During the Dec. 1, 2020 virtual Day of Discipleship, Dr. Jeff Andrini, (left), director of the Office of Evangelization and Discipleship, watches while guest speaker Marcel LeJeune (right) gives his first presentation.
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Marcel LeJeune: Catholics ‘exist in order to evangelize’
Annual ‘Day of Discipleship’ goes virtual, addresses ‘Catholic identity crisis’
BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC
On Dec. 1, 2020, parishes from around the Diocese of Owensboro gathered virtually for a “Day of Discipleship” inspired by the U.S. bishops’ 2017 document, “Living as Missionary Disciples.”
The day featured guest speaker Marcel LeJeune, founder and president of Catholic Missionary Disciples, based out of College Station, Texas.
“As you know, the entire diocese has been intentionally working on growing as Missionary Disciples for the past three years,” said Dr. Jeff Andrini, director of the diocese’s Office of Evangelization and Discipleship, as he introduced the event, held via the Zoom video conferencing platform
Dr. Andrini explained that three diocesan gatherings have taken place over the past three years – focused on themes of Encounter, Accompany and Community.
“And today is ‘Send,’” he said.
The past three gatherings had taken place in-person, but the Dec. 1 event utilized a virtual format due to COVID-19 pandemic circumstances.
Some parishes gathered with their staff to view the virtual presentations, and other parish staff signed in from home. At one point there were more than 180 people signed into the Zoom meeting.
Dr. Andrini explained that the diocese’s Hispanic community has been engaging with these themes of “Encounter, Accompany, Community and Send” through the 2017-2020 V Encuentro process – the theme being “Missionary Disciples: Witnesses of God’s Love.”
He added that while the Dec. 1 event was being presented only in English, plans are underway “to make sure these same themes are being fostered in Hispanic communities in our parishes and across the diocese.”
An opening prayer was led by Deacon Chris Gutiérrez, director of the Office of Hispanic/Latino Ministry, and Susan Montalvo-Gesser, director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Owensboro. They were followed by Bishop William F. Medley, who gave a keynote address.
Bishop Medley recalled that the last discipleship day happened on March 12, 2020, mere days before Kentucky shut down businesses, places of worship and other entities in light of the spreading COVID-19 pandemic.
The bishop said that his memories of the past three gatherings “centered on the people – on you.”
“So here I am, talking to a computer screen, and I’m glad to do it, and I’m glad that you are ‘here’ with me,” said Bishop Medley.
However, the bishop admitted that he has been “really Zoomed out,” – that he has become exhausted by the frequent virtual meetings taking place instead of traditional, pre-pandemic in-person gatherings.
On Dec. 1, 2020, the Diocese of Owensboro’s Day of Discipleship takes place virtually. (Top row) Presenters Deacon Chris Gutiérrez, director of the Office of Hispanic/Latino Ministry, who helped lead the opening prayer; Dr. Jeff Andrini, director of the Office of Evangelization and Discipleship, who hosted the event; and Danny May, director of the Office of Marriage and Family Life, who moderated participant questions. (Bottom row) Susan Montalvo-Gesser, director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Owensboro, who helped lead the opening prayer; and Bishop William F. Medley, who gave a keynote address. ZOOM SCREENSHOT
A few weeks prior, he had participated in approximately 10 hours of Zoom during the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ annual fall meeting, which was held virtually this year.
At one of the meetings, Bishop Medley commented to his fellow bishops that the virtual platform lacked “real presence.”
“That was not an inspired comment, but it was a very Catholic comment,” Bishop Medley said to the Dec. 1 participants. “As a Catholic, I immediately recognized that I had spoken a powerful truth. The words ‘real presence’ are theological in our Catholic tradition. But before being theological, they’re simply true.”
The bishop explained that Catholics speak of “real presence” to describe Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. In other words, for Catholics, Christ’s presence in the Eucharist is not just a symbol, he said, since “we are Eucharistic people.”
“Zoom can be great, (but) it can be no substitute for human interaction and the community that flows from that,” said Bishop Medley. “But in a time of pandemic, in a time of ‘super-spreading,’ we do what we can.”
In his multiple presentations throughout the day-long event, LeJeune spoke on what he calls a “Catholic identity crisis.”
He said that in 21st-century society, it is common for people to take on a label of “I’m Catholic,” but have never stepped foot in a church except for a wedding or a funeral.
“Statistics tell us that we are suffering a crisis of discipleship,” said LeJeune. “Most people who call themselves Catholics have never had a transformative encounter with God that led to conversion.”
“We as a Church need to recapture what it means to be Catholic,” he said, explaining that all Catholics are meant to be missionaries – since they are all called to evangelize.
He quoted Pope Paul VI in his 1975 apostolic exhortation, “Evangelii Nuntiandi,” in which the pope stated: “Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize.”
Marcel LeJeune was the Dec. 1, 2020 speaker for the Diocese of Owensboro’s virtual Day of Discipleship. COURTESY OF MARCEL LEJEUNE
In other words, said LeJeune, Catholics can say that “As a Catholic, I exist in order to evangelize.”
In his conclusion for the day, Dr. Andrini cited Sherry Weddell (author of the book “Forming Intentional Disciples”) who said that the majority of adult Catholics “do not believe that they can have a real relationship with God.”
“We don’t want that to be the case in our diocese,” said Dr. Andrini. “We want people to recognize that a personal relationship with God – with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit, is real, is necessary for discipleship.”
Dr. Andrini added that the Office of Evangelization and Discipleship hopes to continue having an annual event like these past four gatherings.
“I’m excited that you were here to share this day, and just thankful to the Lord and to all the people that make something like this happen,” he said.
Originally printed in the January 2021 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
