Seminarians teach religion to older children at St. Norbert Church in Marked Tree in mid-July. Five seminarians spent the summer going to different parishes around the diocese to assist as needed.
By Armando Rios Associate Editor
It was a summer of renewed faith and fervor for members of various small parishes around the Diocese of Little Rock and a team of seminarians dispatched to those parishes.
It resulted in a large number of Hispanics being welcomed back into the church at St. Norbert Church in Marked Tree, where more than 150 people packed into church for a Sunday Mass celebrated by Father Mark Wood and including the children's choir from Blessed Sacrament Church in Jonesboro.
Around the diocese, the seminarians did what was needed, including planning and holding a vacation bible school, leading Scripture study and catechism classes for young and old alike.
The five seminarians -- Alejandro Puello, Steven Gadberry, Mike Johns, Juan Guido and Enrique Castro -- came away from the events affirmed in their decision to become priests, Msgr. Scott Friend said.
It created more work for Father Wood, which he saw as a good thing. In the Marked Tree mission, parishioners received the sacraments of baptism, First Communion and confirmation. A wedding is set for Sept. 20. Another is planned for December.
Diocesan seminarians can be found at different parishes during the summer, but typically, in the larger parishes, said Msgr. Scott Friend, diocesan vicar general and director vocations and seminarians office. This time they went to smaller parishes.
"It was really the bishop's vision to do this," Msgr. Friend said.
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor heard priests talk about problems in getting religious education in small parishes and decided to form a team of seminarians to combat the problem. Deacon Chuck Marino of Springdale did most of the legwork, contacting parishes to see where the seminarians could go and giving the seminarians some training before they went out.
"It was a great idea because it got these guys into the parishes they normally would not stay in," Msgr. Friend said. "They commented to me that in Magnolia they had not had a seminarian there in maybe 15 years, a long, long time. Giving these parishes an experience of these young men who are really trying to discern the Lord's call and the call to the priesthood and to be able to experience it was a great thing for them."
The seminarians also received a good experience, envisioning what it will be like when they become priests.
"In Arkansas we do have to be missionaries," Msgr. Friend said. "We have so many people moving into our state, we have to think that way because you can be in a parish, somewhere like Springdale, and have over 18 different countries represented there so you are a missionary without ever leaving the parish.
"What they are doing is something that is needed," he said. "I was really proud of them the way they kind of entered into that and experienced it."
The experience also affected the seminarians, Msgr. Friend added.
"All of them came back and told me that they were really moved by the experience, it helped them really get a focus for their vocation," he added. "It gave them more of a solid footing in terms of 'Wow, this is where I am going to be.' They now have faces for the diocese, the people so they saw the need of the diocese and for priests as well.
"I am really excited about the prospects for that in the future," Msgr. Friend said. "Hopefully it will challenge young people to consider the priesthood and pray about it."
Prior to the seminarians arriving in Jonesboro, Sister Elaine Willett, OSB, who is in charge of Hispanic ministry at Blessed Sacrament Church, gathered a group of 12 volunteers. She took a group to the Marked Tree area, while another group went to the Paragould area. There, they took the little information they had about Hispanics living in the area and knocked on doors, talking to them and asking if they knew other Hispanics and invited them to St. Norbert.
By the time the seminarians arrived, the volunteers already had the students ready at Marked Tree. The children were divided up into two groups and the adults were in another group for classes. Classes were held in two-hour long sessions on Fridays and Saturdays and on the third week added another two-hour class for children before the Sunday Mass.
Classes have continued since the seminarians left, with the help of the volunteers, she said. On Aug. 22, Father Wood celebrated Mass where they celebrated six baptisms, 20 first communions, an adult confirmation and two marriage anniversaries.
Before one Mass, Father Wood said he heard confessions for an hour and a half. In addition, 10 couples are preparing to be married by the Church.
"It has just been great over there," Sister Elaine said.
A large number of Hispanics have returned to the Church, she added.
The children and adults were so impressed with the children's choir from Blessed Sacrament that they are starting their own, she said.
"The seminarians did a great job," Sister Elaine said.
Other parishes served by seminarians this summer included St. Louis, Camden; Immasculate Heart of Mary, Magnolia, St. Agnes, Mena; Sacred Heart, Morrilton; and St. Mary, Paragould; Our Lady of Guadalupe, Glenwood; Blessed Sacrament, Jonesboro; and Holy Redeemer, ElDorado.
"It was a fantastic experience," said seminarian Mike Johns of Jonesboro. "I was able to be on an evangelical team with two other seminarians, we traveled around to about seven different parishes, stayed two weeks in each parish. It was, show up and do whatever parish needed done. We did a lot of vacation bible school, a lot of adult Scripture study, sacramental preparation. It was a fantastic experience."
John said he saw two purposes of his summer assignment.
"God is using me as his instrument to really fulfill some of the needs of his people. I think that was the first thing, being an instrument of God. The second was the deep love for the people of God. I met so many fantastic people, great people; it helped me grow in my vocation. It has been affirming," Johns added.
Seminarian Enrique Castro of Little Rock saw how difficult it can be for priests who have more than one parish. Castro said he saw the great need for priests, the need that people have for someone to speak to them about God, especially among Hispanics. Many are changing denominations because there is no one to attend to them, and many times those who attend to them are limited in their ability to speak to them in their language.
But it inspired him to continue his vocation to help these Catholics.
Castro said it helped him learn everything that a priest has to do for parishioners and learned of the yearning people have for God. It also taught him that he needs his own spiritual nourishment in order to become an instrument of God.
"I was the one who learned more," he said in Spanish. "This experience was good for me, my vocation, I received so much more from the people."
Seminarian Alejandro Puello of Paragould said in addition to vacation bible schools and Bible studies, they also visited the homebound and nursing homes, taught catechesis to adults, did sacramental preparation mostly in the Jonesboro area, and in some places did apologetics teaching. There was also a confirmation retreat in Camden.
"I learned more about the diocese, the parishes and different people," Puello said, slipping easily between English and Spanish.
"Sometimes, one hears about the call to love the people of God, it is easy to say, but acting on it and being Christ-like to them. This summer I learned God was teaching me, and I feel that I learned the lesson of how to love the people of God and our Church," Puello said. "The faith of the people is very much alive, our people are hungry to learn more about their faith and to live a faithful life, that their priests teach them about their faith."
Puello said he became much more at ease in being able to talk to people frankly about faith and becoming more Christ-like.
