Workshops offered in Spanish

Two workshops at the annual Parish Convening will be held "en Espanol" -- in Spanish -- in order to better serve and include Spanish-speaking participants.

The first, "Sensibilidad Cultural," at 10:45 a.m., Oct. 30, at LaSalle Institute in Troy, will be led by Rev. Joseph Angelini, OFM, Conv., director of Hispanic ministries for the Albany Diocese.

The workshop will serve as a time machine of sorts for participants, "taking them back to childhood -- and how that all plays 20, 30, 40 years down the line," said the priest.

Cultural values

Father Angelini plans to help participants to come to understand more about how their cultural values, childhood traditions and related factors affect how they view their Church, faith, family and life in general.

The workshop will also introduce methods to use those discoveries to become a better person, he said.

"It's doing some personal homework on yourself," explained Father Angelini. "It's looking at your own culture, family, language and personality, and distilling what your concept of authority is, how you treat people, how you welcome people and what your assumptions about the Church are."

Influences

Experts have long held that one's personal views and attitudes are shaped by parents and experiences of youth, he said. He hopes to harness that to "give people an idea about where the religious influences in their life affect how they're reacting now."

He said that people often tell him that they "'never realized what my culture taught me.'"

From that, he hopes that participants will carry what they've learned about themselves into all aspects of their lives.

(The second Spanish workshop, "Liderasgo de 2005 en Adelante," will engage participants and panel-members in a conversation about programs that promote the mission of the Church in a "proactive, responsible and knowledgeable" manner. It will be offered at 1 p.m.)

(10/14/04)