Age: 49
Parish: Korean Catholic Community in Lenexa
Occupation: Research faculty at Children’s Mercy Hospital
What’s in your toolkit? Preparing for parish council meetings by writing agenda and minutes; planning church events; reading the Scriptures during Mass
What is your Catholic superpower? Prayer (my prayers have been answered many times)
Before the convocation
God was preparing Romano Park for a role at the archdiocesan convocation long before it was even in the works.
“Before I moved to Kansas City three years ago, I faced huge challenges in the church and in my workplace,” he said.
Park worked with a priest from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to “normalize a divided church” during a time of scandal and uncertainty.
When the priest was suddenly assigned to a new city, Park struggled with feeling disappointed and lost — until he began to understand God was preparing him for a new undertaking.
“After successfully overcoming seemingly impossible challenges and realizing God’s long-term preparation and arrangement, I have acquired complete trust in God,” said Park. “Now I am very open to doing God’s mission.”
Park’s passion for the church is a gift to the Korean Catholic Community in Lenexa, where he has worked as a bridge between the community and the archdiocese.
His leadership has made him a natural delegate for the convocation, which he hopes will present opportunities for “sharing personal, inspiring stories of successful evangelization [and] practicing integrated evangelization under various real-life situations.”
Park is eager to walk away with the tools to make the Korean Catholic Community feel more united with the archdiocesan mission.
“By actively participating in the archdiocese-wide evangelization effort, I hope our community becomes more confident and [it] increases the sense of belonging as a member of the archdiocese,” he said.
“I also hope the convocation provides momentum in our community’s evangelization effort,” he added.
After the convocation
After experiencing the convocation, what does it mean to you to be a missionary disciple?
The convocation was a very hot, happy and thrilling experience with the Holy Spirit, like the experience the three disciples had on a high mountain. Now I am back in the real world. Living as a missionary disciple still seems to be a very difficult task for me. But with the shared experience in my heart, all the help from the archdiocese and other parishes and, more importantly, with Holy Spirit, I will be able to take this exciting adventure for God’s mission.
