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November 26, 2019In this past issue of the Sooner Catholic, Archbishop Coakley focused his column on the upcoming Vision 2030 Archdiocesan Convocation event to be held at the Cox Convention Center on Saturday, Dec. 7. I wanted to follow up on his invitation with one of my own.
This is really going to be a tremendous event for the archdiocese, and one of significant importance for us as a local Church. As the archbishop shared, we have an incredible lineup of speakers: Jeff Cavins, Andre Regnier and leaders from ChristLife, Amazing Parish and CCO. Plus, we have a long-time friend of mine coming to lead music and worship for us, nationally known recording artist Josh Blakesley. I’m proud to share that Josh, in his younger and less famous days, led the music at my wedding!
But, if all that didn’t grab your attention and convince you to come hang out at the convention center, let me give you some other reasons why this would be an important event for you to join us. I think, many years from now, we will all look back on this time as one of those significant moments in history for our archdiocese. You know, one of those times that gets a reference point on the history timeline.
Consider all that has happened in the archdiocese the past couple of years: the beatification for Blessed Stanley Rother, with a record-setting attendance for a Catholic event in the city; the first-ever and very successful capital campaign, One Church Many Disciples; the launching of a strategic pastoral planning process that first yielded a new pastoral letter from the archbishop in January, “Go Make Disciples: Building a Culture of Conversion and Discipleship,” and is now yielding a new pastoral plan, “Vison 2030,” that will be unveiled at the convocation; and finally the recent groundbreaking ceremony for the building of the new Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine. It has indeed been an exciting time for us as an archdiocese!
I see this upcoming convocation as a bit of a spiritual landmark for all this activity. And, there are three simple reasons why anyone and everyone should attend if you are able:
- It’s the archbishop’s convocation and he has invited you – say “Yes” to the invitation and come join us!
- The new pastoral plan leading us into the next decade is going to be released at the convocation – come get one of the first copies!
- And, most importantly, we need to gather and pray for this new pastoral plan – begging the Holy Spirit to be the fuel with his grace and blessing and asking Mary to be constantly interceding for us as a Church as we move toward the future.
One of the significant things that will happen at the convocation is the archbishop will be re-consecrating the archdiocese to Mary and placing us under the special patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Star of the New Evangelization. I’m taking my whole family, because one day when we all look back on this time, I want them to be able to say that they were there when it happened!
I join the archbishop in inviting you to consider joining us on Saturday, Dec.7, at the Cox Convention Center. There is still room! You can find more information and register by visiting our website, archokc.org/convocation. Hope to see you there!
In closing, I share some words from the archbishop’s new “Vison 2030” document: “As we renew our commitment to this journey of conversion and discipleship, I entrust our archdiocese to Mary, the Star of the New Evangelization. As her appearance to Saint Juan Diego at Tepeyac became a wellspring of grace in the evangelization of the Americas, may her intercession today lead us to encounter Jesus anew. Under her spotless mantle, may she form us as his missionary disciples for the evangelization of our homes, our parishes, our schools and our archdiocese (“Vision 2030,” pg. 29).