Thousands gather at Lenten Charismatic Encounter
DRAPER — Hundreds of faithful Catholics from all over Utah as well as from Nevada, Idaho and Wyoming, gathered at Juan Diego Catholic High School the weekend of Feb. 29 to be part of the VIII Lenten Encounter 2020 of the Charismatic Renovation of the Diocese of Salt Lake City
The Encounter had three guest speakers for adults and another who joined the Charismatic Youth leaders to guide the youth present on those days.
More than 1,600 people participated at the Encounter in three simultaneous events: one for adults, one for children ages 4 to 12, and a third for youth 13 and older.
The event was celebrated in Spanish with occasional translations into English.
Fr. Sebastien Sasa, parochial vicar of Saint George Parish, Monsignor Ramon Albino Guzman from the Diocese of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico and Julio Evangelist from the Archdiocese of Miami presented themes that were based on the healing of families.
“Our pope has told us to not fall asleep; to keep on going,” said Blanca Madera, a St. Francis Xavier parishioner and a member of the Charismatic Renovation, evoking the words that Fr. Sasa said in one of his presentations.
One of the main objectives of this Encounter was to “respond to the call to faith formation of the Hispanic/Latino community in Utah so they can have a better understanding and a better living through Lent,” said Fr. Jose Barrera, administrator of St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish and spiritual advisor for the Charismatic Renovation.
At the event, participants had the opportunity to experience a Holy Hour, “so the families could have an encounter with Christ alive through the Eucharist; so they can be renewed for Easter,” Fr. Barrera said.
Selso Garcia, a member of the Charismatic Renovation who attended the Encounter, said these events are very important because “It’s hard to be a Hispanic, to be able to speak Spanish (freely) and to live in a state where the predominant religion is not Catholic, so to see that we can come together to these events, with hundreds and hundreds [of people], shows how our Catholic faith is alive here.”
Virginia Quintana, from San Andres Parish in Payson, said that the Encounter underlined the need to have God as the center of every life.
“When families have God as their center, they are good families; they find the strength to go through hardships,” she said.
“Nowadays, personal electronic devices and all the noise that surrounds everyone, especially the youth, make people depend on having a phone and looking at it all day long,” said Quintana adding that there is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding. “Families forget about God, but he never forgets about us, so if we keep it up and have God as the center of our families, everything will work.”
One goal of the Encounter was to awaken the spirit in the youth so “we can strengthen their leadership in our diocese,” Fr. Barrera said.
For the closing Mass of the Encounter, Bishop Oscar A. Solis was the main celebrant. Concelebrating were Msgr. Guzman, Fr. Sasa, Fr. Barrera, and Fr. Jose Fidel Barrera Cruz, administrator of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish .
“I am really happy to be here today, sharing this time full of grace, because we are here all together united as stewards of Jesus Christ,” said Bishop Solis.
Bishop Solis welcomed everyone and each one of his brother priests.
“I am very excited to be celebrating Mass with the Charismatic renovation community because I believe that each one of you is filled with the Holy Spirit. … This community is a great blessing for our local Church in the Diocese of Salt Lake City,” the bishop said, adding that those present were all an inspiration for the Church in Utah.
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