Charismatic Congress draws Hispanic faith community

IC photo/Laura Vallejo

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Bishop Oscar A. Solis celebrates Mass at the Charismatic Family Congress, which drew hundreds of participants from across the diocese to the Skaggs Catholic Center July 30-31.

DRAPER — Hundreds of Hispanic Catholic families from all over the Diocese of Salt Lake City gathered at the Skaggs Catholic Center in Draper to participate in the Charismatic Family Congress, which was July 30-31.

With the theme “Family integrity, a road to sanctity guided by the Holy Spirit,” Jose Juan Valdez, associate director of Adult and Family Evangelization and Discipleship at Christ the Good Shepherd Catholic Community in Texas, and his wife Alba Iris gave presentations to the adults, specifically addressing married couples. The talks to the youth were given by Daniel Godinez and Caro Ramirez, a married couple who have worked in youth ministry in Alabama, in conjunction with Lorena Quiles and Nayara Moreno.

The event also offered opportunities for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, meditation and prayer.

Welcoming the participants were Father Javier Virgen, pastor of St. Joseph the Worker Parish, who serves as spiritual advisor of the Charismatic Renovation; Deacon Honorio Moreno, who is assigned to St. Joseph Parish in Ogden; and Maria Cruz Gray, director of the diocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry. The music ministry was provided by the Choir of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

“This is the Holy Spirit’s doing,” said Fr. Virgen about the hundreds of families gathered at the congress.

The Holy Spirit moved the hearts of the People of God who were present, “using their talents and experience with the desires to go out again to fulfill God’s will,” Fr. Virgen said.

In one of his presentations, Valdez said that the pandemic brought many challenges and left wounds on many families. “Some people are still mourning, some kids are still dealing with the post-pandemic effects,” he said, adding that the Congress was the perfect opportunity to heal and to return to the path of faith.

“This event is a great opportunity to re-encounter, to reunite, to get out and see a faith community that also lived what everybody lived, but are standing and willing to go forward,” he said. “The hope is here and is alive.”

With presentations such as “Healthy communication between you and me,” “The family before and after the pandemic,” and “Healing the past,” among others, Valdez encouraged families to live in harmony through forgiveness and reconciliation.

Encountering hundreds of families that were hungry for God at the Congress was rewarding, Deacon Moreno said.

“I hope that these families that have come here will start chatting with their spouses and their families more, that they will revisit all the themes that are important for the families and that they will search for all the resources that they need to become stronger,” Deacon Moreno said.

“Our Lord is always calling us and he is always showing that he can work through and in us, so seeing all these people getting out with all their needs, with the need for God, means hope, means joy,” he said, adding that he hoped the Congress sowed many good seeds in the families who attended.

Ramirez and Godinez said that talking to all the youth who were present at the Charismatic Congress was a blessing. The couple understands that God has made them an instrument to guide the youth, a huge responsibility that they love, and they “want the youth to experience what it is to live with God present in their lives,” they said.

Adolescence is one of the most vulnerable stages of human life, and “youth live and confront all types of information that comes from all places, and being part of the evangelization process of this Congress helped them to know that God is always with them. … They are not alone, he is with them,” Ramirez and Godinez said.

Bishop Oscar A. Solis, who presided at closing Mass, said he was happy to see all the families at the Congress.

“I want to thank God for this occasion, where we are all reunited as a faith community here in Utah,” he said, adding that he could feel the joy of everyone gathered for the Mass.

Joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, Bishop Solis pointed out, and “When God is with us here in the Mass, in this Congress, in our hearts, it comes naturally that we jump, that we dance, that we worship God. He is the one that takes care of us as his children. He is always telling us and showing us his love.”

At the end of the congress, Deacon Moreno said that God had given those attending the congress an opportunity for family members to re-encounter each other, “knowing that we all have needs and challenges” and “accompany each other through this journey.”