In 2024, a group of parishioners from Immaculate Conception in Auburn reached out to Father Drew Curry to start an initiative called the Tilma where “the laypeople evangelize the county and the priests accompany.” The two married couples who began the initiative also welcomed Father Brian Ise nbarger to accompany their evangelization, and a year later, Father Thomas Zehr from St. Michael the Archangel in Waterloo joined, making the Tilma an effort of Catholics from three parishes to maximize DeKalb County outreach. Why here and why now? A bellwether fact that serves partly as a guide for the leadership of the Tilma is that only approximately 2 percent of the population of the DeKalb County community are practicing Catholics who go to Mass and regularly can receive holy Communion. “In other words,” Father Isenbarger said, “98 percent of our county is starving for the Bread of Life.” Breaking these numbers down, only 1,000 of the 45,000 people living in DeKalb receive Communion every Sunday. If the burden of bringing these 45,000 people to Christ is solely on the priests, each of the three priests in DeKalb County would be responsible for 15,000 people. The goal of the Tilma is to redistribute this work of evangelizing through one-on-one relationships and small groups, with the majority of these efforts enacted by the parishioners themselves. The Church needs “the lay faithful in their workplaces and their schools and in their day-to-day life proclaiming the Gospel in those areas” where priests don’t always have access. Mary Chose a Layman The title of the initiative, the Tilma, was generated during a prayer meeting. Father Curry pointed to Father Isenbarger’s fireplace and said, “That’s the name for this thing!” Father Isenbarger looked confused and asked, “The fireplace?” to which Father Curry responded, “No, the mantle.” They discussed the different ways we as Catholics understand mantle, which included the mantle passed from Elijah to Alisha, the mantle of Our Lady covering and protecting us, and the biblical reference to God replacing our garments of sorrow with a mantle of praise. Continued discussion and prayer brought them to the particularities of Our Lady and her appearance to St. Juan Diego. It was his mantle, or tilma, upon which her image was left. Mary chose a layman to work through, which is the model for the groundswell approach of the Tilma. Within 10 years of receiving Our Lady’s image on his tilma, there were nearly 10 million baptisms in the region that is now Mexico in the 16th century. Father Isenbarger said, “Imagine what Our Lady, her miraculous tilma from Juan Diego, what it could do in 1531, and through her intercession, imagine what she can continue to do today, especially here in DeKalb County.” ‘Evangelization as Friendship’ As the initiative has grown, the ministry realized it needed to bring someone in as executive director to make the movement’s reach a reality, so they brought in Nathaniel Binversie, whose experience building Exodus 90 made him a perfect fit. With crackling charisma and a beard a foot past his chin, Binversie looks like a modern-day John the Baptist. He speaks passionately about the one-on-one nature of real evangelization. It might seem difficult to go out and evangelize, but, Binversie said, “When we think about evangelization as friendship first and foremost, becoming and building relationships with other people, including with Our Lord, it becomes more core to who we are.” Binversie continued, saying: “When it comes to living a life of evangelization, when it comes to just living the Christian life, we’re actually not only inviting you to do something for and with Our Lord of which the Lord has commanded you to do, we’re also opening to you the door to life, freedom, fulfillment, peace and joy, which Our Lord desires for you more than you desire for yourself.” Three Arms, One Mission Toward this peaceful, Lord-driven life, the Tilma is taking a three-armed approach. The first, Equipping the Lay Faithful, is already in action in the form of courses called “The Spark: Equipping Mini-Series.” This six-part series aims to more deeply form the lay apostolate in their relationship with the Lord so they can be firmly led in the authentic friendships they are called to develop as evangelists. In April, approximately 40 people attended the first of the “Spark” series, entitled “Relationship and Identity.” The second arm of the Tilma is the full-time Missionary Arm, which will begin in the summer of 2027. This ambitious component of the initiative includes the establishment of a community life ordered by a monastic horarium (or schedule) where men and women can spend two years in vocational discernment. Binversie explained that its goal is to be a place that allows men and women to “accelerate in their formative life and in their maturity, both spiritually and humanly, much faster, because it’s so all-encompassing, a full submission, a full life engaged in this process of formation.” The third arm of the Tilma is the Hospitality Arm, an outreach of radical hospitality. This arm will allow for the incarnational presence of the lay apostolate and include music, speakers, praise and worship, and an opportunity to share a cup of coffee. This hospitality is what underscores the whole ministry. This is where the one-on-one friendships will begin, and where people “will be seen and respected in a way that maybe other places don’t allow or especially in a time where people have a great sense of loneliness or isolation,” Binversie said. Binversie makes a strong argument for relational evangelization: “There are two different things that you see in Rome: the Church and all of its church things and the Roman Empire and all of its Roman things. One of those two is in ruins. The other is alive. One of them failed. The other is thriving.” ‘Active Agent of Evangelization’ The Tilma models Christ’s own work in reaching out to love our neighbor. The goal of this popular evangelization is to double faithful Mass attenders in DeKalb County within five years, bringing the 1,000 to 2,000. This would be among the measurements of the ministry’s real lasting growth. The aim, Binversie said, is to “get more people in front of the Eucharist” and for more people “to have a relationship that’s intimate enough with Our Lord so that not only do you want to just pray generally, but you want to be in complete communion with Him.” In a talk given to a general audience on March 18, Pope Leo XIV reminded us that “each baptized person is an active agent of evangelization.” The Tilma offers practical ways for the surrounding communities to be the active agents of evangelization we are called to be. More information on the Tilma’s efforts and how to participate can be found at thetilma.org. The post The Tilma is Mobilizing Catholics Evangelize Like Christ appeared first on Today's Catholic. ...read more read less