Pentecost Project will prepare Catholics to take up role as ‘missionary disciples’

PATERSON  The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist here is preparing to inspire Catholics in the Diocese and beyond to take up their roles as “missionary disciples,” who spread the Gospel as part of the New Evangeli­za­tion, through its new Pentecost Project.

The Pentecost Project will consist of a series of weekly workshops to be held in both English and Spanish from Lent to Pentecost next year, by forming attendees in the basics of the faith while providing them with leadership skills needed to evangelize. The faithful are invited to participate in the series, which will be held at the cathedral on Saturdays starting March 5 at the beginning of Lent, to June 5 on Pentecost. Topics will include 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.

Priests, deacons, and laypeople, including staff members of the Diocese and St. John’s, will conduct the sessions, which will be presented at the same time separately in English and Spanish, starting at 9:30 a.m. with coffee and welcome, followed by a workshop from 10 to 10:45 a.m. and then a question­­-and-answer period with the speakers from 10:45 to 11 a.m.

The experience of these speakers “in the field of the New Evangeliza­tion will help us to be formed and thus to become effective agents of the New Evangeli­zation here in our local Church of Paterson,” 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. He announced the initiative in separate videos in English and Spanish on the Cathedral’s web site, www.patersoncathedral.org, which has more information about the series.

“Missionary disciples — that’s what we are called to be! St. John Paul II said ‘life with Christ is a wonderful adventure.’ That is why today I come to invite you to join us on this wonderful adventure that we have baptized the Pentecost Project: A School of the New Evan­gelization for Missionary Disciple­ship,” Father Jaramillo, one of the workshop presenters in English and Spanish, said in the English-language video. “In these workshops, we will seek to equip participants with the basic but necessary tools to take up leadership roles in their own parish communities and to live out our identity as a baptized people. The Project was born out of the desire to accept the invitation on the part of John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and now Pope Francis to transform our culture and propitiate a personal encounter with God made man in the person of Christ,” the priest said.

The Spanish track of the Pente­cost Project will conclude with a retreat, from Friday to Sunday, May 13–15, to be led by Archbishop Jose Ruiz Arenas, former Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization in Rome, who is now retired in Colombia. The New Evangelization calls each of us to deepen our faith, believe in the Gospel message and go forth to proclaim the Gospel, and is focused on “re-proposing” the Gospel to those, who have experienced a crisis of faith, according to the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops.

The following is the schedule of sessions and presenters on Saturdays in English and Spanish:

March 5: “What is the New Evangelization?” by Msgr. Geno Sylva, St. John’s rector and diocesan vicar for special projects, and “¿Qué es la Nueva Evangelización?” by Father Jaramillo.

March 12: “Man: Imago Dei [In the Image of God]” by Father Paul Manning, executive director of St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization in Madison and diocesan vicar for evangelization, and “El Hombre: Imago Dei” by Deacon Germán Vargas of St. John’s.

March 19: “Jesus Christ: True God and True Man” by Father Jaramillo, and “Jesucristo: Verdadero Dios y Verdadero Jombre” by Angie Vargas, graduate in the Spanish-track of the Certificate in Catholic Evangelization program at St. Paul’s and the St. Elizabeth University in Convent Station.

March 26: “Holy Spirit: Gifts and Charisms” by Father John Calabro, chaplain and teacher at Pope John XXIII Regional High School in Sparta, and “Espíritu Santo: Dones y Carismas” by Father Luis A. Hernandez, a parochial vicar at St. Peter the Apostle Parish in Parsippany.

April 2: “The Church: Sacrament of Salvation” by Father Jared Brogan, director of the diocesan Office of Worship, and “La Iglesia: Sacramento de Salvación” by Deacon Luis Gil of St. John’s.

April 9: “Revelation” by a speaker to be determined, and “Revelacion” by Father Jorge Castaño, also a parochial vicar at St. John’s.

April 23: “The Word of God: Mystery and Tradition” by a speaker to be determined, and “La Palabra de Dios: Misterio y Tradición” by Deacon Guido Pedraza of St. John’s.

April 30: “Sacraments: Visible Signs of Invisible Realities” by Ivannia Vega-McTighe, director of Family Faith Formation at St. John’s, and “Sacramentos: Signos Visibles de Realidades Invisibles” by Father Danny Pabon, a priest of the Newark Archdiocese.

May 7: “Discipleship: Call to Mission by Msgr. Sylva and “Discipulado: Llamados a la Mission” by Father Jaramillo.

May 14: “A Church that Goes Out: Encounter and Dialogue” by Pilar Ruiz-Pedraza, chairperson of St. John’s “From Mercy to Hope” Committee, which is in charge of social outreach, and “La Iglesia en Salida: Encuentro y Diálogo” by Maria Moncaleano, director of the diocesan Office for Hispanic Ministry.

May 21: “Christian Joy: Evangelii Gaudium [The Joy of the Gospel]” by a speaker to be announced, and “La Alegria Cristiana: Evangelii Gaudium” by Father Yohan Serrano, parochial vicar of St. Lawrence the Martyr Parish in Chester.

May 28: “Mary: Star of the New Evangelization” by Vega-McTighe, and “Maria: Estrella de la Nueva Evangelización” by Juan Fernando Zapata, a catechist of St. John’s Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults program.

The Pentecost Project is designed to help participants encounter the beauty of the Catholic faith through a historical analysis of the organic development of the Church as the “sacrament of salvation” and to delve into the richness of the Word of God and its crucial role in the Church’s self-understanding of salvation history. It also seeks to adequately capacitate future leaders for ministerial roles within their specific parish communities in collaboration with their priests and deacons and reignite the gifts of the Holy Spirit in every baptized faithful for the purpose of spreading the Gospel in our secular culture, Father Jaramillo said.

“We are all excited about the response that local Catholics will have to the New Evangelization,” said Father Jaramillo, who noted that a committee of 10 people at St. John’s has been helping to plan and coordinate the Pentecost Project. “There is a good energy behind it,” he said.

[ Information: call Father Cesar Jaramillo or Deacon Guido Pedraza at (973) 345-4070. ]