Andrew Drees of St. Michael in Pine Island came to St. John Neumann in Eagan April 26 to participate in Mass, prayer and absorb — with hundreds of other people — the year two plans in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for implementing Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s pastoral letter.
Those plans center on two things: Continuing the first year’s emphasis on forming and growing small groups that foster relationships and inspire evangelization — and learning more about the Mass and Jesus’ real presence in the Eucharist, which elicit love for God and neighbor.
“The most profound thing is getting to know people better, at a deeper level,” Drees said of his experience in helping set up small group ministry at St. Michael as part of that parish’s Synod Evangelization Team. “That will help prepare us to be stronger witnesses in year two and build up the parish.”
Drees, 39, said he participates in a small group he organized called Pipes and Parables. The group of about eight men meets every two weeks in a shed on his property set up with comfortable chairs to read and discuss Catholic literature. The group also forges friendships by praying for each other, for the people they know, for the parish, community and wider Church, he said.
The model is based on the archdiocese’s encouragement of the Parish Evangelization Cells System (PECS) of relational evangelization, Drees said.
More than 1,200 small groups formed in year one, involving more than 16,000 people across the archdiocese, said Deacon Joe Michalak, director of the Office of Synod Evangelization, while addressing those gathered at St. John Neumann.
Even those estimates are low, and small group ministry is expected to grow in the next five years as a foundation is laid for relational evangelization, he said. Laying a foundation for deeper understanding of the Mass — a primary focus of year two as it begins in July — will take another three to five years, Deacon Michalak said.
Plans for year three are underway as well, and work done in years one and two will help strengthen the third year’s emphasis on parents as primary educators of their children in the faith, Deacon Michalak said.
Building the foundation for year three’s emphasis will take “three to five to 10 years — or maybe 30,” he said. “We’re talking about a sea change,” a cultural and generational change, for handing down the faith, he said. “The old ways don’t work today. They had their season.”Those broad strokes for implementing the first three priorities of Archbishop Hebda’s 2022 pastoral letter, “You Will Be My Witnesses, Gathered and Sent From the Upper Room,” were part of a day that brought more than 100 clergy to a morning session with the archbishop. That afternoon and evening, more than 600 parish staff and volunteer Synod Evangelization Team members gathered to hear about archdiocesan resources and plans for year two, enjoy dinner together and attend a closing Mass with the archbishop as homilist, followed by a reception.
During his homily, the archbishop thanked everyone for participating in the day and in the broader effort, including Auxiliary Bishops Michael Izen and Joseph Williams. “It gives me the opportunity to thank you for all that you are doing,” the archbishop said. “To have this chance, after all these months, to thank you is a great privilege for me.”
“What Happens at Mass: The Real Action” was an afternoon presentation by Sister of Mercy Esther Mary Nickel, director of the Office of Sacred Worship within the Department of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship in the Archdiocese of Detroit.
“It’s a great blessing to have the Holy Spirit prompt this meditation in the archdiocese,” Sister Esther Mary said. “We don’t want to know more, necessarily, but to learn to love more” through the Mass, she said.
Part of that is learning to pray the Mass, she said. “It takes work to sweep the floor. It takes more focus to work and study. It takes still more work to pray. It takes a lot of work to stay with the Mass.”
Deacon Michalak stressed a similar theme of praying through the liturgy. He also emphasized a call to move from the Mass to mission, serving neighbors and those in need while striving to reach people on the margins of society.
The National Eucharistic Revival sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is providing many entry points to understanding Jesus in the Eucharist and the Mass, Deacon Michalak said. It includes four National Eucharistic Pilgrimages crisscrossing the country and converging in Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congress July 17-21.
The pilgrimage’s Marian Route starts at Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota and runs through the Twin Cities, including a Source and Summit procession down Summit Avenue in St. Paul on Memorial Day, May 27.
“This is a public statement that God rules the universe,” Deacon Michalak said, urging everyone to participate. “It does not matter who is elected president of the United States. It does not matter the state of the economy. We are declaring Jesus as Lord. … We are going to honor him. And that’s just to kick off year two.”
