Anita Draper
Catholic Herald staff
Bishop James P. Powers’ Pastoral Letter on Evangelization, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you,” encourages parishes and individuals to strengthen their relationship with God and urges them to “rally close to each other in genuine Christian community” (25).
Since the release of the letter in May 2023, the seeds of evangelization have been planted throughout the Diocese of Superior, and now officials hope to see them grow.
Chris Hurtubise, director of the Diocese of Superior’s Office of Evangelization & Missionary Discipleship, said while parishes are eager to start “kicking it into gear,” knowing which direction to move toward realizing this vision can be intimidating. His office, created a few years ago to spread a spirit of evangelization throughout the diocese, is here to help.
“Let’s make a game plan,” he said.
The Parish Mission Apostolate is one strategy. Launched by Hurtubise at a clergy workshop, the apostolate includes a series of pre-designed two-night parish missions, featuring diocesan speakers and diocesan worship leaders, that clustered parishes can team up and host together.
“God willing … We will start hearing from parishes who are interested,” Hurtubise said.
The program was piloted at St. Joseph in Amery in September.
“It went amazingly well,” Hurtubise added. “Over 200 people came both nights.”
Hurtubise himself spoke at the event, and Rice Lake native and contemporary Catholic musician Aly Aleigha led worship. Eight priests offered the Sacrament of Reconciliation; there was also adoration and, Hurtubise commented, “the line to confession was constant.”
Fr. Jerry Harris, pastor of the clustered parishes in Almena and Balsam Lake, was “super on fire about it,” Hurtubise said. The event took place in Amery, but the two parishes took turns hosting, rotating responsibility for the dinner and organization.
Fr. Harris said he immediately saw the value of the program.
“I wanted to do it because I was working on the committee with Christopher with the Parish Mission Apostolate and saw the necessity of having this type of ‘encounter retreat’ where people are welcomed and given witness of the power of God in their lives at the parish level,” Fr. Harris explained. “Our cluster parishes of St. Joseph in Amery and Our Lady of the Lakes in Balsam Lake have been consciously working to welcome people into deeper prayer experiences.”
It’s not just a one-time event, Fr. Harris added.
“The Parish Mission Apostolate encourages follow-up after the retreat,” he said. “We have been doing that by personal invitation and follow-up emails and phone calls. We are inviting people to book and Bible studies. We are planning a follow-up retreat later this year.”
At the diocesan level, designing the Parish Mission Apostolate requires approaching prospective speakers – a selection of priests, deacons and dedicated lay leaders – and asking them to undergo training and agree to give a certain number of talks. Hurtubise’s office would like to offer the program to parishes for three years.
“The beautiful thing is, it’s all speakers from our diocese,” he added. “The musicians are from our diocese.” The beauty of “people sharing their gifts” is that it’s also an opportunity for “utilizing our resources.”
Currently, Hurtubise is meeting with parishes and asking them to sign on.
“It’s a diving board to the pools of discipleship that I’m hoping more parishes will create,” he said.
“I would definitely recommend other parishes offer this Parish Mission Apostolate,” Fr. Harris commented. “Our speaker, Christopher Hurtubise, is faith-filled and inspiring, the music resources are beautiful and can touch people’s souls. We had Aly Aleigha—amazing. Each evening we closed with adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with individual confessions.”
To make adoration a more tactile experience, attendees were encouraged to ‘touch the hem of his garment,’ based on the Gospel of Matthew (9:20-21), where Jesus heals the woman with the hemorrhage after she touches his clothing.
“At the parish retreat, we placed a priest stole around the base of the monstrance which contains the Blessed Sacrament, and a kneeler was placed in front of the monstrance so that stole draped over the top of the kneeler,” Fr. Harris said. “People were invited to come and ‘touch the hem of his garment’ during private confessions. It was powerful. Many people told us how they were moved by this experience.”
The Parish Mission Apostolate is suited to parishes large and small, Hurtubise said, and the camaraderie and relationship-building it fostered between parishioners in Amery and Balsam Lake was an unexpected benefit.
“We have (been) blessed with this prayer experience and are praying as to where the Holy Spirit wants us to go, knowing each parish will be different,” Fr. Harris concluded.
