MADISON — Seminarian César Sánchez Fermín speaks to the presenters during the V Encuentro meeting in Madison. V Encuentro is a four-year process to advance Hispanic ministry in the church in America. See more photos in the Mississippi Catolico this week. (Photo by Elsa Baughman)

By Elsa Baughman
TUPELO/MADISON – The Office of Hispanic Ministry has offered two diocesan Encuentros as part of the national V Encuentro process. The first was Saturday, Oct. 7, at Tupelo St. James Parish. Madison St. Francis of Assisi Parish hosted the second on Saturday, Oct. 21. About 200 people attended each event, many of them youth.
The V Encuentro is a four-year process. It starts at the parish level with teams who receive training to learn how to go into their communities and seek those living in the margins. The point is to find out what issues and concerns people are facing in their specific communities and come up with ways their parishes or dioceses can help address them. The teams then take their results to the diocesan level. The next step is a regional and then national Encuentro. (See page 11 for related story.)
Bishop Joseph Kopacz attended the Encuentro in Madison and concelebrated Mass with four other priests. In his homily, he said that the Catholic Church and the Diocese of Jackson are blessed with the presence of Hispanics in this country. “It is with great joy that I heard today that the Encuentro is in the heart of the mission of our diocese,” he said. “It is very important to inspire the disciples and embrace their diversity. I invite you to live the gospel in your hearts, with your families, in your places of work, in society, always looking for justice, peace, compassion, community and solidarity with our brothers.”
The basic program for the diocesan meetings was the same in both parishes. The first presentation was a short explaination of the Encuentro process, its spirituality and objectives. Participants go through a process of evangelization so they can contribute to the result and seek input from others. The Hispanic Ministry team wanted all Hispanic Catholics to feel welcome and all team members to become authentic missionary disciples.

Speakers also presented the ties between the Encuentro process and the new diocesan Pastoral Priorities. Bishop Joseph Kopacz presented the Priorities early this year. They include a new vision statement to serve others, inspire disciples and embrace diversity. The three priorities focus on creating, inviting and reconciling communities, facilitating the life-long formation of intentional disciples and proclaiming the gospel. In Tupelo, it was addressed by Father Octavio Escobar and in Madison by Maribel Melo.
The second presentation consisted of a personal testimony of conversion and missionary commitment. In Tupelo, it was presented in the form of an interview by Danna Johnson and Sandra Almanza. In Madison, Gerardo Hernandez, a member of the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle, shared how Jesus transformed his life.
Each of the two presentations were followed by small group sessions to discuss the obstacles and needs the parish teams brought to the meeting.
According to the organizers, the most important aspect of this V Encuentro is that Hispanics have been the protagonists in the process – participating actively in the parish groups, visiting the peripheries, sharing their faith and being authentic missionary disciples.

The process invites participants to share their aspirations, dreams and the gifts and talents they can offer in their communities to benefit the kingdom of God.
At the meeting in Madison, needs the groups identified included: youth groups, support and training for families, classes for adults and catechists, childcare, more priests who speak Spanish, and support groups in parishes in times of emergency.
In Tupelo pastoral care of youth, the need to work together with other cultures, the importance of formation classes for all ages were among the concerns.
For Reina Magaña the sessions of the V Encuentro were a process of conversion. “They have given me more confidence to speak in public and to see the reality around me,” she said. “Today I feel more confident about myself.”
Ana Mora de Lange, a member of Madison St. Francis of Assisi Parish, mentioned that her parish is working to embrace diversity with events such as “the Taste of St. Francis” in which families prepare food from their countries of origin. “This makes us feel that in the church we are all one body, no matter where we come from.” She also noted that two years ago the parish began celebrating the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe and offering a Mexican Advent celebration called las Posadas in December.
Among other successful practices in their parishes attendees mentioned the Christian Family Movement, the prayer group Emmaus, catechism classes, and praise celebrations.
Eva Sanchez, from Jackson St. Therese Parish, shared that she was very happy to be participating in the V Encuentro. “It has helped me to deepen my faith and be a witness of the love of God,” she said.
By the end of the sessions, the groups selected the issues most important to them to send to the next step in the process. Their issues included: youth ministry, evangelization, vocation promotion, creation of inviting and reconciling communities and continuous life-long formation of disciples.
The diocesan Hispanic ministry team will present the results of these sessions first to Bishop Kopacz, then they and a team of local delegates will participate at the regional level in February 2018 and finally in the National Encuentro in September of the same year. Later, a national report will be submitted to the U.S. bishops.
Maria Susana de Mejía, a member of Corinth St. James Parish, participated in the Encuentro in Tupelo. “I liked everything, from the animation by seminarian Cesar Sanchez Fermin, Father Octavio’s presentation, the short dynamic played by the two women in the form of an interview and the sharing in small groups. The Lord amazed me,” she said.
For Mayra Martinez from Tupelo St. James Parish, the Encuentro was an unforgettable experience. “To be able to share with people from other communities, exchange our views and experiences, learn about each one’s needs and seeing how we can work on them was very important,” she said.
Sister Maria Elena Méndez, MGSpS, from the Hispanic Ministry team for the diocese, thanked all those, from the bishop to the pastors to the people in the parishes, for all they have contributed to the process.
“We have a lot of work to do on the basis of these needs and the diocesan priorities,” she said. “The V Encuentro has helped us to see the specific needs of Hispanics in this diocese and ways to integrate solutions in concrete ways through the Pastoral Priorities.”
(Editor’s note: Sister Maria Elena Méndez collaborated with this story. See more photos in this week’s Mississippi Católico.)