years, I taught an adult Bible class here at Ireland. I’ve been active with the Christ Renews His Parish program. Five years ago, I started a new Charismatic prayer group here at Ireland, and it is going strong. I am also a lector at Mass, and I used to be a Eucharistic minister.

What do you like most about being Catholic? The Mass and the Eucharist, by far.

What is your favorite religious item? That would be my Bibles, and I have many of them. I also have rosaries that I am fond of, but I depend on my Bible a lot for guidance.

When is a time in your life you really relied on your faith? When our second youngest son was 9 years old, he lost his leg in a farm accident. At the time, I was reading in the Book of Psalms, which is such a comforting part of the Old Testament. I stayed with him the whole time he was in the hospital, and I had my husband bring the Bible up so I could read the Psalms because it was very consoling.

What are your best words of wisdom? I once heard a speaker say, “There’s no limit to the amount of good that you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit for it.”  That’s kind of the way I feel when I pray for people. I can’t take any credit for it. It is God who gets the credit for what then takes place in their lives.

What book are you reading now? I have been an avid reader all my life. I only have an eighth grade education, but I always kept up my education by reading. Now I read mostly religious books – books that will help me to teach others.

What makes a success? In my opinion, you are successful when you are in tune with God … when you hear what He is saying to you and do what He is saying to you. By that, I don’t mean an audible voice … it’s a feeling that you have inside of you, like I did when I knew that I was supposed to start reading the Bible.