Door-to-door evangelization; knocking on people’s hearts, hoping an invitation will be extended to the Lord.
Perhaps a bit old fashioned in a computer-obsessed society but Father Emilio Gomez understands the grass roots of evangelization, meeting people where they are physically and spiritually. As a visiting priest serving the Hispanic Apostolate for the Diocese of Baton Rouge, he plans to be in the neighborhoods, praying with people in their homes, guiding them on their spiritual journeys in what is for many a strange land.
“I will meet with them one-on-one,” said Father Gomez, who recently moved to the diocese from his native El Salvador. “I think the best way I can serve the community is to get the Hispanic community to come back to church, to have them feel comfortable coming back to church.”
A criminal attorney by trade, Father Gomez is a lifelong Catholic who served as an altar boy and was a member of the youth group and choir in his home parish, where he experienced his first stirrings to the priesthood. He earned his law degree at the Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas, UCA, Jesuit University of El Salvador and later returned to teach criminal law and human rights.
The call to the priesthood never waned and by the late 2000s, and following the example of his brother who is a priest in the Archdiocese of Miami, he began to discern his vocation. He entered St. John XXIII Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts and was ordained in Weston in 2016.
He returned to his home country and continued his academic studies, which included earning a master’s degree in Intercultural Human Rights from St. Thomas University in Miami, where he is currently completing his doctoral.
Less than two years ago, he enrolled in an intensive, 14-session evangelization program at Blessed Francis Seelos Catholic Church in New Orleans, which required him to spend a weekend in Louisiana every six weeks, a time that would forever alter his life.
On more than one occasion, he visited Baton Rouge with friends he had met at Blessed Seelos, and he also met Julia Scarnato, executive director of the Hispanic Apostolate.
“When I came here (and met with Scarnato) I realized there is a big need for ministry to the Hispanic community,” he said. “I got with my bishop (Bishop Elias Avelar SDB, bishop of the Diocese of Zacatecoluca in El Salvador) and explained to him there is a great need here for Hispanic priests. That was the mainly the reason to come to Baton Rouge.”
The move was approved by Bishop Michael G. Duca and Father Gomez received his faculties in the diocese effective July 1.
“I am still amazed at the universal connection between Bishop Avelar and Bishop Duca,” Scarnato said. “The Holy Spirit simultaneously inspired them, one to detachment from a priest and the other to receive it as a gift from God for our diocese. Their faith and generosity were great, and I feel very grateful to experience God’s mercy in such a difficult time for the Hispanic people.”
For the past several weeks, Father Gomez has been meeting with Scarnato and Father Kevin Zubel CSsR, who is also a chaplain at the apostolate, developing effective strategies to reach out to the Hispanic community, which is largely Catholic but many of whom are not attending Mass.
“I think the lack of a Hispanic priest (in the diocese) may influence (the lack of attendance,)” he said.
His goal is to serve as the bridge, the ministerial vessel to bring them back to the church, to expose them to the Eucharist and the liturgy. He already has met with several Hispanic ministries to understand their needs and how to meet those needs.
Along with celebrating Mass at St. Gerard Majella Church in Baton Rouge, where he is in residence with priests from the Redemptorist order, he has also celebrated Hispanic Masses at St. Pius X Church in Baton Rouge, home of the Hispanic Apostolate; St. George and Christ the King Parish and Student Center, both in Baton Rouge; and Immaculate Conception in Denham Springs.
“The diverse and multicultural Hispanic community thirsts for God and needs more willing workers,” Scarnato said. “The presence of a priest, who knows the idiosyncrasy, who understands the cultures, who has experience in shepherding his flock, who smells like sheep, is imbued with their needs, who speaks to them in their language, whose voice they listen to, is a great need.”
“The greatest urgency is evangelization, reaching the periphery,” she added. “The presence of the Hispanic priest is a sign that God prepares the plan, but that we must be careful and follow it. Due to the high number of Hispanic Catholics in our diocese, effective work for the comprehensive pastoral care of the entire flock is becoming more and more urgent and carry out with all of them the mandate that Jesus gives to St. Peter: Feed my sheep.”
Encouraging Hispanic vocations will also play a critical role in Father Gomez’s evangelization efforts and plans to collaborate with Vocations Director Father Josh Johnson.
“We are in huge need of (Hispanic) vocations,” Father Gomez said.
Already, Father Gomez has immersed himself in south Louisiana culture and traditions, especially the cuisine, with new favorite dishes such as gumbo and jambalaya. He even has developed the art of peeling crawfish.
“It was not weird because I have had it before, but it was really good Louisiana style,” Father Gomez said. “I am trying to avoid putting on weight.”
Father Gomez is hoping his stay in the diocese will be long term and is even open to the possibility to one day becoming a pastor, perhaps in a parish with a strong Hispanic influence.
“I am just beginning my ministry and want to help out as long as I can in whatever role (Bishop Duca) wants me in,” he said. “That will be a great thing for the multi-cultural society in the Baton Rouge community.”
“This is God’s plan, and we are just instruments of God, what he wants us to do,” he added. “Just put yourself into the Lord’s hands and (allow him) to take the direction in your life.”