After two days of listening to speakers educate and inspire them to share their Catholic faith, it didn’t take long for Upper Room conference attendees to respond to what they had heard.
Dozens of them left the downtown hotel where the evangelization conference had taken place and walked to Holy Rosary Cathedral for Mass and to begin putting into action what they had learned.
During Eucharistic adoration at the cathedral, participants came forward to place candles representing their intentions before the Blessed Sacrament. Afterward, three dozen of them joined Catholic Street Missionaries for an evening of ministering to the needy on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
“They went out and met with people on the street, offering them sandwiches, candies, and then the opportunity to talk,” Street Ministries founder Mildred Moy said in a later interview. “Our focus is on emotional and spiritual support. Emotional means simply listening to them and hearing their stories. Spiritual means offering prayers because God can work miracles in their life.”
Proclaim Vancouver, a Catholic evangelization movement, organized the Upper Room conference, which is named for the upper room in which the apostles received the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The archdiocese’ evangelization director, Eric Chow, and Sue Coutant, a member of St. Joseph’s Parish in Port Moody, led the conference, the first since 2019 because of COVID restrictions.
Conceived in response to Pope Francis’ call to evangelize, the conference made its post-COVID return with around 400 attendees. It featured an art exhibit called “Visio Divina” (heavenly Vision) where viewers could spend time meditating on various pieces of sacred art. QR codes offered more information for each artwork.
The conference also featured a diverse roster of speakers, including Sister Regina Marie Gorman, a member of the Order of the Discalced Carmelites; Marcel LeJeune, the president and founder of Catholic Missionary Disciples; Dan DeMatte, founder of Catholic Mission Campus; and Archbishop J. Michael Miller.
One Upper Room participant told The B.C. Catholic that she came to the conference because by working and volunteering with evangelization ministries, “you are always giving out of yourself. Sometimes you need to get something in, or you might start to feel defeated.”
The keynote speakers shared their experiences working in their respective evangelization ministries, as well as the insights into bringing the light of Christ to others.
Sister Regina Marie’s speech focused on the inherent value people have in the eyes of God, and how we should trust in him. “The purpose of you and I is to share in the inner life of God,” she said. Quoting Saint Therese, the Carmelite said, “I hold that it is confidence and confidence alone that allows life to unfold.”
During his speech, LeJeune emphasized that Catholics’ evangelical mission stems from God’s love for all people. “There is nothing you can do that will make God stop loving you,” he said. “There is an entire world out there that needs to hear that message.”
The modern world demands narrative and authenticity, LeJeune said. These are two fundamental tools of evangelization that can “open doors for Christ.”
Archbishop Miller concluded his address with words that cut to the heart of the conference and the messages promoted by its patrons, Saint Therese of Lisieux, and Saint John Paul II.
“As we go forth today from this Upper Room in Vancouver, Jesus himself is telling us once more, serenely yet firmly: ‘Do not be afraid’ [and] ‘I am with you always, to the end of the world,’” Archbishop Miller said. “These divine words encourage us to go out with the same courage that the Holy Spirit stirred up in the apostles on that first Pentecost.”