A few months ago I was invited by Archbishop Blair to join him as part of a 25-member Hartford delegation to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s (USCCB) Convocation of Catholic Leaders in Orlando, Florida. The Convocation’s goal was to unite Catholic leaders across the nation in a new and far-reaching effort to re-evangelize former and fallen away Catholics and to bring to faith the unbaptized, the "Nones,"—those who are non-affiliated by way of religion, and all the other children of God so that they may come to know the depth and breadth of His love for them. Both the plenary sessions and break-out sessions of this Convocation offered ideas and ways to reach out to, as Pope Francis calls them, the peripheries of society, and to bring the love of Christ to every single person: so that they may come to believe that God created them out of love, that Christ Redeemed them out the love, and that the of the love of the Holy Spirit may, if their hearts are open to it, be brought to all Truth and come that god desires a sacred and eternal relationship with all.

More than 3,500 Catholics attended this Catholic Convocation: cardinals, archbishops and bishops, priests and deacons, religious men and women, and massive numbers of the laity—more than 3,000 were Catholic lay leaders from thousands of parishes across the United States. Out of the dozens of sessions offered, I attended three plenary sessions which spoke directly to the implementation of Pope Francis’ recent Apostolic Exhortation called Evangelii Gaudium written to the bishops, clergy, consecrated persons and the lay faithful on the proclamation of the Gospel in Today’s World. In writing Evangelii Gaudium, the Holy Father desires to set the Church on a course that will proclaim the JOY of the Good News of the Gospel to the world. After the plenary sessions, there were break-out sessions on a host of topics:
religious education, faith formation, youth ministry, building parish life, bringing the love and compassion of Christ to the each human person, and to bring the Gospel to the peripheries of  society—social, economic, and cultural—especially where young teens and young adults are being told that God and faith are no longer necessary, where anxiety in daily life grows along with various addictions and general concern where life has little meaning. Our faith tells us others: that God has magnificent plans for each of us. It was also interesting to see how our faith is lived not only in the different regions of this nation, but in the many and varied cultures of the people of this world.

For me, it was an expansive eye-opener! The take-a-ways for are many: one, I was shocked to see the difference between the Catholic Church in the Northeast/New England and the Midwest compared to the Southern and Western United States; two, that our faith is comprised of so many cultures and languages which are lived and spoken in-and-through our one, universal Church; three, there are growing and very youthful Catholic populations in the in the Carolinas, Florida, Virginia, Arizona, Texas and many more—one parish went from 3200 to nearly 6000 registered families and many are looking to build new churches and parish centers. This is good news! The not-so-good news is that many of those parishes are growing as New Englanders follow the jobs that are bleeding from our states, finding new corporate homes elsewhere. The executive director of CARA (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate), and a Jesuit priest, made this point abundantly clear. But there are answers! I attended breakout sessions that dealt with: building transitions (bridges) between youth ministry and young adult parish ministries, in seeking ways to encourage and bring them to leadership in the Church; how Faith, Reason and Science—are not mutually exclusive but rather are "dance partners," and then a final talk by Bishop Robert Barron on building a deeper and more spiritual faith among our Catholic people.
I am very happy that I was invited to attend and while I think our parish already is successful in many of the areas mentioned above, the hoped-for actions that Pope Francis speaks to in Evangelii Gaudium, there are many opportunities to learn from others, to help build up our local parish so that we may all grow deeper in faith and become more fully the Disciples that Christ calls us to be. More to come on these and other topics in future bulletins.

I want to take this opportunity to truly thank Passionist Father Terry Kristofak, C.P., who covered for me while I was away. Fr. Terry is a good friend, a faithful and devoted priest, and a wonderful supporter of St. Catherine of Siena Parish. Covering the Masses, imparting the acrament of Baptism, visiting the home- and nursing home-bound and more, Fr. Kristofak never missed a beat. So much so that I got nervous and tried to take an early flight home before you all called the Chancery to have him appointed pastor! I am most appreciative of his help! Thanks.