Dear
participants,
With great joy we welcome all of you to the 2021 virtual Religious Education Congress!
What a wonderful and historic way to celebrate our 50th anniversary of Youth Day and our 65th year of Adult Days!
This year, the theme of the Religious Education Congress, Proclaim the Promise!, is a radical invitation to believe that our lives and our world are sustained by God’s promise. Now more than ever, we need hope and a vision for our future.
Thankfully, our hearts are created to believe and live in God’s promise, “I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you and with every living creature” (Genesis 9:8). It requires a lot of faith to believe that God never breaks this covenant despite the challenges we might be experiencing. We could be thinking that we need to wait for a better time, an ideal me, more social and political stability, or more faith to proclaim God’s unconditional love. Jesus reminds us that “this is the time of fulfillment” (Mark 1:15).
I invite you to explore and live this daring invitation to Proclaim the Promise! Our world is in much need of a future filled with hope!
Sr. Rosalia Meza, VDMF
Senior Director
Office of Religious Education
Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Estimados participantes,
¡Con gran alegría les damos la bienvenida al Congreso virtual de Educación Religiosa 2021!
¡Qué manera tan maravillosa e histórica de celebrar nuestro 50 aniversario del día de la Juventud y nuestro 65 aniversario de los días de los Adultos!
Este año, el tema del Congreso de Educación Religiosa, ¡Proclama la Promesa!, es una invitación radical a creer que nuestras vidas y nuestro mundo son sostenidos por la promesa de Dios. Ahora más que nunca, necesitamos esperanza y una visión para nuestro futuro.
Afortunadamente, nuestros corazones fueron creados para creer y vivir en la promesa de Dios: "Voy a hacer una alianza con ustedes y con sus descendientes después de ustedes; y también con todos los seres vivientes" (Génesis 9, 8). Requiere mucha fe creer que Dios nunca rompe esta alianza a pesar de los desafíos que podamos estar experimentando. Podríamos estar pensando que tenemos que esperar un mejor momento, un “yo” ideal, más estabilidad social y política, o más fe para proclamar el amor incondicional de Dios. Jesús nos recuerda que “el tiempo se ha cumplido” (Marcos 1, 15).
Te invito a explorar y vivir esta invitación audaz de ¡Proclamar la Promesa! ¡Nuestro mundo necesita tanto de un futuro lleno de esperanza!
Hna. Rosalia Meza, VDMF
Directora sénior
Oficina de Educación Religiosa
Arquidiócesis de Los Angeles
A
Reflection from the Artist
The 2021 RECongress theme “Proclaim the Promise!” speaks of
hope during these challenging times. As people, we find ourselves
isolated from our community. It is our faith, however, that allows
us to unite in movement while rising above our challenges. In the
design of this theme, individual rectangles of warm colors seem to
move in tandem to unite in the shape of a trumpet, the instrument of
proclamation. Adding a second trumpet, the combined shapes now
suggested “wings.” Bird-like it became the Big Wind, Holy Spirit ...
our “Advocate” who was given to us to calm our fear of being left
alone. All things are possible through the Holy Spirit and there in
lies the Hope! An image of celebration, spirituality, warmth and joy
invites us to the RECongress 2021!
-Artist Val MacRae