IMAGE: CNS photo/Northwest Catholic
By Carol Zimmermann
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Maybe it’s no surprise the Seattle
Archdiocese is sending a delegation of 12, as in the number of apostles, to the
“Convocation of Catholic Leaders: The Joy of the Gospel in America”
in Orlando, Florida, July 1-4.
Deacon
Eric Paige, one of the 12, is the executive director for the archdiocese’s
Office of Evangelization, Formation and Discipleship. For him, it could seem
like a busman’s holiday to spend four days at a gathering with 3,000 other
Catholics talking about something he works on every day.
But when
asked if he hopes to either gain wisdom from the event or share what he has
learned with other participants, Paige said it would likely be a combination of
the two.
One
thing he hopes to get a better grasp of during the gathering — with its
workshops, keynote addresses and time for prayer — is advice on how to use modern
technology to spread the Gospel message. But even with that goal in mind, he also is cautious that the tools can’t be so much of the focus that people forget the purpose of using them is “to draw people to engage in the
Eucharist.”
For
him, the Seattle delegation and the entire gathering of Catholic leaders from
across the country are symbolic of the original apostles commissioned to share
the Gospel message.
Citing
the passage from Ecclesiastes, he said: “There is nothing new under the
sun,” meaning Christians today have the same task as always. The call to
be missionary disciples in the modern world was echoed by Pope Francis in his
2013 apostolic exhortation, “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the
Gospel”).
Deacon
Paige, who has been involved in church ministry for years and currently provides
consultation to parishes and archdiocesan agencies, said a major pastoral
concern he often hears is about grown children or family members who aren’t
engaged in the church anymore.
He said
people tend to ask church leaders for help on this issue without recognizing
that they can often be the best candidates for this role. He said they need to
recognize the “faith being rejected is not the Christian faith but what
they think the Christian faith is.”
Those
who have left the church need to “understand who Jesus is,” the
deacon said, which comes from personal encounters with people sharing their
faith and listening.
That’s
not going to happen automatically, either, he added, but only when Catholics
are “renewed in their sense of mission” about the church — something
the convocation is all about.
As he
sees it, the Orlando gathering sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops, will likely show how Catholics across the country that the
“church is in a state of constant evaluation.”
And his
verdict is that the church is not experiencing all that God intends, which
leaves room for more to happen.
“We
have to be open” to what God wants to do, he said.
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Zimmermann on Twitter: @carolmaczim.
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