The ministry involved with implementing Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s 2022 pastoral letter “You Will Be My Witnesses, Gathered and Sent From the Upper Room” does not aspire to be a quick fix for evangelization.
Rather “it is a cultural shift,” said Laura Haraldson, the facilitator of the implementation in the archdiocese’s Office of Synod Evangelization, told host Patrick Conley on this week’s episode of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show.
The first year of the implementation resulted in a staggering number of small groups: there are 1,200 active small groups in the archdiocese with at least 16,000 participants — numbers which are likely low due to gaps in reporting.
But the work of small groups is just beginning, Haraldson said. They will have an essential role to pray in the second year of the implementation, which focuses on the mystery of the Mass and the Eucharist.
“The true rollout of (small groups) is going to take more like three to five years, and so small groups continue in the parishes and become really that foundation (and) the vehicle for everything that comes next,” Haraldson said.
According to the Parish Evangelization Cell System (PECS) model, each small group meeting includes a teaching moment. In year one, those moments have been diverse topics in the faith, from Mary to types of prayer. This year, small groups are encouraged to include growth in understanding the Mass and the Eucharist, Haraldson said, though they also can pick other topics.
“If you just spend a little bit more time in Mass this year, regardless of who you are, and take a little bit more attention to certain moments — maybe just … open your eyes and see what the priest is doing in a new way, or hear the words of the prayers that are so familiar to us in a new way — then the Lord is going to move in your life,” Haraldson said.
The second year’s focus on the Mass and Eucharist comes in the midst of the National Eucharistic Revival, which will culminate in the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage and Congress this summer. This timing, Haraldson said, could only be credited to “the brilliance of the Holy Spirit.”
To hear more about year two implementation plans and what this initiative will look like in the future, as well as how to join one of the 1,200 small groups in the archdiocese, tune into the “Practicing Catholic” episode that debuts at 9 p.m. May 3 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and repeats at 1 p.m. May 4 and 2 p.m. May 5.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the program also includes a discussion with Father Mark Pavlak ahead of his new assignment as vocations director for the archdiocese. Also, Deacons Francis Floeder and Philip Conklin share their journeys as they prepare to be ordained with 11 other priestly ordinands May 25 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.
Listen to interviews after they have aired at archspm.org/faith-and-discipleship/practicing-catholic or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.
