On the feast of Pentecost in Rome, Gizella “Gizzy” Miko, the facilitator of small groups through the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office of Discipleship and Evangelization, heard people visiting from around the world and singing hymns in different languages. She, and many others, were in Rome for the 35th International Seminar of Parish Cell System of Evangelization (PECS).
This year marked the 10th year of ecclesial recognition of PECS, Miko said. Usually, the international seminar is held in Milan, to which Miko traveled last year and presented on the archdiocese’s PECS initiative. This year, the seminar was held June 9-10 in Rome as part of the Jubilee Year.
Miko presented again this year at the PECS conference, which was part of the seminar. She gave the history of PECS in the Twin Cities and the team that was put together following Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s 2022 pastoral letter “You Will Be My Witnesses: Gathered and Sent From the Upper Room.”
In the letter, the archbishop urged creation of small groups in parishes across the archdiocese as a way to build community and evangelize. The initiative was high on the list of activities recommended by participants in prayer and listening sessions that led up to and included the 2022 Archdiocesan Synod Assembly.
Since that time, people in parishes across the archdiocese have formed 2,000 small groups under the model of PECS, which encourages praise and worship, a teaching session, intercessory prayers and branching out to reach others in the parish and beyond
After her presentation, Miko garnered support from Bishop Dario Gervasi, the adjunct secretary of the Dicastery of Laity, Family and Life, who gave her a thumbs up.
“His assistant said, ‘You need to invite us to come to your diocese,’” Miko said. “He was really impressed by our rollout that we had after our Synod, so it was cool to see his response to our implementation.”
In a sign of the Holy Spirit’s presence, the hymns people sang in Rome were songs Miko remembered from her childhood. About 70,000 people from ecclesial movements around the world had gathered in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City with one mission in mind: Evangelization. And at that moment on Pentecost, Miko said, the Holy Spirit had one language.
During the trip, Miko and Regina Mancilla, who helps Miko provide support for archdiocesan small groups, had the opportunity to walk through the Holy Door to St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City in a crowd of people. On the way to the door, Mancilla said everyone prayed the rosary, but each decade was prayed in a different language.
“In English, in Spanish, in French, in Italian and in Chinese,” Mancilla said. “You can experience the universal Church … in such a powerful way. It didn’t matter that you didn’t speak the language. But through the faith, we were connected.”
Mancilla is from Guatemala, but upon entering the doors, she said the Italians began singing praise and worship songs, the same songs she sang when she lived in Guatemala.
“Even if I didn’t know the lyrics in Italian, I was able to sing it in Spanish, and that kept our spirits going,” Mancilla said, despite intense heat in Rome that day. “But it also connected us, and it brought us so much joy in the midst of heat, sun, being tired. That was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip.”
Miko also admired Pope Leo XIV’s words after the Pentecost Mass as she heard him speak while she was seated in a section in St. Peter’s Square set aside for leaders of ecclesial movements.
“One thing I really liked that he said was about how evangelization isn’t about methods or techniques,” Miko said. “It’s through the Holy Spirit that we evangelize, and that’s really part of PECS, is having that relationship with the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that’s the principal evangelizer, and that it’s not about emotional techniques or strategies, but it is through our relationship with the Holy Spirit.”
Mancilla said that it was a meaningful experience, listening to Pope Leo’s homily, during which he called for unity.
“He called for us to be bridges, to acknowledge one another, to see one another, to recognize one another, to experience love with our neighbors and that we carry on that mission; that we are here to share the love of God with other people,” Mancilla said.
“They (attendees) were all amazed,” Mancilla said of Miko’s June 9 presentation. “By telling them how Archbishop Hebda, through his leadership, was committed, that our archdiocese (would) lead this. And the number of cells, they could not believe. They were amazed by the number of cells that we have here in the archdiocese.”
Miko not only talked but she and Mancilla also listened to others from around the world share how PECS impacted them and how to improve the system. Mancilla heard testimonies on June 9 from people who had been in PECS for more than 20 years.
Mancilla said the leadership of Archbishop Hebda and former Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Williams created a commitment to the system; she said it was “really humbling” to hear how the system “has changed (the) lives of the people (who) are cell members but also others (who) they lived with.”
Miko recognized the potential for small groups to expand.
“A big thing was multiplication of small groups,” Miko said. “When we visited parishes, that’s what people asked us. How does this practically work? We had a lot of opportunities to ask them, practically speaking, how do you multiply groups? People want to stay in the same group forever, and how do you resolve that tension? What is the benefit of multiplying versus just staying in your same group?”
Miko heard an answer she liked from a Roman priest at the seminar who said that multiplication of groups brings a parish closer together.
“I think the multiplication part of cells is something that people are really hesitant (about),” Miko said. “But when you hear a pastor talk about the unity and the connectedness it creates in a parish, it gave me a new lens to look through. There are more benefits than just a multiplication of groups, but it’s really a connectedness to the parish and more people in the pews.”
A major point Miko picked up on was an emphasis on Eucharistic adoration. For many PECS groups around the world, Eucharistic adoration is in the framework.
“How can any of us speak about Jesus if we don’t spend time with Jesus?” Miko said. “How important it is for small group leaders to spend time in Eucharistic adoration. If they’re going to be leading a small group or talking to anyone about the Lord, they need to spend time with the Lord, specifically in Eucharistic adoration. It’s cool to see just how integral that part is. It’s not just a pillar here on the side, but it’s woven into the fabric of PECS.”
Miko said she was amazed to see the energy of the Church as she witnessed people on fire for God.
“We’re all different in whatever group we’re participating in,” Miko said. “The diversity of the Holy Spirit and how he works, that was cool to see on Pentecost. We all literally speak different languages, serve different people, but all for the same Church, all for the same mission.”
