Participating in the Mission of the Holy Spirit

Many languages proclaim what Jesus declares, “Peace be with you”, and we are all sent out into the world with the fire and breath and new life of the Holy Spirit! This is what happens in the fullness of every Mass: we acknowledge and proclaim the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus which brings new life to the world. We enable others to proclaim. We can’t be everywhere, but Jesus empowers us to be where we are and speak words and share actions that bring hope. Some of us are bringing hope, through our faith, in our neighborhood, our school, to family, friends, and strangers.

Here at the Co-Cathedral, we are privileged and gifted to offer support and hope, as a catholic (universal) church. Our global reach touches the lives of brothers and sisters we will probably never meet. But think of a time when someone came to you and recounted their story of how you helped them when they were in need. This kind of experience fills me with humility and joy. Gratitude makes very real the many ways we are able to share gifts and proclaim the “Good News”.

We have been hearing of renewed ways to bring Christ into the lives of people in difficult circumstances in South Sudan. Education in our faith opens children to healing and reconciliation for their futures. New life with breath and fire, the Word spoken with passion and conviction changes lives. This is also true in other places we help support. One of those is the parish of Santa Ana in Huarmaca, Peru.

St. John’s first began offering assistance to Parroquia Santa Ana Huarmaca when Sr. Ruth Snyder was serving there in the 1980’s. One Sunday, Sr. Ruth spoke at all the Masses here at St John’s when she was home on vacation. A yearly donation has been sent to Huarmaca since then. Sr. Ruth has maintained contact with the parish and offers us this update:

“The parish of Santa Ana in Huarmaca, Peru is high in the Andes Mountains. In addition to the town itself, the parish includes 200 outlying villages. At present there are two priests and three Marist sisters to give pastoral care to this very large parish.

Many of the villages can now be reached in the parish pick-up truck or by motorcycle, and the goal this year is to visit each of them at least once during the year. Can you imagine the joy of having the Mass and sacraments celebrated in that once-a-year visit? Meetings are also held in various sectors to prepare the members of the village teams, especially the liturgists and catechists. Many lay leaders collaborate to implement a pastoral plan that strengthens the faith of the people and their commitment to work together to put their faith into action.

This year Huarmaca, along with all of northern Peru, was hit hard by rains and floods, causing damage to the small, hilly plots of farmland and washing out many of the roads and bridges. That, of course, makes reaching the villages an even greater problem.

Within the parish boundaries there are many small health facilities, staffed by health personnel with varied professional training. There are also grade schools in each village and high schools in some of the bigger ones. A Catholic school in Huarmaca serves 586 primary and secondary students.

Those statistics give you an idea of the challenges facing the pastoral team in Huarmaca.

The parish is very grateful for the yearly gift from St. John the Evangelist that has helped them in the past with such things as material for the formation of the catechists, tires for the car and other basic needs. The pastor wrote recently that they would like to have a sound system to use for presenting courses of formation in the villages, as well as a laptop computer and projector. Help is also needed to rebuild or repair a number of the chapels that were damaged by the rains.”

In these ways of global outreach, we are participating in “mission” - Come Holy Spirit!

This ministry is supported through the St. John's Community Outreach Fund.