Who is the Holy Spirit? What is the meaning of life? Why is
the Resurrection important? What does Jesus want us to know?
These were some of the questions explored by parishioners of
St. Anthony of Padua Church in Falls Church as part of
“Discovering Christ,” a seven-week evangelization program.
The program – developed by ChristLife, a lay apostolate from
the Baltimore Archdiocese – seeks to help people have a
personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This was one of the
first times the series was offered in Spanish.
“It was very fruitful,” said Rossnat Rodríguez, member
of Effetá, the parish ministry that volunteered to
facilitate and help translate the series. “We had people who
were part of parish groups for years and youths, but also
people who were not involved in the parish or were away and
wanted to come back to the church.”
“Discovering Christ” is different, she said. The workshop
gives people a chance to know and serve Christ while starting
a conversion process to become active disciples. It consists
of seven weekly sessions and a retreat. Each session has four
components: a dinner, the welcome prayer, dynamic teaching,
and small group discussions. The program has two follow-up
series, “Following Christ” and “Sharing Christ.”
Freddie Vásquez, 24, said that these sessions were
like “an alternative way to reach Jesus.”
“It’s a good start, especially for those who don’t go to
church,” he said.
“‘Discovering Christ’ is not only an opportunity to
evangelize but to awaken and ignite our own faith,”
Rodríguez said. “Many have stayed with a first
Communion (kind of) faith. What we do is to pick up from
there and review that faith, so it can grow.
“It’s a way to fall in love with Christ again. And, for the
individuals who are not in the church, it’s a way to deepen
their knowledge of who this Jesus is.”
Emma Rodríguez, 62, who was invited to participate by
a friend, said that she likes to be able to meet with people
in a safe space and learn about Christ.
“I want to dedicate this time to Jesus,” she said. “Now I
have this hunger to continue learning about Christ.”
St. Anthony is one of five parishes in the country to offer
this program in Spanish, said Pete Ascosi, ChristLife
assistant director. So far, some of the materials for the
moderators of “Discovering Christ” have been translated, and
there has been a small grassroots community – that includes
the Office for Evangelization from the Archdiocese of Newark,
N.J. – helping translate the rest of the material.
“Some of the parishes offer (the talks) as a bilingual
program,” Ascosi said. “They do the dinner and sharing
together and then work on the day’s lesson (in their dominant
language).”
Father Stephen F. McGraw, St. Anthony parochial
administrator, said he was happy that the parish was one of
the pioneers offering the program in Spanish.
St. Anthony volunteers sought the guidance of parishes that
had offered this evangelization series before, such as St.
Charles Borromeo Church in Arlington and St. Mary of Sorrows
Church in Fairfax. Both parishes have conducted the three
seven-week series in English – Discovering, Following and
Sharing Christ – multiple times.
“Discovering Christ” aims to answer the missionary call of
Jesus and the church by way of a proclamation. This includes
covering the needs of those who are baptized but might live
in the margins of the Christian life. To give testimony
through the “kerygma,” the central proclamation of the
Gospel, the salvation in Christ, is a call to conversion and
acceptance of a personal relationship with Him.
Parishioners Teresa Marroquin and José Maquen said
that participating in the program was like finding Christ
again. “It helps you to know Jesus in a dynamic way and
reinforces the faith,” he said.
The parish will start the second part of the ChristLife
evangelizing series in Spanish, “Following Christ,” in
August. There also are plans to start an English-language
“Discovering Christ” program there this fall.
Negro can be reached at [email protected] or on
Twitter @MNegroACH.
Find out more
Go to christlife.org
