A festive, faith-filled Pentecost gathering is set for Pentecost Sunday, June 8, at the National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians in Stony Point, Rockland County.
The Pentecost Festival, part of the Jesus in Zion retreat series, will start at 3 p.m. and end at 8 p.m., to be conducted in English and Spanish and to feature speakers and musicians that will help “ignite your spirit,” organizers said. The shrine is located at 174 Filors Lane, Stony Point.
Father Vincent Druding, parochial vicar at Holy Cross Church in the Bronx, will be among the speakers.
“The day is going to be kind of a festival atmosphere; there will be music and there will be talks,” Father Druding told The Good Newsroom via a May 21 voice text, “There will be an outdoor site and an indoor site – there will be a Spanish side and an English side.” He said that toward the end, all will gather for a bilingual Holy Hour with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
“It will be a power hour of praise and worship; there’ll be candlelights and a great expression of the unity of the Church. It will be a really powerful experience that we’ll have with the Eucharist,” the priest added.
The other listed priest speakers are Father Malachy Napier, CFR, and Father Glenn Sudano, CFR, both of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, and Father Manny Gallo, vice director at the Marian shrine. The lay speakers will be Chinwe Esimai and Raisa Diaz.
The scheduled musical performers are Marisel Rodriguez, Brianne, Fernando Torres, and Raul Santos. The Jesus in Zion Ministry began in 2023 and is based at Holy Cross in the Bronx. The mission statement says:
“Jesus in Zion is a traveling community of Catholic collaborators—musicians, religious, and missionaries—dedicated to igniting radical praise and worship for Jesus Christ.
Through live music, bold intercessory prayer, deliverance, and profound encounters with the Blessed Sacrament, we open space for God’s transformative grace to renew hearts and spark revival wherever we go.”
In the Old Testament, Zion is the chosen place where God desired to dwell, and where He would invite all the tribes and nations to go up to praise the God of Israel. For more information on the Pentecost Festival, visit www.jesusinzion.com.