Sister Sonia Avi, IHM, visited the Latino community at Parish of All Saints in Millville on Saturday, Feb. 26, at 6 p.m.
Both Father Paul Olszewski, pastor, and Father Cesar Rebolledo, parochial vicar, readily welcomed Sister Sonia and the group of leaders who had come to meet with her. Father Paul Olszewski briefly addressed those present and encouraged them to become more actively involved within the parish life community. Leaders then willingly and in a spirit of prayerful reflection talked about the blessings and challenges facing the Latino community present in Millville today.
Some of the hopes expressed entailed:
• Praying that a religious Latino sister be assigned to service in Millville
• Bringing many others back to the church by ways of personal invitations (house visiting)
• Filling pews during their liturgy celebration on Saturday evening.
• Having a section in Spanish in the parish bulletin to honor those who do not speak English.
• Offering a Sunday Mass in Spanish for those who work all day on Saturdays and would love to pray with the community on Sundays.
• Having a variety of services (such as Bible study groups, prayer groups, sacramental preparation for adults, Stations of the Cross, baptism preparation) offered to the Latino community in Spanish as was the custom before.
Finally, the group voiced their desire to organize a mission experience for the parish community sometime soon. An idea very much welcomed by all. The agreement was to do it on Saturdays and maybe four Saturdays in a row. They immediately made arrangements to meet with Father Cesar to set the dates for the actual mission and planning meeting. Sister Sonia offered to help the group with the planning.