Parishioners from the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C., gathered on the cathedral steps to welcome passersby to explore the building, and if they wished, to pray during the evening of March 16. The "Light the City" event coincided with crowds forming near Dupont Circle heading to bars and restaurants to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. 

L.J. Milone, the Director of Faith Formation at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, organized this year’s Light the City.

“This is our mission. This is maybe one of the most direct ways to evangelize,” Milone said. “Invite people in and pray. I can’t think of something more direct than this, except (asking them), ‘Hey, would you like to become Catholic?’”

Milone said this event was previously organized by The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, with the last event in 2015, but this year, the cathedral staff took matters into their own hands. 

“It dawned on me when it was obvious for the cathedral schedule that this was the only time we could do it. And then I thought, ‘Oh, that's the night before St. Patrick's Day.’ Well, that could be really good, actually. Or it could be really bad. It could be interesting,” Milone said. “There’s already an in: St. Patrick.”

Milone felt that the limited number of volunteers inviting pedestrians into the cathedral reflected the current state of the Church.

“I thought as I was walking around earlier…it is kind of appropriate that it's just a few of us and not a large crowd of people with candles inviting people in. It kind of displays the challenge the Church is facing. There's just a few of us inviting people in,” Milone said.

According to Milone, this event was created in response to the recent synod at the Vatican.

“Pope Francis’ whole plan for the Synod on Synodality for the past three years is to engage the Church in a self-renewal,” Milone said. “It’s been his whole papacy [as the pope says] to go out into the streets. We are literally doing what he has asked us to do.”

Despite the challenge of competing events, there was a silver lining for Milone’s volunteers – higher foot traffic.

“There are probably not just going to be people having a good time tonight, but people who are maybe hurting, who maybe have a bad experience while they're out, or who are using alcohol to cover up a bad experience. So it's this kind of the field hospital approach to being Church,” Milone said.

Ultimately, Milone felt the event was a success.

“Pope Francis would really like this, I think,” Milone said. 

Dione Shears, a parishioner of St. Matthew’s Cathedral for over 20 years and a parish council member, said volunteering for Light the City wasn't something she initially considered, but she enjoyed the experience.

“You don't expect folks to just say, ‘Okay, I'll go to the cathedral,’ because they're down here to party. But when folks stop and say, ‘Okay, I'll take a look,’ it's a good feeling. That's a positive thing,” Shears said. 

Shears said that the event is important for Catholics as well as those who are not Catholic. 

“I think it's important, even more so for non-Catholics than Catholics. Catholics can come in, and they will compare it to the church they go to, but non-Catholics are discovering something. They're discovering, first of all, the beauty of this cathedral… They're understanding they're meeting a Catholic. This is where we pray. So some things they may not have known before, they get to know,” Shears said.

Adria Vargas, a parishioner at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, also volunteered for Light the City. She mentioned that this type of work is not unfamiliar to her, as she shared her experiences growing up in the Dominican Republic.

“I grew up with the Jesuits, and we did a lot of work to reach the youth and to reach people. This is very important for me, because the way that we can share our faith can also be doing activities like this, not just, (saying) ‘Oh, come to Mass or come to pray.’ You never know how Jesus is going to reach people,” Vargas said. 

She said her experience reaching out to people on the street included a variety of responses ranging from people accepting, declining, or ignoring her offer.

“People that say ‘no,’ I don't feel offended. It has been mixed, because some people are really curious. I see that curiosity, and I feel happy for that curiosity because I also think something that is very important that I noticed tonight is the way that I am looking at these people; even if I cannot compare myself with Jesus, I want to be like Jesus… I am not judging them because of how they're dressed. That's something that I found in myself new today, to embrace everyone as they are,” Vargas said.