Hundreds turn out for first annual archdiocesan celebration of lay ministry

SEATTLE

Approximately 450 parish employees and volunteers from around Western Washington turned out at O’Dea High School May 10 for the Archdiocese of Seattle’s first annual celebration of lay ministry.

The event, entitled “Pentecost: A Celebration of Ministry,” featured two keynote addresses and more than 20 breakout sessions on various topics, and concluded with a Mass and blessing at St. James Cathedral celebrated by Archbishop J. Peter Sartain.

There are about 900 paid employees who work at least half time doing pastoral ministry in the archdiocese, said Dr. Mary Cross, director of the archdiocesan Office of Catholic Faith Formation, which organized the event.

“The laity are charged with ministry not only in the church but in the world,” she noted, adding that the event was “aimed at celebrating all ministries that flow from baptism.”

‘Led by the Spirit’The event’s first keynote speaker was Paulist Father Bruce Nieli, an evangelist and missionary from the Archdiocese of New York, who spoke on the topic “Evangelization for a New Pentecost.”

“The principal agent of evangelization is the Holy Spirit, who opens hearts and converts them to God,” Father Nieli said.

He began by offering “a pithy definition of the new evangelization”: “Led by the Spirit, fed by the Eucharist.”

Father Nieli explored three traditional images of the Holy Spirit: music, breath and living water. He focused mostly on music.

Quoting St. Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesians to “be filled with the Spirit” and to address one another in “psalms, hymns and inspired canticles,” the sprightly, bespectacled priest illustrated the power of music by picking up an acoustic guitar and leading the hundreds gathered in the O’Dea gymnasium in a rendition of “This Little Light of Mine.”

Father Nieli then explained that his “first experience of the Holy Spirit” was as a child when, during his nighttime asthma attacks, his mother would hold him and sing “Jesus Loves Me.”

In speaking of the image of living water, Father Nieli quoted one of Pope Francis’ recent Wednesday audience talks: “Man of every time and place desires a full and beautiful life, just and good, a life that is not threatened by death, but can still mature and grow to fullness. Man is like a traveler who, crossing the deserts of life, thirsts for the living water: gushing and fresh, capable of quenching his deep desire for light, love, beauty and peace. We all feel this desire! And Jesus gives us this living water: He is the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and whom Jesus pours out into our hearts.”

The new evangelization depends on Catholics receiving that gift of the Holy Spirit and helping others to understand that Jesus loves them, Father Nieli said.

“Just maybe,” he said toward the end of his 80-minute talk, “if we Catholics are led by the Spirit and fed by the Eucharist, we will be filled with that enthusiasm that can change the world.”

‘Conversion is challenging’The second keynote speaker was Jesuit Father William Watson, the founder, president and executive director of the Sacred Story Institute (sacredstory.net), a nonprofit dedicated to advancing evangelization through the promotion of St. Ignatius Loyola’s examination of conscience, called the Examen.

“The whole cosmos is … a love story, and it’s not complete yet,” Father Watson said. “And so we need to see our lives as a narrative, perhaps a chapter or a paragraph in the great story of creation and fall and redemption.”

He added, “I am firmly convinced that all of eternity is going to be retelling stories. We’re all going to be drawn before the heavenly court and Jesus is going to present us to his Father, in front of everyone who has ever lived, and we’re all going to have our day, our eternity, where Jesus says, ‘This is what Martha did for me.’ ‘This is what William did for our work.’ ‘This is how Stephanie contributed to the great work of reconciliation.’

“And it’s a matter of life and death that we let the Spirit into our hearts to reveal to us the truth of our identity and to let the Lord begin to heal us so that we can produce fruit that will endure to eternity.”

Several times in his talk, Father Watson repeated a simple, stark truth: “Conversion is challenging.”

But practicing the daily Examen, which he described as “the entire (Ignatian) spiritual exercises in miniature,” can be a great help in the conversion process.

“I don’t think there is any other spiritual discipline that’s as short and as pragmatic and as powerful as the Ignatian examination of conscience, if it is done,” Father Watson said.By reflecting back on each day and the feelings connected with different events and actions, people can begin to discern the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

“The challenge is not being perfect,” he said. “The challenge is having a system and a way of praying where you know when you’ve become imperfect and you can start moving back through God’s grace and mercy.”

May 30, 2013