Page 21 - Spring 2019 Extension Magazine

Extension | Spring 2019 21

FOSTERING FAITH

THROUGH ARTS

AND CULTURE

LEFT Rayas was raised assume a place in the Church and in them so that they might learn first-
in the Diocese of El Paso the world. hand that they have gifts and skills to
and after her education, develop. The model that Rayas and
returned home to uplift
her own community. CREATING A CULTURAL CENTER her colleagues practice is rooted in
With the support of Catholic sharing deeply cultural experiences.
ABOVE Rayas founded Extension, Rayas had an opportu- This emphasis allows teachers to
and directs an arts and
cultural center for young nity to translate theory into practice be not only catechists—impart-
people to honor Latino by establishing the Centro San Juan ing knowledge about the faith tra-
traditions and keep Diego (CSJD) as an arts, culture, dition—but also evangelists. They
them alive. and formation center for young peo- have the opportunity to do primary
ple. She rehabbed an old parochial evangelization, understood as shar-
school building, inviting profession- ing a way of living in the world rooted
als—including her sisters—to share in one’s Catholic faith.
their wisdom and faith with kids in Verónica Rayas is promoting
Saturday programs, summer camps a model of religious formation
mately to God. Her family, like so and after-school workshops. On rooted in some of the best con-
many others in this region, com- an average day at CSJD, you’ll find temporary theology and pastoral
prises generations whose lives teachers and groups of kids work- ministry. It is a model that many dio-
have been shaped by both Mexi- ing on silkscreen, video production ceses might imitate—and indeed,
can and U.S. culture. She has seen or cooking. These immersions in the Rayas herself could be the person to
the richness of that culture, and arts also offer teachers the opportu- teach it. But her call to form young
the ways that Catholic faith per- nity to tell stories about cultural and people in Catholic faith is primary,
meated it. She understood firsthand religious symbols, feast days, and and the Centro San Juan Diego is the
the ways that parents and grandpar- the importance of family. place she has built from the ground
ents passed on their faith: sharing Many of the young people that up. It is exciting to imagine the ways
stories and images over the hearth, come to CSJD are from low-income that her ministry will transform the
while doing chores, or through arts. families and face personal and aca- Church in El Paso.
When she returned home from her demic challenges. The Centro is a
graduate studies, she set to work on place where Rayas and the staff and
harvesting that cultural wisdom for volunteers treat them as children
the sake of helping young people of God, working side-by-side with