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01/19/2022 07:30 AMNearly three decades ago, Sally Mucka admits she was in a “very dark place” as she had unsuccessfully been trying to start a family. After receiving rosary beads from “an ancient woman,” Sally began to pray the rosary.
“I had driven past Our Lady of Pompeii since we’d moved to East Haven and one day I was touched to go in to confess my sins and a great burden was lifted off me through that,” says Sally.
Grateful for that, she became involved with the church. Eventually she became pregnant and her son was born.
“I feel I owe God and have to do for him. What he wants us to do is to be kind, compassionate, and generous.”
Sally has practiced those beliefs since then, volunteering in any way she could help since joining the church. Over the years, she brought communion to the sick and homebound and taught catechism. She has participated in other ministries such as providing food and other items for the homeless through the Midnight Run and working with the Ladies Guild to fundraise and donate to causes like the diaper bank and Food Pantry of East Haven.
Sally not only was happy to be helping in the church’s mission, but to expand her social circle as well. She has met many new friends through her involvement with the church.
“Some of the elder ladies in the church who had been doing good works quietly and humbly over the years taught me what it means to be a Christian woman and how to help the needy,” says Sally, who has been married to Robert for 36 years. “When I moved to East Haven [in 1990], I didn’t know anyone who lived here and the church was very welcoming and put me under its wing. It gave me confidence and courage and I’ve gained a family through my involvement in the church.”
While Sally has enjoyed volunteering to help in all ways, one of her favorite things she became involved with was children’s summer Bible camp. Sally has always enjoyed being around children.
Throughout her years of teaching Catechism and volunteering with Bible camp, Sally had worked as a bookkeeper for her father’s bar and as a substitute teacher. She was later hired as a literacy aide at Melillo Middle School where she became known as Mrs. Magic in a nod to her love for showing magic tricks to the students.
As Sally began to think about retiring, she was offered the job of director of religious education for Our Lady of Pompeii Church. Sally was grateful for the opportunity to turn her passion for God, children, and her volunteer work into a part-time position.
In June 2017, Our Lady of Pompeii, Saint Vincent de Paul, and Saint Clare merged to form the Catholic Community in East Haven under the name St. Pio of Pietrelcina Parish. As three churches came together, the parishes had to restructure.
Sally has now served as the as the part-time director of adult faith formation for five years. In her position, she shares her faith with those who are on the search for God. Most of her time is spent working with those who want to be a godparent or get married in the church and need to make their sacraments.
“I guide them on that journey so they can become active members in church and carry on traditions and ministries the church provides. I love helping people on their journey and living a life of faith,” says Sally, who enjoys her new role. “When the churches all merged, there were positions that needed to be filled and I was asked if I would work with adults and I said, ‘Whatever you need.’ There was a lot of shifting around but I made sure that I kept Bible Camp to keep my hand in with the kids, too.”
Sally was not the only one in her family who has been involved in Bible Camp. Her now 28-year-old son, Robert, Jr., attended Bible Camp and later helped out. He also attended youth group and served on the altar for 10 years.
At age 10, he was also a founding member of the Columbian Squires for the Knights of Columbus. With the squires, Robert, Jr., achieved the highest honor, Squire of the Body of Christ, which Sally notes had only been achieved by about 50 people in the world.
“Being involved was very good for him,” says Sally. “Raising children in the church is one of the best things parents can do for children socially and spiritually.”
Outside of her work and faith, Sally enjoys gaming and is part of a family-friendly online gaming community. She has enjoyed video games since 1985 and always found it was a nice common thread between her and the children she has worked with over the years.
Sally has also made a point to get together with her high school girlfriends every week to play pinochle for the past 20 years. At the end of the night, the group saves the winnings to help fund weekend getaways.
Throughout the pandemic, Sally has seen members of the church and the community at large come together to help others. Despite COVID, the church continued to help those in need through the food pantry and more. The Knights of Columbus Councils work within the church on things such as Coats for Kids, scholarships, meals for the elderly, and more.
This past winter, as she has for several years, Sally oversaw the church’s Giving Tree program. No matter what effort the church is involved in, the common theme for Sally has been seeing the community come together to help others.
“Everything we do at the church is a big team effort and the whole community of East Haven has been so generous through this whole thing and made our job so much easier to help meet the needs of people who come to us,” says Sally. “There is no one person who does things. People volunteer and do these things out of the goodness of their heart. We are keeping the traditions of faith and helping the needy. People just step up to the plate and do what needs to be done and it’s amazing. No one gets by in this world alone and we’re never alone when we walk with God and each other.”