The morning was in English and the afternoon in Spanish. All of it was joined together by time for Eucharistic Adoration with prayers in Spanish, Latin, and English, and two talks (one in English and the other in Spanish) by Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison.
This was “Disciple Day with Bishop Hying,” an event held earlier this year at Cathedral Parish in Madison.
“It was beautiful,” said Stacy Blang, the young adult ministry and small group coordinator at Cathedral Parish. “We don’t really want to be separated into two groups, but language can be a barrier to more unity at times, so to have something like a combined Eucharistic Adoration time, with Exposition and Benediction, we were able to come together to pray with each other in the presence of our Lord.”
Each half-day included a hot meal and fellowship, the sharing of testimonials, small group discussion, and participation in Lectio Divina.
“This day was a great highlight of Phase II [of Go Make Disciples] so far for our parishioners,” said Blang. “And they can’t wait to do something similar again. The Hispanic community appreciates that they are recognized.”
A unique challenge
Formed by the merger of three parishes — St. Raphael, Holy Redeemer, and St. Patrick — and all located within a few blocks of Capitol Square, the parish tends to attract people from all over the county for various reasons.
“One reason is language,” said Blang. “Holy Redeemer was the first parish church in the diocese to have weekly Mass in Spanish, and we still have a large Spanish-speaking population with daily Spanish Masses now.”
But whether the people are there for the Spanish Masses, Msgr. Kevin Holmes’ homilies, or the young adult ministries, the fact remains that while parishioners tend to be highly motivated and engaged, they do not have a stable geographical connection to the parish nor to each other.
“We have some parishioners who live within the geographical territory of the parish, but we struggle to make inroads among the neighborhood population,” Blang said.
Starting Phase II
“One new change since Phase II is that our pastoral council focuses on Go Make Disciples-related topics now,” said Blang. “The Hispanic community has met and re-formed a pastoral council and has established a prayer group, a group for needs of the community, and a St. Vincent de Paul Group.”
In September, beginning Phase II early, the parish launched “Belong & Connect”.
“We encouraged people to pick one of our three ‘paths’ to grow as a more intentional disciple and connect with each other,” said Blang.
These paths include joining the RCIA/adult faith formation program run by Deacon Chris Schmelzer. A second option involves the opportunity to participate in small discipleship groups called ReachMore formation. This provides formation and training to become a more intentional and missionary disciple. The third path, called “Into the Depths,” allows people to grow in their spiritual life through prayer and the wisdom of the saints.
“The first half at least of this year of Phase II is focused on growing in holiness and becoming a more intentional disciple,” said Blang. “Then the second half will have more practical skills on how to be more of a missionary disciple. Of course, we were already doing this [through] . . . the Evangelical Catholic process, but now we will have some skills training on a larger scale for the whole parish.”
She added that “people are generally excited about Go Make Disciples, and they like that the whole diocese is doing it, and they are a part of something bigger.”