Participants gather for the closing of the first Encuentro (Encounter with Christ) retreat, a project of Vincentian evangelization in North Little Rock, Arkansas, last fall.

Vincentian Evangelization Spreads God’s Love

A young couple participates in Engaged Encounter, a retreat for those soon-to-wed, and discovers a deeper foundation for their commitment. An immigrant far from home and family feels a sense of belonging in a new land. A parishioner reconnects with his faith through a ministry to the sick and dying. All these people, and thousands more, are touched every year by Vincentian evangelization.

Currently, two different approaches to spreading God’s love are illustrated by efforts in the Western and Southern Provinces of the Congregation of the Mission. Although the expressions are different, the mission is the same: to bring God’s love to everyday life.

A Center for Reflection

In 1986, the former St. Vincent’s Seminary in Montebello, California, was converted into the De Paul Evangelization Center to focus on helping others follow Christ as “Evangelizer of the Poor,” in the tradition of St. Vincent de Paul.

“The focus of our evangelization is on the needs of parishes, with special focus on lay formation and the preparation of the laity as teachers and ministers,” says Father Jim Osendorf, CM, director of the center. “St. Vincent’s focus in his day was forming men into becoming priests. Today, our training is broader than those early days, but we work toward the same goal. Most of what we do is aimed at helping local parishes and the Diocese meet the needs of the Church in the new millennium,” he says.

“The formation we provide prepares people to be more actively engaged in their faith. Whether it
takes the form of taking communion to the sick and dying, or facilitating hospitality after Sunday Mass, these practical expressions of faith are a way of responding to the baptismal calling to serve Christ,” says Fr. Osendorf.

Located east of Los Angeles, De Paul Evangelization Center serves a large urban population encompassed by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and to a lesser extent, the Orange County and San Bernardino Dioceses. Lay formation ministry programs are conducted in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese, and include lector training, the ministry of Holy Communion, ministry to the sick and dying, ministry of hospitality, baptismal training, and other parish functions. Father Gary Landry, CM, is developing a bereavement ministry program that he hopes to add next year.

But Fr. Landry stresses that these ministries are not just “functions,” but callings. In conducting retreats and workshops, he emphasizes not only the nuts and bolts of how a role is performed, but also the scriptural and liturgical foundations of the ministries.

“We lay the foundation of what they do and how it fits into the larger picture of scripture, liturgy, and the Eucharist. Lay ministries are not just about touching others’ lives, but also their own,” he says. Frs. Landry and Binh Nguyen, CMs, lead formation retreats at the center, as well as workshops and formation presentations at local parishes.

The center’s evangelization efforts also include offering many one-day and weekend retreats for the faculties of Catholic schools and for Confirma­tion and KAIROS retreats for high school students. The campus is uniquely suited to this ministry through the legacy of dormitories, cafeteria, meeting rooms, and open spaces left by the 14-acre seminary.

“The campus is conducive to study, prayer and self examination,” says Fr. Osendorf. “Being in retreat makes you more open, both to giving and receiving. The purpose of all
our retreats is a personal encounter with Jesus that leads to practical expression in the home, the parish and school life.”

The impact on participants can be profound. And with the center’s help, it is also broad: last year, more than 26,000 people of all ages participated in a variety of programs sponsored or hosted by De Paul Evangelization Center.

Spreading the Word

Evangelization efforts in Little Rock, Arkansas, take on a very different form. Beginning in 2000, a group of Vincentians met to design a flexible and mobile approach to a regional mission in Arkansas. Their aim was to help the Diocese of Little Rock meet the challenge of increasing diversity and cultural conflict arising from a wave of Hispanic immigration.

Father Tom Stehlik, CM, who directs the efforts of the four fulltime members of the Vincentian missionary team, estimates 85,000 to 120,000 Hispanic immigrants have come to Arkansas in recent years, with more than 25,000 settling in Little Rock and the surrounding area. St. Ann’s Parish in northern Little Rock was challenged by the influx. “Our initial focus was to help St. Ann’s become a harmonious, multicultural parish,” he says.

“Our goal is not to replace diocesan priests, but to support them. We work alongside them, but focus on a ministry to immigrants, the poor, and the disenfranchised,” says Fr. Stehlik. Fathers Carlos Lozada and Jim Ward, CMs, and Deacon Arnold Hernandez, CM, also are assigned to the mission.

The evangelization efforts that started at St. Ann’s have grown to reach surrounding communities 90 miles or more from Little Rock. Vincentians travel weekly to parishes in Arkadelphia, Benton, Searcy, and Glenwood to evangelize through formation of lay ministries and retreats.

Last fall, they introduced a four-day retreat called Lay Vincentian Missionaries, a program specifically designed for immigrants. The response has been enthusiastic. “The first step to evangelization is an encounter with Jesus,” says Fr. Stehlik. “Through this retreat, participants experience God’s love through community, prayer, and service. It reminds them they are part of the mission of Jesus, and they are called upon to actively serve their parish and community.” A second workshop is planned for more than 100 men and women in May.

Fr. Stehlik’s group also aids parishes directly by educating parish staff about diversity issues through workshops, guest lecturers and discussion. “It helps when everyone understands both the traditional and new customs. Just making people feel welcome is a way of bringing them into the church,” says Fr. Stehlik.

In Vincentian evangelization, Fr. Osendorf says, “We seek to challenge the laity to be engaged in ministry at the parish level. We help them understand what they are doing and
to be engaged with a living faith.”

Fr. Stehlik adds, “It’s one thing to tell people the good news, and it’s another thing for someone to leave a retreat with an experience of God’s love. They’re changed. Before you know it, they’re telling others ‘come and see why’.”

And the chain of evangelization continues.

Father Tom Stehlik, CM, gives Communion at St. Ann’s Parish in Little Rock, Arkansas, the seat of a regional evangelization effort aimed at new immigrants.