Attendees enthused

Four delegates from the Albany Diocese who attended the recent North American Institute for Catholic Evangelization (NAICE) in Oregon came back full of ideas on how to begin evangelizing in their parishes and ministries.

The five-day conference, held in Portland, brought together Church leaders from 112 dioceses around the world.

* "It was phenomenal," reported Rev. Martin Fisher, pastor of Corpus Christi in Round Lake. His interest was piqued by discussion of practical ways to implement evangelization at the parish level.

"Although they didn't give us a specific program to follow when we got home, they talked about ways to begin evangelization in the parish and how to target the larger community," he said.

The pastor noted that "we are all called by Jesus Christ through our Baptism to evangelize each other," but "evangelization really goes against our grain, particularly as Catholics. Let's face it, Catholics were traditionally taught not to discuss religion or politics, not to 'rock the boat' so to speak."

At NAICE, Father Fisher learned that there are two and a half generations of families that come to church every weekend. Before looking outside parishes, he explained, Church leaders "must begin by re-evangelizing the Catholics that are already sitting in the pews. We must make evangelization a priority."

Father Fisher suggested that Catholics begin to evangelize each other by using the media to spread the Word of God. One example, he said, are the outdoor signs that other churches use to quote Bible verses or sayings to grab public interest.

"Since most Catholic parishes already have signs on their property that advertise scheduled weekend masses, they could use these to spread the gospel message. With a little creative thought, we can preach the Word to the general public," he suggested.

* Deacon Angel Garcia serves at St. Patrick's Church in Albany, one of three parishes that comprise Albany's "center-city cluster." St. Casimir's and Our Lady of Angels are also part of the cluster, which includes Hispanic and Polish Catholics.

After attending NAICE, he hopes to "institute a weekend retreat or conference that will use art and music in an evangelization process" at his parish, he said.

At the institute, Mr. Garcia said he learned about a "new" evangelization, one that includes music and art as beautiful ways "to worship the Father, Son and Holy Spirit without losing the Gospel message."

He realized that "we can implement the great love that God has for us through music, worship and through the expression of art. This can touch all cultures; this can evangelize everyone," he said.

* Jeanne Pitkin, pastoral associate for pastoral care at St. Pius X parish in Loudonville, was most impressed with a talk given by Rev. Eric Law of Los Angeles.

"He talked about how important it is to encourage the poor to speak out and [listen] honestly to what they have to say," she explained.

Mrs. Pitkin said she works with people who are often suffering physically or spiritually. People come to her with trepidation, and she sees one aspect of evangelization as simply listening.

"The word 'evangelization' is scary to many Catholics," she said. "We don't know how to define it. [Father Law] said that people must be able to feel free to share what is inside, and we, as parish leaders, must be able to help to bring out that which lies deep within them. Only then will they [be able to] recognize God within them.

Evangelization, she discovered, is letting those in pain speak out.

"By creating that environment, we are developing the spiritual aspect of healing," she said. "We are calling forth our baptismal commitment. The bottom line really is based on our values, the myths of our faith experience, the truths that we base our faith on."

* Jeanne Schrempf, director of the diocesan Office of Evangelization and Catechesis, told The Evangelist that the institute was initiated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to learn ways that parish and diocesan leaders can realize the bishops' vision of evangelization.

Mrs. Schrempf said the message of NAICE is that evangelization is the critical task of the Catholic Church in the third millennium.

"It is not only for those of us in leadership roles but really, for everyone," she said.

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