IPI graduates encouraged to be bridge builders in ministry

(En Espanol)

Fifteen graduates were recognized on June 4 at Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House in Indianapolis as the 2024 graduating class of the archdiocese’s Intercultural Pastoral Institute. The program is operated by the Intercultural Ministry Office. Archbishop Charles C. Thompson celebrated a liturgy, then took part in a Pastoral Leadership Certificate ceremony. (Photo by Mike Krokos)

By Mike Krokos

Miguel Márquez Herrera had a message for his classmates who had just graduated with him from the archdiocese’s Intercultural Pastoral Institute (IPI): Be bridge builders as you begin your ministry in service of the Church.

“It is important that we are very clear that our duty and responsibility as pastoral leaders is to build bridges between our parishes, but especially among our ministries,” he said. “May they be solid bridges that lead us to paths where we can all walk together in synodality.

“It is important that we continue despite all the adversities that may arise in our ministries, parishes and families, working and creating an atmosphere of joy, enthusiasm and friendship,” he continued, “so that we all move forward walking together. And even though we may stumble along the way, we have to stand up and continue to be helped by that light that the Gospel gives us—the light of Jesus.”

Herrera, a member of St. Mary Parish in Indianapolis, was chosen to give a speech on behalf of his classmates during IPI’s Pastoral Leadership certification program held on June 4 at Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House in Indianapolis. Archbishop Charles C. Thompson began the event by celebrating Mass. The evening also included a graduation ceremony, the presentation of diplomas and dinner.

A program of the archdiocesan Intercultural Ministry Office, IPI forms pastoral and catechetical leaders within the various ethnic communities in the archdiocese and the Lafayette Diocese. At the gathering, 15 graduates were recognized for completing the two-year leadership program.

‘The baptismal call to holiness and mission’

In his homily, shared in Spanish, Archbishop Thompson congratulated the graduates on earning their certificates. Their work, he noted, was not done alone, but with the help and support of program administrators, instructors and family and friends.

“Rarely does anyone accomplish great milestones along life’s journey, especially on the path of faith and salvation, without the assistance of others,” he said. “It is for this reason that Jesus established the Church, the community of believers as his body, as the means of salvation for humanity. In particular, we rely upon divine grace to fill up what may be lacking in us.”

Noting that the Greek word for Eucharist means “to give thanks,” Archbishop Thompson said, “we gather in thanksgiving for the gift of each disciple being honored today with certificates in their respective fields of study. It is important that we keep in mind the foundation of each certification, namely, the baptismal call to holiness and mission. Each graduate being honored today has been engaged in the process of responding to the call of missionary discipleship in Jesus Christ.”

Archbishop Thompson told the graduates that “authentic discipleship is rooted in a life of prayer, meditation on the word of God, participation in the sacraments, fidelity to Church teaching and service to others.”

As they begin their service in parishes, the archbishop said the graduates “must be witnesses to authentic knowledge of God and faithfulness to the person of Jesus Christ.

“Since we are created in the image of God, we belong to God, rather than to ourselves or the world. We must, therefore, remain Christ-centered in all that we are about as his disciples,” Archbishop Thompson said. “Today is indeed a great day for rejoicing in not only what these graduates have accomplished, but in all that God is accomplishing in them.”

‘A leadership journey driven by faith and love of God’

In her remarks to the graduating class of the two-year formation program, Dr. Carmen Hernandez, the coordinator of IPI, acknowledged the efforts, dedication, enthusiasm and commitment of the students.

“It has been two years of training, perhaps very little time, but enough to consider that during that time you were at the IPI, it was a leadership journey driven by faith and love of God,” she said. “You’ve had incredible experiences rooted in your lives, and they have made that leadership journey become a reality.”

As the graduates move forward in ministry, Hernandez reminded them they must show others we are “a welcoming Church, that it knows how to listen to others and learn from them; that it has the ability to discern, dialogue and, above all, has a lot of tolerance, always maintaining loyalty to God. This is what I call inspiring pastoral leaders.”

Quoting Pope Francis, the IPI coordinator told the class, “Everyone goes out to carry, with joy, the life of Jesus.”

Hernandez added, “That is why I invite you, my dear pastoral leaders, to focus your gaze on Christ, on him and for him as a starting point to embark on your path of life.”

Herrera encouraged his classmates to make loving and serving others the heart of their mission.

“I am sure that each of us, in a very special way, have been endowed with gifts, talents and virtues,” he said, “that we have been given the solid foundations to continue with the evangelizing mission from our ministerial realities, putting into practice everything we have learned. But above all, carrying the truth forward. … Let us ardently defend the riches of our Catholic faith. Christ needs us!”
 

(To learn more about the Intercultural Ministry Institute and its program, visit www.archindy.org/multicultural.) †