‘It was wonderful’; Baldwinsville parish mission spreads joy and faith

By Dc. Tom Cuskey
Editor

I pulled into the parking lot at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church (SEAS) in Baldwinsville at 6 p.m., hoping to catch those involved in presenting the evening’s segment of their mission, “We Walk by Faith,” for a quiet, pre-event interview.

But there was a challenge: The parking lot was already three-quarters full, and cars were still coming. I thought to myself, This can’t be Catholic, it’s way too early. Before the evening was finished, other preconceived, narrow faith perceptions also dissolved. People sang. People prayed. People truly enjoyed a church experience. And that was before the snacks.

Enough about me and my ill-found prejudices. Steubenville Parish Missions, part of Ohio’s Franciscan University, brought their traveling road show to northwest Onondaga County, and the people came from around the area to experience it. This was a three-night mission, Sunday through Tuesday, and the church was nearly full each time.

While Steubenville is most often associated with the well-attended, faith-filled youth conferences they host each summer, they also come to parishes with a multi-generational program aimed to stimulate the flame of the Holy Spirit that we have received in our sacraments.

Deborah Foriero is the SEAS Coordinator of Evangelization; she also coordinated the team effort to bring the event to the parish. She explained that the mission had multiple goals. “To bring people back to church, to bring back evangelization and understand what evangelization was, and is,” she explained. “And for me and the team, it was to get people to reconnect with each other, to reconnect with God and the relationship with God and to rediscover the Sacrament of the Eucharist.”

The turnout for each of the three evenings was impressive, Foriero observed. “We’re very honored that there are so many people coming from all over the diocese,” she said, and she was impressed with the spirit of the attendees. “I think they’re very ignited. I think they’re very renewed. It was a blessing to see so many people walk in.”

Marge Finnegan is a parishioner of St. Stephen’s Church in Phoenix who was in attendance on the second evening, after attending the first event on Sunday. “And it was wonderful,” she shared. Many aspects of the evening contributed to her positive experience. “The atmosphere … the music, everybody was singing.” She said the presenters stressed that everyone should be comfortable worshiping as they personally preferred, be that reserved or charismatic. “From the moment you came in you knew that God was going to be speaking to us.”

Bob Lesnefsky and Kyle Huesling of Steubenville Parish Missions engaged the congregation in song, in dialogue and in deep reflection. As presenter, Lesnefsky gets as much enjoyment out of the experience as he gives. “I love being Catholic,” he said, “I love that our God is a God of hope.” He understands that many come to these events because they are “lost in the shuffle of life,” as he puts it. Events and opportunities like these missions help people get not just back in touch with their faith but to be able to deepen the relationship. “I think there is kind of a beautiful message that we need to be reminded about, that God’s got love. He’s got mercy. He’s a God that wants to draw near to us.”

Lesnefsky is a 26-year veteran of Steubenville student conferences, starting as a 19-year-old college student. He has worked with inner-city youth as well as those from more affluent areas but finds a common thread that connects them and connects all of us. “We all need God. And it’s easy to forget that.”

But not after this night.