Florida Catholic | Jubilee Day for Evangelization

Laity told: Be ‘alarm clocks’ for God

ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FLORIDA CATHOLIC MIAMI BUREAU EDITOR

Published: 11.08.07

Father Paul Vuturo was the keynote speaker in English at the Jubilee Day for Evangelization held Oct. 27 at St. Thomas University.

Father Paul Vuturo delivers the keynote address in English at the Jubilee Day for Evangelization held Oct. 27 at St. Thomas University.
ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC

MIAMI GARDENS | In his inimitable style, retired Auxiliary Bishop Agustín Román preached a parable during the Jubilee Day for Evangelization held Oct. 27 at St. Thomas University.

He recalled meeting a married couple around the time of the 1980 Mariel boatlift who were having a terrible problem. Having just arrived from Cuba, they had to work hard to make ends meet. The husband worked all day. The wife worked all night.

They did not have enough money to buy an alarm clock, so the wife would wake the husband up when she got home in the morning. One morning she arrived a little earlier than usual and decided to lie down and rest.

Unfortunately, she fell asleep. The husband missed his ride to work and was fired from his job.

The moral of the story, according to Bishop Román: “Two people who are asleep cannot wake each other up.”

The same applies to the Catholic Church, he said. “If the clergy are asleep and the laity are asleep, they can dream but neither one can wake up. And if the laity are asleep, the world cannot wake up.”

Even though he referred to his listeners as “the Christians who are awake,” he urged them to be “alarm clocks” for others and adopt the “restless spirit” of missionaries who are never content with the flock at their doorstep but are constantly seeking to reach more people.

Being Catholic means not being content with “the few and the good” who come to Mass on Sunday, or the even fewer who are involved in parish ministries, Bishop Román said. Catholic means universal, so the church must be for all.

“The multitudes are not in church,” he said, comparing attendance at Sunday Mass with attendance at a sporting event where, he noted, people have to pay to get in.

“We seem satisfied with what we have. But, oh, how many we’re missing,” Bishop Román said. “We may be happy because we’re dreaming. But Christians have to wake up. The Gospel is for everyone.”

Bishop Román was one of three keynote speakers at the conference, which is sponsored annually by the offices of lay ministry and adult faith formation.

Because of the archdiocese’s 50th anniversary, the conference had a jubilee-related theme, “Initiation to mission.” It featured three discussion panels — one in each of the languages spoken extensively in the archdiocese — whose members described how they bring the Gospel to others in south Florida.

“We were hoping to give concrete examples of mission work going on in the archdiocese,” explained Cheryl Whapham, director of adult faith formation and lay ministry.

The keynote speakers in English and Creole were Father Paul Vuturo, pastor of St. Bartholomew Parish in Miramar, and Father Reginald Jean-Mary, pastor of Notre Dame d’Haiti Parish in Miami, respectively.

Father Vuturo echoed Bishop Román’s views when he told his listeners that “St. Bartholomew is the largest church in our section of Miramar. The second-largest church are the non-practicing Catholics.”

“Part of it has been our failure in evangelization,” Father Vuturo said, noting that the church “baptized everybody” but they were “poorly catechized, poorly evangelized.”

“Without witness, the Gospel makes no sense,” Father Vuturo added, exhorting his listeners to preach the faith with their lives, as St. Francis of Assisi urged his followers.

“You will touch (people) like the pope can’t touch them,” Father Vuturo said, alluding to the words of Archbishop John C. Favalora, who had led the nearly 200 participants in morning prayer at the beginning of the conference.

“We need the hands and the hearts of people like you,” the archbishop said. “How necessary you are for the work of the church. You can get to the places where priests can’t get to.”

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Laity told: Be ‘alarm clocks’ for God

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