St. Patrick’s Cathedral became one of Midtown Manhattan’s most rollicking music venues on the evening of Friday, January 31, as Jesus in Zion returned for the second year.
About 1,000 people, mostly younger, joined in song, prayer, and adoration at the bilingual, charismatic-style event.
Featured speakers included Father Vincent Druding, parochial vicar and Jesus in Zion ministry leader at Holy Cross Church in the Bronx; and Mari Pablo, a nationally prominent presenter at Catholic conferences and the evening’s emcee. The local event was inspired by a revival in Kentucky and was first held in the Archdiocese of New York at Holy Cross during Lent 2023.
The evening opened with about 30 minutes of music, after which Pablo welcomed the crowd and explained the evening’s theme: “Jesus in Zion.” “I don’t know why you came. But I know the Lord wants to do something great in our hearts if we let Him,” Pablo told attendees. “Jesus in Zion, the Bible verse that is connected to comes from Psalm 132:13, and it says, ‘The Lord has chosen Zion as His dwelling place.’”
Pablo then introduced Father Druding, who explained the history of the event and the unity that it seeks to create. “That unity has to begin with the Church,” Father Druding affirmed. “We can’t expect the world to unite if we’re divided as a church, amen?”
After more music, Father Druding introduced Archdiocese of New York Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Espaillat to speak, serving as the event’s keynote speaker. Father Druding and Pablo prayed over Bishop Espaillat before his talk.
At the beginning of his talk, Bishop Espaillat chided the attendees to put down their phones and focus. “This is not a show. As a matter of fact, it’s distracting. If you’re here to pray, put your cellphone away. Amen or ouch?” the bishop said, speaking in both English and Spanish and employing the charismatic call and response.
“That’s why the world doesn’t believe. You know why? Because if I have to show and prove what happened here at St. Patrick’s Cathedral through a cellphone, and I cannot prove it through my testimony, then I am part of the problem!”
Later in his 15-minute oratory, Bishop Espaillat again challenged those in attendance to do more and to focus on prayer life. “How many of you attended Mass today? How many of you didn’t go to Mass today? Daily Mass is important. Listen: If you can’t go to Mass every day, how are you going to have a consistent prayer life? Make time,” the bishop exhorted.
The event included approximately an hour of “enhanced” adoration – Eucharistic exposition with musical accompaniment and prayer aloud — before concluding with more singing.
The event is in part intended to unify different Catholic linguistic groups. In an email to The Good Newsroom, Father Druding said he and Bishop Espaillat are looking to “work together to unite the English and Spanish-speaking charismatic communities in the Archdiocese of New York, as well as the other language groups who often worship separately. We believe the upcoming Jesus in Zion at St. Patrick’s Cathedral is an ideal time and place to do so.”
The next Jesus in Zion event will take place at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, New Jersey, on April 5.
— Armando Machado contributed to this report.