Pentecost Project at cathedral plans weekend retreat June 3-5

PATERSON  The popular Pentecost Project faith-formation series at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist here will wind down on the weekend of June 3–5, closing with a retreat. The event will feature two powerhouse speakers, one in English and another in Spanish, who will drive home the purpose of the Pentecost Project: to fire up participating Catholics with the passion to become “missionary disciples” as part of the New Evangelization.

The speaker in Spanish will be Archbishop Octavio Ruiz Arenas, former Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization in Rome, now retired and living in Colombia. Speaking in English will be Msgr. Joseph Reilly, dean of the School of Theology and rector of Immaculate Concep­tion Seminary at Seton Hall University in South Orange. Archbishop Ruiz will speak in Spanish on June 3 at the 7 p.m. Spanish Mass in the cathedral, said Father Cesar Jaramillo, a parochial vicar of St. John’s and Defender of the Bond in the diocesan Tribunal, who is coordinating the Pentecost Project.

On June 5, Archbishop Arenas and Msgr. Reilly will give separate talks, in Spanish and English respectively, beginning at 10 a.m., one in the cathedral and another in the Catechetical and Educational Building adjacent to the cathedral. The talks will be followed by a luncheon in the Bishop Frank Rodimer Center next to the cathedral. Since March 5, Pentecost Project sessions have been held on Saturdays in both English and Spanish to give participating Catholics an opportunity to be formed and catechized in the basics of the faith and in the leadership skills needed to evangelize, Father Jaramillo said.

“Both speakers for the retreat will send the Catholics in the audience out on mission — from the upper room [like the disciples who received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost] and out into the world to continue what was started in the Pentecost Project. Hopefully it will inspire the participants to put their time, talents, and treasures at the service of the Gospel in a radically new way and empower them to live out their vocation as missionary disciples,” Father Jaramillo said.

The cathedral has started to explore ways that its parishioners can preach the Gospel, primarily by reaching to the unchurched in the cathedral community and out in the surrounding neighborhoods in Pater­son. On the weekend of May 21–22, Pentecost Project participants will carry out a census in two parts: one for the cathedral community and another to its neighbors in the surrounding urban community by canvasing door to door. With the two surveys, St. John’s is asking both demographic groups, “How can we better serve you?” Father Jaramillo said.

A committee at St. John’s that has devised and coordinated the Pentecost Project will soon put together plans for participating members of the parish community — both English- and Spanish-speakers — to evangelize. They will focus on a simple message: that God loves us and, because of that, sent his son, Jesus, to save our souls. Those initiatives will begin in either this summer or this fall, said Msgr. Geno Sylva, St. John’s rector and diocesan vicar for special projects and the cathedral.

“The Pentecost Project is a type of school of the New Evangelization wherein we are working to form and encourage Catholics in how best to encounter, invite, and accompany those who are indifferent to religion or who have drifted away from the Church to an active sacramental life,” said Msgr. Sylva, who worked for the Holy See as the English Language Official of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization for six years under Archbishop Ruiz. “There are tens of thousands of people in the City of Paterson waiting to be asked to belong to a community of faith that is striving to reach out and to reflect the merciful face of God. We have to find the ways to meet them where they are at and then to invite them to their new home,” Msgr. Sylva said.

Several featured priests, deacons, and laypeople, including staff members of the Diocese and St. John’s, among them Msgr. Sylva, have been teaching sessions in both English and Spanish tracks on Saturdays at the cathedral, the mother church of the Paterson Diocese. These sessions, which will conclude on May 21, start at 9:30 a.m. with coffee and welcome. That has been followed by a workshop from 10 to 10:45 a.m. and a question-and-answer period with the speakers from 10:45 to 11 a.m., Father Jaramillo said.

Topics of the Pentecost Project sessions have included the Person of Jesus Christ, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Revelation, and the Blessed Virgin Mary, to help attendees evangelize with greater knowledge, ability, and zeal, Father Jaramillo said.

“The experience of these speakers in the field of the New Evangeli­zation are helping participants to be formed and thus to become effective agents of the New Evan­geli­zation here in our local Church of Paterson,” said Father Jaramillo, calling the Pentecost Project “a resounding success.” “Attendance remained strong week to week. We received positive feedback. Some said that this is what they needed to feel engaged with the Church and their faith again, especially after the pandemic. Some also were asking questions about their faith journeys, such as, ‘What comes next?’ ” he said.

Everyone is welcome to attend the Pentecost Project retreat. The cost is $25 at the closing reception for non-participants and complementary for participants, who have attended every session.

Register at www.patersoncathedral.org/retreat. Information: Father Jaramillo (973) 345-4070.