Go Out of Your Comfort Zone

Kelsey is a remarkable young disciple from our Church Community who I caught up with at Holy Trinity School on January 31. Her message to the younger kids there was to go out of their “comfort zones” and get involved at Church.

When Kelsey asked for a show of hands of those who had attended Vacation Bible School, almost every hand shot up. When she asked the assembly if it was fun, the whole room seemed to shout out, “Yeah.” “If you haven’t been, that’s a great place to start and make awesome new friends,” said Kelsey, “I’ve been going since 7th grade and this past summer, I stepped out to meet even more people.” She mentioned opportunities such as The Bridge, Crossroads and more – but she shared most fervently about Wednesday Night Live and the Confirmation Retreat she attended.  One earlier event she mentioned turned into pretty much a “food fight” – sounds like fun (if you’re a kid)!

 

When considering WNL, at first, she was reluctant to take the step of “going out”; asking her audience if they ever felt what it was like to “go to a party and your best friend’s not there.” Too many heads to count nodded, “yes.” That concern about feeling isolated was what at first held Kelsey back from going to WNL, and so going there was “totally stepping out of the comfort zone” for her.

But it was the sense of informality, fun and camaraderie that opened her up to more new adventures and events. She made some new friends on the ski trip she took, but she was also at the point in her own journey of faith where she wanted more – more connection, more meaning, more “reason to be Catholic.”

It was at Confirmation Retreat that she made the decision to get more involved at Good Shepherd, because, “When you’re younger you depend on your parents to take you places. But in High School, as you start driving, you’re also pretty much the ‘driver’ of how involved you are as a Catholic.” Between her junior and senior years, Kelsey’s decision was to step out of her own comfort zone and become involved by choice “instead of obligation.”

Even “Youth for Life” came up in Kelsey’s talk. Even though she was not among those from GSCC who attended March for Life in D.C., attending the Bishop’s Pro-Life Dinner last year was yet another opportunity for fellowship with other teens and more discipleship in concert with one another.

Friends Kelsey has made through Good Shepherd ministries, WNL and all kinds of youth events have become more important and lasting because those friendships are based in “trust, faith, God and love – those things that are really important and will last.” “Whatever Church you go to,” says Kelsey, “just get involved; you’ll meet people you can trust and awesome friends – friendships that will go on past graduation.”

 Next week, we will present another story of Evangelization here at Good Shepherd.

What Does the Bible Say?

“Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”

— 1 Timothy 4:12

“Shun youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”

— 2 Timothy 2:22

Evangelizing Challenge This Week

If you are younger than 13 and have an older brother or sister, ask them how they get involved in Good Shepherd. Or if you are the older sibling, take the initiative and tell your brothers or sisters how you are involved at Good Shepherd.  

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James and Samantha are parishioners here, students at Nolan Catholic HS and (importantly on the day I met them) alumni of Holy Trinity Catholic School. Almost two-hundred kids there, from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade sat attentively the other day in the multi-purpose room hearing about the adventure James and Sam had at the March for Life in Washington, D.C. Before the assembly began, James and Sam were discussing how they would refer to the issue of abortion. “So many of these kids are so little, you know?” said Sam, not wanting to alarm them if they didn’t know what abortion is. They decided to say the Pro-Life cause is about “saving babies.” As only teenagers can, their natural exuberance and infectious sense of fun enlivened and opened up their young audience.

Sam kicked off the talk asking the kids if they knew who Tim Tiebow is; several shouted, “yes, sure.” She then recounted how Mrs Pamela Tiebow, Tim’s mother, was a speaker at the Pro-Life Bishop’s Banquet and Mrs Tiebow’s strongly resisting doctors’ advice when she was pregnant that she should not have this baby because it was “going to have trouble,” and “to abort Tim” “’No way,’ said Tim’s mom, ‘this is my baby!’” An inspired way to introduce the topic to young kids; from there, they were in the palm of Sam’s hand. Sam’s facility with engaging her audience rivals that of show hosts like Queen Latifah and Ellen Degeneres. Her and James’ nervousness and qualms about talking to these younger kids were gone. James charged them up with how cool the Pro-Life Boot Camp was. As more and more people gathered in Washington, you could tell who was there to march “because they were carrying signs on the Metro.” James’ and Sam’s charism was bringing the Pro-Life message to the kids in that big room. When you are in elementary grades, it seems as though there is no one as     fascinating, knowledgeable or “cool” as a teenager – especially one who was sitting on that same floor a few years before!

Telling the story of one of their young Pro-Life cohorts who not only went to Washington, according to James, but “went to Rome, Italy, which is where the Pope is; and where religion is a big part of life – priests and nuns everywhere… And there are catacombs, really dark and scary. You get to sit in the crypts and stuff which is cool.” The kids on the floor were enthralled.

Both James and Sam were having a great time recounting the many things the younger kids could only imagine – snow (although most have seen it now, some had not on that day, January 31) and how cold walking the March really was; the Washington Metro system, the half-million people gathered and marching for life (despite the terrible cold); visiting national monuments; attending the Pro-Life Vigil Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception; attending the events meant for young people: the Youth Rally and Mass for Life at two different venues – the Verizon Center and the DC Armory.

There was lots of laughter that day at Holy Trinity, lots of fun, and moving moments, too, of reports of people met who had “been through it.” When asked if he would return next year, James said, “Maybe, yes” and Sam, who hopes to attend Catholic University of America in D.C. would ride the Metro to get there, “Easy.”

These two terrific young people, and hundreds of thousands like them, are following Pope Francis’ exhortation to “go out, go out” and get out of their comfort zones.  Examples for all of us.

Next week, we will meet another young evangelizing Catholic on this page.

What Does Pope Francis Say?

“Go out. Go out and share your testimony, go out and interact with your brothers, go out and share, go out and ask. Become the Word in body as well as spirit.”

What Does the Bible Say?

“Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you…’”

— Jeremiah 1:4-5

Evangelizing Challenge This Week
Ask someone in your family or a Catholic friend how they live out their faith in body as well as spirit or how they would like to do that.

 

 

There's No Place Like Home

I had dated and been in love with a certain girl for several years and began to wonder if she was “the one.”  How does one make such a momentous decision?  How is one certain?  I drove home in the middle of the week for guidance from my father.  He was surprised to see me and after some opening chit-chat, I asked him “How do you know if the girl you are in love with is ‘the one’?”  “Well”, he said, “One day, you will be with her and the time will come for you to leave and go home.  When the thought hits you that wherever she is, is where you’re truly home, you’ll know she’s the one.”  I have now been “home” with Cathy now for almost 30 years.

   Those who have left the Catholic Church have done so for a multitude of reasons.  While the Holy Spirit is at the center of each person’s decision to return, one can see ten common reasons they come back.  We have looked at #’s 10 – 4 in previous bulletins.  Here are the remaining top 3.

3.  Because they want to be part of a faith community.  Many people seek a sense of belonging, but community is more than just friendly people, good sermons, and interesting activities.  A Catholic Christian community is a group of people who gather around the person of Jesus Christ to worship God and live in the light of the Holy Spirit.  Catholics come together at Mass, in the sacraments, and in parish activities to pray, to celebrate joys, to mourn losses, to serve others, to provide support, and to receive strength for daily life.  A Catholic parish offers all of this – and much more – to people who recognize the importance of walking with others toward union with God.

2.  Because they want to help other people.  There are lots of opportunities within the secular world to volunteer.  What is missing is the spiritual dimension that service within the Catholic Church provides.  It is more than just a “feel-good” activity, it is part of the great commandment (see Mark 12:28 ff) to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself.  In reaching out to others, Catholic volunteers become instruments of God’s love.  The Catholic Church offers opportunities to touch the lives of people at home or around the world.

1.  Because they hunger for the Eucharist.  Many people come back to the Catholic Church because they feel an intense longing for the Eucharist.  Sometimes it happens at a wedding, a funeral, a baptism, a First Communion, or a confirmation.  Sometimes it happens when people are alone or facing difficulties in life.  They describe it as a deep hunger for the spiritual nourishment that comes when they receive the Body and Blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ.  This hunger for the Eucharist triggers a recognition of the presence of Christ in other sacraments, which draws them even more deeply into the practice of their faith.  It is, without exception, the number one reason people come back to the Catholic Church.  Most people discover that coming back to the Church is not an event so much as a process that involves a little pain, a little laughter, some thinking, some prayer, some discernment, and a lot of letting go.  “My actual return to full participation in a parish took about three years after I felt the first longing”, one person admitted.

   The Eucharist is the number one reason people come back to the Church.  And what do they get in return?  The Catholic Church offers union with Jesus Christ in Scripture, in prayer, in the community of others, in the Eucharist, and in all of the sacraments.  It offers spiritual support in good times and bad.  It offers divine wisdom that is thousands of years old.  It offers meaning and purpose in this life and the promise of life everlasting.

   When speaking to a non-active Catholic, consider recommending they do what I did:  have them make a trip home to a Catholic Church, and ask their (heavenly) Father how to know for sure where home is.  God the Father will let them know the answer:  “When you feel a deep sense of peace, you will know you are truly home”.

(The Ten Reasons are from Our Sunday Visitor)

What Does the Bible Say?

“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.” — Luke 19:10

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses … to the ends of the earth.”

— Acts 1:8

“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you know how you should respond to each one.”

— Col 4:6

What Do the Saints Say?

“To teach in order to lead others to faith is the task of every preacher and of each believer.”  — St Thomas Aquinas

 

 

         

 

         

         

 

 

“Hold on Really, Really Tight”

One summer in high school, I found myself in the chocolate milk opaque waters of the Chikaskia River with a tough-looking man who worked for my father. Bismarck (that’s what he was called), a thin, wiry man in his mid-30’s, was instructing me on how to noodle the 15-20lb catfish he had located for me hidden in a front wheel-well of a submerged car wreck. He told me to dive down, locate the fish, and work my hand up to put my thumb in his mouth and pull him up.

I dove into the darkness and in no time located the fish. I did as I was instructed and triumphantly pulled this fish up out of the water into the warm sunlight. In an instant, the fish shook his head violently back and forth, the rasp-like projections of his lower lip turning the pulp of my thumb to a patch of bright-red bloody tissue. I dropped him in the water, and heard Bismarck say, “Oh, I forgot to tell you. You have to hold on really, really tight”

If we are to be fishers of men, we must know a variety of ways to bring those who are lost in darkness back into the freedom and light of Jesus Christ and His Church. We need to have the knowledge of where to find them and what motivates them. Our job is not finished when we help them back to the Church; we must support them and “…hold on really, really tight.” We continue with more of the top ten reasons Catholics return to the Church:

7. Because they need to forgive others. “Will God ever forgive me?” Sometimes people hold on to anger and resentment toward individuals who have hurt them deeply. Perhaps it was a family member or a friend, or someone or something in the Church. Our modern culture condones and encourages anger and revenge, but hatred and bitterness are spiritual cancers that eat at the heart of a person. The Catholic Church provides the opportunity to seek God’s help in forgiving others, even when the other person does not ask for forgiveness or does not deserve it. The ability to forgive is a gift that opens a person’s heart more fully to God’s love and peace.

6. Because they want to be healed. Some people carry deep spiritual wounds. They struggle with anger at God over bad things-terminal illness, a debilitating injury, a broken relationship, mental or emotional problems, an act of violence against an innocent person, an unexplainable accident, some nature disaster, the death of a loved one, or some other deep disappointment. The Catholic Church cannot change these situations or explain why they happened, but there are people in the Church who can assist in spiritual healing and help you get on with your life.

5. Because the Catholic Church has the fullness of truth and grace. Many people who leave the Catholic Church are blessed by the experience of worshipping for a while in another Christian denomination, but some people come back when they realize that Catholicism has the fullness of truth and grace. The Catholic Church was not founded by a single reformer or historical movement. It is not fragmented by individual interpretation of Scripture. There are thousands of Christian denominations, but only one Catholic Church, which has been guided and protected by the Holy spirit from generation to generation for more than two thousand years.

4. Because they want their children to have a faith foundation. Some people return to the Catholic Church because they recognize that raising children in a culture that promotes “doing your own thing” can lead to disaster. Children need to experience the spiritual dimension of life. They need a structured system of belief and a firm moral foundation that goes beyond human logic and reasoning. People return because they want a solid foundation upon which their children can build their lives.

Next week, we will finish with the top ten reasons Catholics return to the Church.

“The Ten Reasons” are taken from Our Sunday Visitor

What Does the Bible Say?

Isaiah 6:8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’ ‘Here I am,’ I said; ‘send me!’”

Matthew 9: 37-38 “Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.’”

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”

2 Tim 4:5 “As for you, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

Evangelization Challenge of the Week

Open your Bible up to one of the above verses, or one that is meaningful to you in regard to evangelization, and leave it open on the kitchen counter or table – somewhere prominent. Invite your family to read it and think of ways they can share the Good News at school and work.

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