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Mirrors were definitely not a necessity at New York Encounter 2015, as participants had only to look at their brothers and sisters in Christ to realize the theme “In Search of the Human Face.”
“We know ‘In Search of the Human Face’ is actually part of the odyssey for the very face of God,” Cardinal Dolan said Jan. 16 in delivering opening remarks at the annual three-day public cultural festival, held at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan.
“In the human face, we see an icon of God’s face. In the face of every human person, we see Veronica’s veil, the image of Jesus Himself. And when God our Father looks at a human face, including our own, He sees the face of His Son.”
That vision, the cardinal continued, “is what inspired the great saints that we are so proud to claim here in New York.”
As he surveyed the enthusiastic attendees from the dais, the cardinal said he saw in their faces the reflection of God’s. “I’m very glad you’re here. God bless your weekend.”
The weekend included a tribute to the late Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete, a theologian and a founder of the Encounter, who died Oct. 24, and the screening of “The Beautiful Road,” a documentary marking the 60th anniversary of the birth of Communion and Liberation, the Catholic lay ecclesial movement whose members founded New York Encounter in 2010.
There seemed to be something for everyone of every age at the festival, from artistic performances and conferences to exhibits and information booths that introduced charitable, cultural and work-related initiatives.
Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston shared the dais Jan. 17 with Timothy Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics, for a dialogue titled “Identity and the Challenge of Disability.” Cardinal O’Malley also celebrated an early morning Mass for attendees Jan. 18.
The experience of marriage was presented by a young couple through their reflections on the play “The Jeweler’s Shop,” by Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II. “Will You Be My Life’s Companion?” was the theme of the talk by Stephen and Paige Sanchez.
Stephen Sanchez, 36, is the founding director of ComUnidad Juan Diego, an educational, pastoral and social services initiative for Latin American immigrants in the archdiocese and the English editor of Traces, the international magazine of Communion and Liberation. Mrs. Sanchez, 34, is the archdiocese’s associate superintendent of schools for mission effectiveness.
Their talk was part of the Encounter’s “The Human Adventure Series: People at Work; the Works of a People.”
New York’s saints were on display in the exhibit “The Face of Sanctity, the Human Face: The Lives of Elizabeth Seton and Frances Cabrini,” which included a thoughtful presentation as well as guided tours.
The present and future were also examined through the exhibit “I Am Exceptional: The Millennial Experience: The Search for Identity in the Next Greatest Generation.”
Movie buffs settled in for a presentation titled “The Search for Identity in American Films,” which featured film clips followed by a conversation about them. The presenter was Annette Insdorf, director of Undergraduate Film Studies at Columbia University and a professor in the Graduate Film Division of the School of the Arts. Armando Fumagalli, director of the master’s program in screenwriting, fiction and movies at The Catholic University of Milan, Italy, also provided commentary.
Other artistic offerings included performances and a discussion of the blues, and a modern dance by the Creative Outlet Dance Theatre of Brooklyn titled “Adam Danced.”
