Last month, Father Manuel Williams, C.R., Resurrection Catholic Missions’ director and pastor, preached a revival for the North City Deanery parishes in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis. The nightly liturgy of the word service was planned by the North City Deanery Interracial Relations Committee, St. Charles Lwanga Center and the Archdiocesan Peace and Justice Commission. This was the first deanery wide revival in 10 years and ran May 21, 22, and 23, 2018.
The theme of the revival was, “Cloud of Witnesses, Past and Present”. Father Manuel reflected on scriptural texts from the Acts of the Apostles, 2Corinthians and the Letter of John, woven together with personal stories and experiences to encourage the congregation to be disciples filled with faith, hope and love. Saints Teresa and Bridget Parish hosted the nightly celebrations. Choral and congregational music was led by a combined choir from throughout the deanery and pastoral musicians from several of the parishes of the deanery.
“If we trust God, if we believe in the cloud of witnesses that surround us, we have to know that God will accompany us in every moment of our journey.” Father Manuel proclaimed.
“It’s been so long since we’ve had a revival, ” Ruby Douthet of Our Lady of the Holy Cross in Baden said. “It was so good to bring Father Manuel back to do it. We need stuff like this to keep us in the Church.”
Photo courtesy of Richard Lane