Go, meet, learn, praise: Catechetical Day 2015
Monday, October 12, 2015
Peter Ductram
We are thrilled to announce the annual Catechetical Conference 2015 of the Archdiocese of Miami which will be held on Saturday, Oct. 24, at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, 2801 SW. 12 St., Fort Lauderdale.
We are celebrating 37 years of conferences! This year’s theme is “Healing Grace, Promise, and Joy: A Church which goes forth with open heart!”
For many of you, this gathering is an event relished and looked forward to from year to year. For others who are first-time attendees, we hope you find it an experience that captivates and renews your catechetical mission.
This year we will be honoring three amazing women: Vilma Angulo and Sister Joan Leo Kehn for their lifetime service as catechetical leaders; and Rose Young, catechist at St. Anthony in Fort Lauderdale, whose ministry exemplifies the standards of catechetical ministry excellence.
We will also celebrate the Year of Consecrated Life. All men and women whose lives have been dedicated to formation will be honored during the opening Eucharistic ceremony.
Come join us as we honor these amazing leaders. (Click here for the complete conference schedule.)
2015 Esperanza Ginoris Award
The Esperanza Ginoris Award honors persons or teams who best exemplify the standards of excellence in catechetical ministry advocated by the Office of Catechesis, and who can serve as models for catechesis in the Archdiocese of Miami.
Rose Young
Rose has been sharing her faith in St. Anthony’s parish religious education program since 1993. She is a graduate of the archdiocesan Lay Ministry program. As part of her apostolate, and in consultation with her pastor, Rose assumed the baptismal preparation ministry in the parish. She coordinated and presented the initial parent meetings and developed the follow-up baptismal catechesis model that was emerging during those years.
Rose Young: Esperanza Ginoris Award 2015
When she was unable to commit to full time catechist because of work or illness, she was ever ready to be a substitute whenever one was needed. Rose never refused the opportunity to share her faith with the boys and girls in St. Anthony Parish and School. She brought the presence of Our Lord in her quiet, gentle, spiritual self to whatever she touched.
Through the years, in addition to her daily Mass attendance and daily rosary group, Rose continued learning and experiencing the joy of growing in her faith. She attended special prayer services and Bible classes and completed online courses in Catholic Home Study Service. Rose never said no to an opportunity to learn and serve.
Presently, much to the joy of the faculty and staff in the parish religious education program, Rose has resumed teaching. She accepted the challenge of preparing older children for the sacraments. The children in her group have had many challenges — some physical, some emotional and some intellectual. Because of her gentleness and love of God, the program was able to welcome them and the parish was able to meet the needs of these exceptional children and their parents’ desire for them to receive the sacraments.
Rose exudes love of God, love of others. Through the years, in the midst of many obstacles, she has maintained, grown, developed and enriched her own faith and shared herself, her time, and her talent with others. Her words are filled with faith. Her actions, whether she is bringing Eucharist to the homebound or to those gathered, are filled with the gait of our Lord. (Written by Patricia Solenski, director of religious education at St. Anthony Church)
2015 Lifetime Catechetical Leadership Award
The Lifetime Catechetical Leadership Award recognizes catechetical leaders who exemplify the call to share the faith in the spirit of Catechesi Tradendae. This award is presented in appreciation and recognition of outstanding ministry, faithful service, joyful commitment and visionary leadership in the catechetical ministry of the Archdiocese of Miami.
Vilma Angulo
In all her years in ministry, Vilma has tried to keep in focus her vocational call. Being a catechetical leader was more than a profession, it was her vocation. Her professional education was critical, getting her degree was important but the underlying motivating factor was the profound knowledge that this was her vocation. It was what she was meant to do in her life. It was without hesitation the understanding that this was God’s plan for her.
Vilma Angulo, Lifetime Catechetical Leadership Award 2015
Her greatest joy in ministry was undoubtedly the privilege of being a part of the lives of the children and families of the parish as they journeyed together in faith. To have the opportunity to encourage those families who were new to the parish or who perhaps were not fully active in parish life. To provide these families opportunities to know how much they were welcome and needed was an enormous responsibility she did not take lightly. It also was a privilege to journey with those who had always been active in parish life, and to celebrate with them the “sacred moments of a lifetime” — opportunities for faith formation, liturgical and sacramental celebrations.
Her hope has always been that somewhere along so many years she touched the life of just one person and made a difference in that person’s relationship with the Lord. That hope was recently validated on a sunny day when she was visiting the zoo with her granddaughter.
A young couple with a toddler approached her and the young woman said: “You’re Mrs. Angulo aren’t you? When I was in eighth grade you led a prayer service that really helped me and I’ll never forget it.”
“What a humbling moment, because when you fall in love with your ministry it is never work,” Vilma says.
She served for nine years in the Diocese of St. Petersburg as director of religious education at St. Cecilia Interparochial School and 18 years as director of religious education in the Archdiocese of Miami: at St. Gregory Parish in Plantation and All Saints in Sunrise. She currently serves as bilingual catechetical consultant for William H. Sadlier Inc. Religion Publishers for the Archdiocese of Miami and the Diocese of Palm Beach.
Sister Joan Leo Kehn, Adrian Dominicans
Sister Joan was born Feb. 21, 1937 in Toledo, Ohio. She was so inspired by the Adrian Dominicans who taught her in grade school that she wanted to join them. Impressed with their joy, prayerful life and excellent teaching, she was received into the congregation Dec. 27, 1955 and made final vows Dec. 28, 1961.
Adrian Dominican Sister Joan Leo Kehn: Lifetime Catechetical Leadership Award 2015
Her first assignment was as primary teacher at St. Helen School in Vero Beach in 1957. From 1961 to 1973, she taught at a number of schools in the Chicago area. She returned to Florida in 1973 and was assigned to St. Ann School in West Palm Beach, where she remained for 17 years. While there, she also taught religious education classes in the neighboring parish of St. John Fisher.
After two years of service as minister in the Office of Financial Services of the Adrian Dominican motherhouse in Michigan, she returned to Florida in 1992 and began teaching at St. Gregory the Great School in Plantation.
She currently ministers there as a religion teacher, preparing students for the sacraments and preparing liturgies for the student Masses once a month and on Sundays during the school year. She served as director of religious education for one year and is currently co-director of the program.
She earned bachelor’s degrees from Siena Heights College (now Siena Heights University) in Adrian, and Barry College (now Barry University) in Miami, as well as a master’s degree in elementary education from DePaul University in Chicago.
In this Year of Consecrated Life, Sister Joan is celebrating her diamond jubilee — 60 years as a Dominican Sister of Adrian.
She has a tremendous love of her congregation and being a Dominican Sister, ministering as a teacher and educator. Her ministry of teaching young children about the faith has always been a joy for her.
Here is a list of the keynote speakers at the 2015 Catechetical Conference
- Father Robert Schreiter, a member of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood who holds the Vatican Council II Chair in Theology at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He will speak on “The Church’s expansive sense of mission: From Vatican II to Pope Francis.”
- Tom East, author, editor and director of the Center for Ministry Development as well as project coordinator for the Certificate in Youth Ministry Studies program. He will speak on “Disciple-Building Youth Ministry.”
- Gerardo Salazar, associate director for formation of Hispanic catechists and catechetical leaders in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Texas. He will speak in Spanish on models of catechesis that involve the whole family.
To register for the conference, go to www.miamicatechesis.org.
- Sister Judy Gomila, a Marianite Sister of Holy Cross who has ministered as a director of religious education in the inner city, on the bayou, and in the Alaska bush. She will speak on “Mapping mission through prayer, study and sacrifice.”
Comments from readers