Hi. My name is Bill Ameche. I am a Jesuit from the California Province. After being 30 years in Mexico, I came back to the States because my father was dying. I had asked for a sabbatical year for that purpose. During that year I lived and worked at a Jesuit parish in California. I soon realized that "half of the Mexicans were already living on this side of the border". And I also felt that they were like "sheep without a shepherd". They no longer had the support that their towns and extended family members would naturally give them so that they could live their faith and keep up their values and traditions. I definitely felt called by God to stay in the U.S. and work with the Hispanics on this side of the border.
After a couple of assignments, I felt called by God to go where I was most needed in Hispanic Ministry in any part of the United States. At that time the California Provincial wasn’t sure where that would be. He told me that he would think and pray about it and that meantime he told me to get in contact with other Jesuits working among Hispanics.
The ones who replied immediately were Rob McChesney and Bill Rickle, both of the Maryland Province. Bill invited me the the East Coast. He took me around to get to know the Jesuits working in Virginia, North Carolina and some in Maryland. We met with the Vicar General of the Charlotte Diocese, Msgr. Mauricio West, and we talked to him about my coming to help out in the diocese. Later I came again to get all the information and contacts necessary for the California Provincial and myself to discern if God wanted me to be a part of this new project (one year old at that time!) to work with Hispanics where it was most needed in the South. It was a new way of working. We could have all stayed in one community and worked in one parish, but the demands of the Hispanics were so great and urgent, that we had to spread out - like missionaries- and live with a diocesan priest in order to work in the areas of most need.
When I was preparing to come to work in the Charlotte Diocese, Bishop Peter Jugis sent me to the Asheville Vicariate due to the need there. At that time I had no idea what any part of North Carolina was like. But, I’ll tell you this, I was sent to an incredibly beautiful paradise... and with such friendly people. My life has been a joy here.
What do I do?... and who do I work with? I was basically given the following job description: To be available to help out in Hispanic Ministry in the entire diocese, but especially in the Asheville Vicariate (which has 9 parishes and 2 missions) where I would work out of a base (which has become St. Eugene’s Parish in North Asheville).
I am to work with the Coordinator of Hispanic Ministry for that Vicariate to detect leaders and train them so that they can help maintain the faith of the Catholic Hispanics in that area. (The Hispanic Catholics are here in the South where the presence of the Catholic Church is not very strong. Many Hispanics have left the Church.) We also want to empower these leaders to build strong Christ-centered, loving communities and to integrate them with the English speaking Catholics in their parishes. (FYI: Over 50 % of the Catholic Church in North Carolina (both the Charlotte and the Raleigh Dioceses) are Spanish speaking Hispanics. But 90% of them are not coming to the parishes, basically because they have not felt welcomed. Only 2 of the priests of the Asheville Vicariate speak Spanish well). There is an urgency to the mission here.
I personally have been blessed by having the privilege to work with Antonio Garcia, the Coordinator of the Vicariate. He is 25 years old and has been married a year and he is beamingly happy because his wife is pregnant. Why am I so blessed to work with Antonio. Because I can live my Jesuit way of doing our mission: Antonio and I are great "friends in the Lord" and we work as a team. What’s more, I have discovered that we are mutually "mentoring" one another: He always keeps me up on the "feel" of the young Hispanics and he has such wisdom in his way of empowering them; I continually share my experience and creativity and especially my Ignatian Spirituality. The most important thing is that the people here understand that to participate in Church is by being "friends in the Lord to serve others".
Another part of my mission is to create new Faith Formation material when needed. I have been a catechist practically all my life. Anyone who knows me knows that it is my passion. At St. Eugene’s -my "base" in Asheville- I have been given the opportunity to use my talents. I helped start the Hispanic community through a Spanish Mass on Sundays and through a catechectical program to reach out to Hispanics who do not come to Mass. This was made possible through the help of the English speaking parishioners who had formed a "Latino Advocacy Group" to help the Hispanics in their parish. We haven’t even finished the year and St. Eugene’s has a vibrant Sunday Mass community of between 300 and 400 people. (There are SO many more to reach out to!) It is very family oriented. The parish now has some Hispanic 15 catechists, 4 new groups of First Communion -two in trailer camps!- 3 children’s communities (after First Communion) and one teen group.
Antonio and I have been trying to work with programs that could be models to use in other parishes. And we are happy how this is working out.
The "Latino Advocacy Group" has been such a success that now two other parishes have their own "Welcoming Committee" and "Bridging Committee"). Antonio has helped start an Hispanic Committee in one parish (Basilica of St. Lawrence in Asheville) to organize their own communities and to integrate themselves with the English speaking in their own parishes. Now four parishes have them. The catechism that I made is now bilingual and 4 parishes are using it in the Asheville Vicariate and it is now being used in 7 out of the 10 vicariates of the Charlotte Diocese. Antonio’s youth ministry team has advanced in one year from two groups to six groups in five parishes. Antonio and I have invented a form of Ignatian Spirituality "novitiate" for the leaders called "The Desert" and now Antonio is started the next step: an Institute for Training Lay Youth leaders and the adults that accompany the groups.
It is amazing how much has been done in such a short time (one year), but the truth is that the "journey" is the most important part... and it is slow, confusing at times (where we have to re-focus constantly, problematic (we are now dealing with the immigration problem!)... and always full of grace.
This is an overall picture of what I do. I’ll give more concrete details when I will connect with you next month. God bless.
After a couple of assignments, I felt called by God to go where I was most needed in Hispanic Ministry in any part of the United States. At that time the California Provincial wasn’t sure where that would be. He told me that he would think and pray about it and that meantime he told me to get in contact with other Jesuits working among Hispanics.
The ones who replied immediately were Rob McChesney and Bill Rickle, both of the Maryland Province. Bill invited me the the East Coast. He took me around to get to know the Jesuits working in Virginia, North Carolina and some in Maryland. We met with the Vicar General of the Charlotte Diocese, Msgr. Mauricio West, and we talked to him about my coming to help out in the diocese. Later I came again to get all the information and contacts necessary for the California Provincial and myself to discern if God wanted me to be a part of this new project (one year old at that time!) to work with Hispanics where it was most needed in the South. It was a new way of working. We could have all stayed in one community and worked in one parish, but the demands of the Hispanics were so great and urgent, that we had to spread out - like missionaries- and live with a diocesan priest in order to work in the areas of most need.
When I was preparing to come to work in the Charlotte Diocese, Bishop Peter Jugis sent me to the Asheville Vicariate due to the need there. At that time I had no idea what any part of North Carolina was like. But, I’ll tell you this, I was sent to an incredibly beautiful paradise... and with such friendly people. My life has been a joy here.
What do I do?... and who do I work with? I was basically given the following job description: To be available to help out in Hispanic Ministry in the entire diocese, but especially in the Asheville Vicariate (which has 9 parishes and 2 missions) where I would work out of a base (which has become St. Eugene’s Parish in North Asheville).
I am to work with the Coordinator of Hispanic Ministry for that Vicariate to detect leaders and train them so that they can help maintain the faith of the Catholic Hispanics in that area. (The Hispanic Catholics are here in the South where the presence of the Catholic Church is not very strong. Many Hispanics have left the Church.) We also want to empower these leaders to build strong Christ-centered, loving communities and to integrate them with the English speaking Catholics in their parishes. (FYI: Over 50 % of the Catholic Church in North Carolina (both the Charlotte and the Raleigh Dioceses) are Spanish speaking Hispanics. But 90% of them are not coming to the parishes, basically because they have not felt welcomed. Only 2 of the priests of the Asheville Vicariate speak Spanish well). There is an urgency to the mission here.
I personally have been blessed by having the privilege to work with Antonio Garcia, the Coordinator of the Vicariate. He is 25 years old and has been married a year and he is beamingly happy because his wife is pregnant. Why am I so blessed to work with Antonio. Because I can live my Jesuit way of doing our mission: Antonio and I are great "friends in the Lord" and we work as a team. What’s more, I have discovered that we are mutually "mentoring" one another: He always keeps me up on the "feel" of the young Hispanics and he has such wisdom in his way of empowering them; I continually share my experience and creativity and especially my Ignatian Spirituality. The most important thing is that the people here understand that to participate in Church is by being "friends in the Lord to serve others".
Another part of my mission is to create new Faith Formation material when needed. I have been a catechist practically all my life. Anyone who knows me knows that it is my passion. At St. Eugene’s -my "base" in Asheville- I have been given the opportunity to use my talents. I helped start the Hispanic community through a Spanish Mass on Sundays and through a catechectical program to reach out to Hispanics who do not come to Mass. This was made possible through the help of the English speaking parishioners who had formed a "Latino Advocacy Group" to help the Hispanics in their parish. We haven’t even finished the year and St. Eugene’s has a vibrant Sunday Mass community of between 300 and 400 people. (There are SO many more to reach out to!) It is very family oriented. The parish now has some Hispanic 15 catechists, 4 new groups of First Communion -two in trailer camps!- 3 children’s communities (after First Communion) and one teen group.
Antonio and I have been trying to work with programs that could be models to use in other parishes. And we are happy how this is working out.
The "Latino Advocacy Group" has been such a success that now two other parishes have their own "Welcoming Committee" and "Bridging Committee"). Antonio has helped start an Hispanic Committee in one parish (Basilica of St. Lawrence in Asheville) to organize their own communities and to integrate themselves with the English speaking in their own parishes. Now four parishes have them. The catechism that I made is now bilingual and 4 parishes are using it in the Asheville Vicariate and it is now being used in 7 out of the 10 vicariates of the Charlotte Diocese. Antonio’s youth ministry team has advanced in one year from two groups to six groups in five parishes. Antonio and I have invented a form of Ignatian Spirituality "novitiate" for the leaders called "The Desert" and now Antonio is started the next step: an Institute for Training Lay Youth leaders and the adults that accompany the groups.
It is amazing how much has been done in such a short time (one year), but the truth is that the "journey" is the most important part... and it is slow, confusing at times (where we have to re-focus constantly, problematic (we are now dealing with the immigration problem!)... and always full of grace.
This is an overall picture of what I do. I’ll give more concrete details when I will connect with you next month. God bless.
