Liz Kelly vividly remembers being on a day retreat as a sixth-grader growing up in southern Minnesota, attending a Catholic school. Her class visited Schoenstatt On the Lake near Sleepy Eye, and she experienced what she described June 4 “as a kind of beginning in me.”

“I recognized in that moment, for the first time in my life, that there was something very special, something very sacred about choosing to come away and seek the face of the Lord with great intentionality, and furthermore, that there was something about creating an environment in which others could enter into this encounter, seeking the face of the Lord in this way,” she told the 500 people gathered at Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul for the Archdiocesan Synod Assembly.

“And even though I might not have been able to articulate it at 11 years old, I understood that retreat, prayer, seeking the face of the Lord, was lifegiving, that this authentic encounter, this invitation to encounter the Lord in a real way, was exceptionally important to the life of God’s children.”

An author, retreat leader and speaker whose ministry focuses on Catholic women, Kelly gave a short reflection before table discussion on Synod focus area No. 2, Forming missionary disciples who know Jesus’ love and respond to his call. She previously wrote a theological orientation paper on the topic and presented her ideas for the Parish Leadership Team Consultation, a daylong event in February and March that was part of the 2022 Archdiocesan Synod process.

“Of course, this is the primary theme for our efforts this weekend: to ask how well we — as a Church and as individuals, how well we in our small groups, in our service to the poor, in our adult formation programs or large-scale events — how well are we carrying out this sacred task of creating opportunities, experiences and environments that will foster a living and authentic encounter with the Lord, and opportunity for deeper conversion?” she asked. “And then, how well are these encounters feeding and effecting real change in us?”

A parishioner of St. Pius X in White Bear Lake and St. Mary in St. Paul’s Lowertown said it is “a sacred task to create opportunities, environments and relationships that invite others to seek and find the face of the Lord.”

“And we want to be a people where others find the gaze of the Lord in us,” she added.

Each person is a soul deserving of reverence, she said, emphasizing that reverence is reflected in listening without judgment, critique, or trying to fix or change him or her. “We want to receive others and listen to them just as Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and in adoration listens and receives us.”

In encountering Jesus, “we cannot put enough emphasis on the real presence of Christ in the holy Eucharist. … And this requires that my imagination be well ordered, to ‘believe in all things visible and invisible,’” Kelly said, quoting the Nicene Creed. “I need to submit my imagination to the Holy Spirit, so that I can see in the bread and the wine, the body and blood of Christ.”

Once a person establishes a relationship with the Lord and recognizes his or her need for a savior, repentance follows, as does a lifelong process of deeper conversion.

“And we jump into that terrible and wonderful, beautiful stream that leads us to heaven,” she said.

For many, “holiness” may feel like an intimidating word, an ideal reserved for saints, or at least other people, with demands that seem unattractive or out of reach.

“I want to invite you instead to consider that you were actually created for holiness,” she said. “You are flourishing, you are at your best when you are working toward and cooperating with the holiness of God.”

Holiness is about “choosing the highest good,” she said. “The highest good leads to the deepest joy, a joy that can never be taken from you, no matter what’s happening to you — to your body, or around you or in the world — this joy cannot be taken from you. And you were created for this.”

Kelly encouraged Synod Assembly participants to seek humility and its “twin,” magnanimity, “the aspiration of the spirit to do great things.”

“We want to seek what is great in the eyes of God and order our lives such that we become worthy of this great thing,” she said.

Following Kelly’s presentation, assembly participants spent the afternoon in prayer, including multilingual decades of the rosary, two separate periods of table discussion on propositions, or action items, related to topics including adult formation, small groups, prayer and retreats, encountering Christ through serving others, large-scale events that foster an encounter with Jesus, discipleship in daily life, networks of faith-based relationships, resources for those in need, marriage preparation and ongoing support, ministry for people who are separated and divorced.

Following both table discussions, some delegates were randomly selected to share their ideas with Archbishop Bernard Hebda. Among the topics they addressed were the need for adult faith formation, the need to reach out to people not already practicing the faith, the need to help people form personal relationships with God, and the success of small faith-sharing groups.

“I really feel that a small group initiative would have the potential to cover so many” of the challenges people have observed and shared in the table discussions and with the archbishop, one woman said. “Through small groups, you can go deeper and grow in your faith. Meanwhile, you’re able to connect and relate to one another and increase that sense of belonging.”

One man asked how Catholics can embrace “the art of Christian living in the modern world.”

At the end of the session, Synod Assembly delegates voted on the top three propositions they “believe the Holy Spirit is inviting the archdiocese to prioritize.” Early results showed that the propositions that received the highest votes were adult formation, small groups and discipleship in daily life.