ELLICOTT CITY – The Archdiocese of Baltimore’s annual Pastoral Staff Day began Sept. 18 with a simple but piercing question from Father John Riccardo and the Acts XXIX team: “Where are you?”
For priests, deacons, women religious and parish staff – gathered amid recent parish consolidations, bankruptcy proceedings in the archdiocese, deepening national and church divisions and violence across the country – the answers came quickly:
“Overwhelmed.”
“Like ducks paddling furiously.”
“The Lord just wants to breathe hope into us today and to remind us, God, right now, is not nervous,” Father Riccardo told the 570 attendees. He recalled the Gospel story of the storm at sea, where the apostles panic as waves rise and Jesus sleeps in the back of the boat.
“Jesus wakes up, he turns, and he kind of looks at John and goes, ‘What’s the problem?’” Father Riccardo said. “And I think he wants to say the same thing to you and me. ‘What’s the problem? Why are you so stressed? Why are you overwhelmed? Don’t you know who I am? Don’t you know what I’ve done? Don’t you know what I can do? Do you really know me? Or have I become a theological abstraction? Because I am in the boat with you.’”
The Acts XXIX team – Father Riccardo, Mary Guilfoyle, Albert Faraj and Rick Popp – traveled from Michigan to lead the day of renewal. The nonprofit offers retreats, programs, podcasts and videos aimed at evangelization and helping people encounter the Gospel. Their visit to Baltimore had been delayed since February, when a snow storm forced the cancellation of the annual pastoral retreat.
Father Riccardo emphasized that his team came not as consultants, but as “witnesses.”
“We’re not experts at anything except maybe God’s mercy,” he said. “We’re witnesses to what can happen when we put on new ways of thinking.”
He warned against becoming numb to the very mysteries at the center of the faith.
“Being professionally religious is super dangerous,” Father Riccardo said. “There’s nothing worse than getting used to the magnificent. I know for me sometimes in my life the Gospels become ordinary. That’s really dangerous.”
Father Riccardo set three goals for the day: to catch God’s vision, to be renewed and open, and to leave with confidence in God’s plan.
“God knows your own unique circumstances and wants to speak into it. He wants to show you what he is asking you to do,” he said. “That’s what we want to leave you with, the confidence that we can leave here and discern God’s plan.”
The priest emphasized the fundamental importance of prayer for leaders of parishes and other Catholic organizations to discern where God is calling them.
Archbishop William E. Lori, who received warm applause after admitting that he, too, has felt overwhelmed, spoke candidly about the struggle of balancing ministry with prayer.
“You think it’s all on your shoulders and so what happens? The first thing to go is prayer because we’re so darn busy,” the archbishop said. “And so, the holy hour that you set aside, well, I can’t do it again because I gotta get busy and get X, Y and Z done.”
Deadlines, he acknowledged, are real – but prayer must remain central.
“It is important to consecrate ourselves anew to the Lord every day,” he said, “by praising him and giving thanks for his gifts to experience his love for us.”
Auxiliary Bishop Adam J. Parker also urged hope.
“There is a shift that is happening in our county right now – a shift in culture,” he said. “It is important to keep the people we’ve got and to reach out to those no longer with us, and to be ready when they return.”
Father Riccardo reminded attendees that the apostles themselves began with nothing but faith. They faced what must have seemed overwhelming obstacles – facing daily persecution and roadblocks to evangelization.
“They were filled with joy and hope,” he said. They had great confidence in their Lord, in their message, in their creativity and fertility of the church. Do you?” he asked.
Citing St. Joan of Arc’s fearless reply before leading troops into battle – “I was born for this” – Father Riccardo challenged listeners to claim the same confidence in God’s call.
Attendees described the day as both stirring and encouraging. This year’s crowd was the biggest ever for a Pastoral Staff Day.
“This guy is impressive,” said Rosanne Mooney of St. Ignatius, Hickory. “He has a gift. It feels like he is filled with the Holy Spirit. He’s a dynamic speaker.”
Sarah Heil, of St. Joseph in Emmitsburg, said she had already seen the impact of Acts XXIX in her former parish in Pennsylvania.
“It was so great to hear him and his team in person,” Heil said. “We will bring this back and ask the Lord what he wants us to do, what his plan is.”
Acts XXIX takes its name from the unwritten continuation of the Acts of the Apostles, reminding believers that the church’s mission is ongoing and that all are called to live the “next chapter” of evangelization today.
“When we began discerning who should lead this year’s pastoral staff day, the Acts XXIX team immediately came to mind,” said Edward Herrera, executive director of the archdiocese’s Institute for Evangelization, which organized the event. “They challenge us to stretch ourselves, to trust more deeply and to believe boldly in God’s abundant faithfulness.”
Email Katie V. Jones at kjones@CatholicReview.org.
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