Bishop of Dodge City blesses ‘Encuentro Cross’

The Most Rev. John B. Brungardt blessed the “Encuentro Cross” at a special day-long retreat to form parish teams for the V Encuentro at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dodge City, March 18. Following the blessing of the cross, each of the approximately 150 people--adults, youth, and children--processed forward and kissed the foot of the cross while the choir and the assembly sang: “Forgive your people, Lord.” The cross will be a part of prayerful Encuentro celebrations taking place across the diocese leading up to the national Encuentro event in 2018. Bishop Brungardt blessed the Encuentro cross with these words:

Heavenly Father, you sent your Son to us because you love us, and want to save us.

Bless + this sign of glory, and let it remind us that Jesus died and rose for all.

Help us to carry the cross with him every day, and to follow him in serving others.

We ask this grace through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

The cross, a symbol of the Trinity of our Catholic faith, was made for the Diocese of Dodge City by Dave Myers, editor of the Southwest Kansas Catholic.

“We are very grateful to him for his creativity and generosity in creating this symbol of our Catholic faith,” said Sister Angela Erevia, MCDP.

In 2015--the beginning of a three-year Encuentro process--Pope Francis blessed a national Cross of the Encuentros taken to Rome by a delegation of bishops, priests, religious, and laity from the United States, representing the national team for the preparation of the V Encuentro to take place in Grapevine, TX, September 20-23, 2018. Encuentro, or “Encounter,” is a process of mission- ary activity, consultation, leadership development and pastoral discernment. The process, convened by the U.S. Catholic bishops, is to discern pastoral practices and priorities to impact the quality of ministry among Hispanic Catholics. The people of parishes participate in the pastoral process of ver, juzgar, and actuar (see, judge, and act) – see the reality, judge it by the Gospel values, and decide on pastoral actions to be taken to build the Kingdom of God in our society. In early 2017, dioceses across the country are asked to organize parish and diocesan encuentros. The regional Encuentro for Region 9 comprised of the 15 dioceses of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas, will hold its regional Encuentro at the Savior Pastoral Center in Kansas City, KS, on April 27-29, 2018.

“In this cross,” said Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church, “the pope is blessing more than the object itself. He is blessing a people, a process, a history, a shared journey of faith.”

The event on March 18 was organized by Sister Angela and members of the V Encuentro Diocesan Team – Norma Alvarez, Bertha and Luis de Luna, Ignacio Ortiz, Oscar Marino, Diana Ramírez, Mari- bel Cervantes of the cathedral parish, Blanca and Lorenzo Sandoval, María and Roberto Martínez, and Eduardo Arellano of Garden City, Luis and Catalina Guzmán, and Isela Corpening of Hugoton, Sister Consuelo García, MCMI, of Liberal, and Mercedes Helms of Great Bend. A diocesan Encuentro will be held on Oct. 7, 2017 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Dodge City.

  2017 © Reprinted with Permission from The Southwest Kansas Catholic. All Rights Reserved.