Catholics surrounded ‘with great multitude’
At 2024 religious ed congress, Catholics surrounded ‘with great multitude’
For four days in February, the Anaheim Convention Center and Arena in California was transformed into a worship center, sacred space, parish, seminary and retreat grounds through the annual Los Angeles Religious Education Congress. From its beginnings in 1956 as a learning event for catechists, it retains that purpose and has since expanded to form, transform and connect broader audiences.
I have attended six congresses, both in person and online during the pandemic. (I learned of the congress when I was briefly an eighth-grade catechist in Pomona, California; while I may have some gifts, that was not one of them!) From the time you walk through the doors to register, to the final Mass and eucharistic celebration, you are surrounded by Catholic individuals, resources, sounds and images.
The theme of the Feb. 15-18 event at the Anaheim Convention Center was “Be Loved/Dejate Amar!” and the opening ceremony and welcome enveloped you in the theme of God’s love. The beautiful melody of “Be Loved,” composed by Chris De Silva, and speakers like Verbum Dei Sr. Rosalia Meza, director of the LA archdiocese’s Office of Religious Education, reminded the gathered that awareness of God’s love is the basis of our transformation and vocation. The song proclaimed, “when we know God’s love, we will show God’s love.”