Rooted in Prayer, Focused on Mission: Archbishop Aquila's Pastoral Vision
- Guest Contributor
- 4 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Through prayer, evangelization and healing, Archbishop Aquila guided the archdiocese into a new era of mission.
By Father Tom Scherer
Parochial Vicar, St. Thomas More Parish, Centennial
Priest Secretary, 2021—2025
Editor's Note: Over the last almost 14 years, many have gotten to know Archbishop Aquila all across Northern Colorado as he ministered and taught, preached and blessed the faithful of the archdiocese.
But while many have come to know their spiritual father and shepherd, five men had a front-row seat to his apostolic ministry as they served the archbishop as priest secretaries.
In the reflection that follows, one of five priest secretaries shares the lessons he learned from the side and the background of Archbishop Aquila's ministry, offering us a behind-the-scenes and personal look into Archbishop Aquila's pastoral heart.
"Who forms your worldview? Is it Jesus Christ, or is it the media, politics, materialism, any other ‘-ism’ or ideology?”
I heard this question often from Archbishop Aquila over the four years I served as his priest secretary, and it encapsulates his almost singular focus as a shepherd that the faithful in the Archdiocese of Denver come to a real, personal and deep relationship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Only God satisfies the longing of every human heart. Only God can heal the deep wounds caused by sin in the world. Only God gives purpose and meaning to our lives.
Two events helped clarify and focus this pastoral vision — first, the book From Christendom to Apostolic Mission, published by the University of Mary. The book articulated clearly how we are in a different age that requires a different approach from what we knew as the Church for the past few hundred years. As Pope Francis once said, “We are not in an era of change, but a change of era.” The social structures that support growth in holiness no longer exist, and many have never even heard the Good News. On the other hand, this means that “the love of God” is no mere catchphrase but is revolutionary news because people are unaware that God desires a personal relationship with them.
The second significant event is related to this: meeting the team from ACTS XXIX, an organization from the Archdiocese of Detroit that proclaims the Gospel in its simplicity, profundity and power. They saw that many people do not know the story of God’s love for us amid our suffering world, and began sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ through retreats and other talks, now known as The Rescue Project. Archbishop Aquila brought them to Denver to help priests, deacons and laity in ministry better share the Gospel with those who need to hear it. Realizing that even some Catholics who attend Mass every Sunday have not heard the Gospel proclaimed in such a way, the archbishop asked that it be proclaimed in each parish in Advent 2021 so that everyone could hear anew the saving message of Christ’s incarnation, death and resurrection.
Shortly after this, Pope Francis announced the Synod on Synodality. As we engaged the Synod, the archbishop was convinced that, if we were willing to listen, the Holy Spirit would continue to speak and provide guidance for the Archdiocese. I was blessed to serve on our synod team and witness the movements of the Holy Spirit through the parish listening sessions. Around the archdiocese — urban and rural, English-speaking and Spanish-speaking — participants young and old had true encounters with the Holy Spirit. They consistently received the same messages in prayer: the centrality of Jesus Christ, the need for more Eucharistic Adoration and the need for the healing power of the Divine Physician in the lives of individuals and families. In response, the archbishop brought the St. John Paul II Healing Center to Denver to lead healing retreats for individuals and couples in both the English and Spanish-speaking communities.
The necessity for a real relationship with the persons of the Trinity in a way that totally re-orders our lives was also shown in other, smaller ways.
In his desire for all the faithful to have this encounter with God, Archbishop Aquila knew that he had to take the initiative, going out to God’s people to let them know that God is pursuing them, that God desires and loves them. In his interactions with the homeless and the disabled, he always wanted the person in front of him to come away knowing that God is real and cares for him or her individually. He also wanted to visit every parish cluster in our geographically large archdiocese so that the people would know that God sees them and wants to draw close to them. I am happy that we were able to make this happen in my time with him.
In the realm of governance, he desired that all ministry in the Archdiocese flow from this personal encounter with God. Having skills and competencies that assist the mission of the Church is not enough; the Church cannot be another NGO, as Pope Francis said on multiple occasions. Our ministry must flow from this relationship with God. To help with this, Archbishop Aquila created a team at the Pastoral Center that would help the Curia live and work out of this relationship. Taking its name and mission from Christ’s words in the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel of John, the John 15 Team exists to help individuals in the Curia abide in relationship with Jesus Christ so that they may bear abundant fruit. By providing opportunities for Mass, Confession, spiritual conferences, charitable opportunities and communal prayer, our archdiocesan Curia has been transformed so that the services provided to our parishes, apostolates, schools and individual faithful are the fruits of our personal encounters with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Most people do not get a chance to see and talk with the archbishop on a daily basis. As his secretary, I consider it a true blessing that I was able to see every day a shepherd who grew daily in his relationship with the persons of the Holy Trinity and wanted nothing more than for every person in the archdiocese to have the same transformational encounter with the one who is love itself.
