Pentecost Project: Towards a collaborative pastoral front

The Pentecost Project is back! Once again, every Saturday during Lent and Easter, the doors of the Frank Rodimer Center of our Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Pater­son will be wide open to welcome everyone who has registered to be part of this formative experience. Considering its great success last year, the committee in charge is excited to provide — once again — a space where the faithful can gather throughout the course of 11 weeks to be intellectually stimulated and spiritually enriched and to share their experiences of faith with each other. The talks will start promptly at 10 a.m. and will last 45 minutes, allowing for 15 minutes of questions and answers at the end of every talk.

While the nature of last year’s topics was somewhat elementary, which allowed for many topics to be touched upon, this year, the focus will be exclusively on the Church as a divine reality in the midst of a human world and what that means for an institution that has spent more than 2,000 years carrying out the mission of evangelization entrusted to her by Christ. We know that the Church is called Catholic because it teaches fully and unfailingly all the doctrines which ought to be brought to man’s knowledge. (St. Cyril of Jerusa­lem) But through these talks, we will analyze the different hues that have been part of her countenance throughout her organic development in the great canvas of salvation.

At a pastoral level, what the Pentecost Project signified last year could be seen as a spark of hope which demonstrated that a “pastoral de conjunto” (collaborative pastoral front) is possible when there is a spirit of mutual collaboration and respect between our parishes. Its great success evidenced just how much we can achieve as the local church of Paterson when we unite our efforts to become witnesses of the communion that binds and transforms us into missionary disciples. More than 12 parishes sent members from their respective communities of faith, and we hope this year the number increases.

Below you can find the topics and presenters that will make this year’s Pente­cost Project a unique event.

The Pentecost Project will conclude with a retreat, which will take place at the cathedral on the weekend of Pente­cost (May 26–27) and whose main presenter, in English, will be Bishop Emeritus Arthur Serratelli.

We invite all the faithful who wish to take advantage of this great formative opportunity to register through our website or by calling our parish office directly at 973-345-4070.