The Missionary Option - What it Means to "Be A Disciple"

Evangelization means we are sent as Disciples. Each one of us in virtue of our baptism is called to live our faith and to bear witness to the Gospel. First, there were the groundbreaking writings on the New Evangelization by Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II and others. Then Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (now Pope Francis) was one of the primary authors, in 2007, of an important document from the Fifth General Conference of the

Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, called the Aparecida document. Called by some the foundational document of Pope Francis’ pontificate,  Aparecida calls us to be missionary disciples who work to build a world of love and solidarity. Missionary disciples joyfully announce the Gospel and proclaim the love of God that transforms hearts and minds—as well as unjust structures that perpetuate poverty and suffering.

In a recent address, USCCB President, Archbishop Joseph E Kurtz said that the New Evangelization in the U.S. must be made of three components

1.   personal conversion – a continuous effort by every Catholic to evangelize themselves through prayer and reading the Gospel

2.   a confidence in the power of the Gospel to impart God’s Grace to all who hear it

3.   creative new ways to share the Gospel.

Many of those new ways are through new media and new technology. That is the reason we have featured Catholic Apps, for example, on this page.

To make the New Evangelization a reality is to become pilgrims on a journey or pilgrimage with Jesus Christ— much like the journey of Jesus meeting the disciples along the road to Emmaus.  The journey or pilgrimage includes moments for a deepening of our faith, increasing our participation in the sacramental life of the Church, and leads finally to our destination of being Christian witnesses.

"A new evangelization is synonymous with mission, requiring the capacity to set out anew, go beyond boundaries and broaden horizons. The new evangelization is the opposite of self-sufficiency, a withdrawal into oneself, a status quo mentality and an idea that pastoral programs are simply to proceed as they did in the past. Today a 'business as usual' attitude can no longer be the case. Some local Churches, already engaged in renewal, reconfirm the fact that now is the time for the Church to call upon every Christian community to evaluate their pastoral practice on the basis of the missionary character of their program and activities."

—Synod of Bishops XIII Ordinary General Assembly, The New Evangelization for the Transmission of Christian Faith, Lineamenta

Pope Francis’ recent apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (the Joy of the Gospel) makes it clear when he writes, “I dream of a 'missionary option', that is, a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything, so that the Church’s customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channeled for the evangelization of today’s world rather than for her self-preservation.”

This is a huge statement. As a Church, we have been inward-focused and guilty of “triumphalism” to use Pope Francis’ term. His Holiness is calling for our Church to thrive by choosing the missionary option in everything that we do.

“Evangelization is the Church's deepest identity.  Evangelization brings the good news of the Gospel to all who seek the life-giving message of faith in Jesus Christ… Each one of us in virtue of our baptism is called to live our faith and to bear witness to the Gospel… Stewardship is an expression of discipleship rooted in a personal relationship with Christ. Good stewards generously share their gifts and blessings with others for the sake of the Kingdom.”

— Bishop David Ricken, USCCB Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis

Evangelization Challenge This Week

Read one of the following:

EvangeliiGaudium(the Joy of the Gospel)

Aparecida document, 2007

Why Do We Say, “Forty Days of Lent” When It’s Really Forty-Six?

Today’s Gospel Reading from Matthew 4:1-11 recounts the forty days and nights Jesus fasted in the desert. This reminds us of the forty days of Lent. “But wait,” our friends of other faith traditions might say, “if we count them out, there are forty-six days between Ash Wednesday and Easter. How can that be? What is the Catholic explanation?” As more and more of our friends of other denominations are beginning to practice fasting, vigils and even the application of ashes to the forehead, the question about forty days might come up.

The simple answer is we do not count Sundays, but why not? The answer takes us back to the earliest days of the Church. Christ's original disciples, who were Jewish, grew up with the idea that the Sabbath—the day of worship and of rest—was Saturday, the seventh day of the week, since the account of creation in Genesis says that God rested on the seventh day.

Christ rose from the dead, however, on Sunday, the first day of the week, and the early Christians, starting with the apostles (those original disciples!), saw Christ's Resurrection as a new creation, and so they transferred the day of rest and worship from Saturday to Sunday.

Since all Sundays—and not simply Easter Sunday—were days to celebrate Christ's Resurrection, Christians were forbidden  to fast and do other forms of penance on those days. Therefore, when the Church expanded the period of fasting and prayer in preparation for Easter from a few days to 40 days (to mirror today’s Gospel reading), Sundays could not be included in the count.

Thus, in order for Lent to include 40 days on which fasting could occur, it had to be expanded to six full weeks (with six days of fasting in each week) plus four extra days—Ash Wednesday and the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday that follow it. Six times six is thirty-six, plus four equals forty. And that's how we arrive at the 40 days of Lent!

(adapted from “Why Sundays don’t count during Lent” by Scott Richert on Catholicism at About.com)

What Does The Bible Say?

“At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights…”

— Matthew 4:1own

Evangelizing Challenge This Week

Engage in a conversation with a non-Catholic friend or neighbor about Lent and what it means to them, how they observe it in any special way. Listen carefully and offer your own practices and experiences in a loving, accepting and non-threatening way.

The readings for this First Sunday of Lent present to us exactly what Lent should be about. In the Gospel from Matthew, reference is made to the time Jesus spent in the desert, “He fasted for forty days and nights.” Most of us are aware that Lent, which began on Ash  Wednesday, is 40 days in length, ending on Holy Thursday after the Mass of the Last Supper. We may also be aware that we are called to prayer,  penance, repentance, fasting, almsgiving, and some  elements of self-denial during this Lenten time.

 
Today’s church keeps reminding us, nonetheless, that we need to do more than stop doing things. We also need to start doing things. That is where stewardship comes in, of course. The Gospel tells us that Jesus was “tempted” by the devil. Notably the word for “tempt” in Greek is the same as the word for “trial.”

Just as the Lord was put to trial by Satan, we, too, are put to trial every day. Our response has to be more than just saying “no” to those things which are not good for us. We also need to say “yes” to more good things — more practices which deepen our faith and bring us closer to God. That is what the 40 days of Lent are really about.

 

Lenten Apps

Truth & Life Dramatized Audio “46 Day Challenge” The developers of this great app have packaged all four Gospels into 46-day segments – about 2 chapters a day– so you can  read all the Gospels through Lent. iOS, Android, Kindle Fire, Nook. Free (so it’s a great way to try out the full version).

iStations ($1.99) Android and  iOS. Traditional stations and the  St. Alphonsus Liguori devotional text. For most people, that’s all they ask for. But you get more–There is an audio version imbedded. In that case, bring your ear buds if you’re in church.

Magnificat Lenten Companion 2014 The print version is sold out, but you can get an iOS app. This is the popular devotion presented in a day-by-day format. Includes daily liturgy, prayer, meditations, penance service, devotional prayers and much more. iOS, $0.99

 

 

 

In 2008, I was driving along Harwood Rd. in Bedford minding my own business. Having moved back to Texas from New Jersey a couple of years before, I was in no hurry to do anything about faith or religion but on that day was in a hurry to get someplace (I’ve forgotten where) when I noticed all the churches I was passing – Concordia Lutheran, Emmanuel Presbyterian; then I saw a banner in front of one Church reading, “Catholics Come Home – Meet Here Tues Nights at 7” in front of St. Michael Catholic Church. 

It didn’t literally stop me in my tracks but it definitely caught my attention. Never had I seen this direct an invitation to return to the Church. Baptized Catholic, raised in a nominally Catholic home, Catholic schooled for the first four grades, confirmed at St. Paul CC in San Antonio – you could say I was planted in the Church, but the roots did not keep me past junior high school. It was the 1960’s and jumping out of Church found plenty of soft places to fall. Fast-forward fifteen years — public HS, rock & roll and soul music (playing in a garage band and the dawn of “album oriented” radio programming), college (off and on), the so-called “sexual revolution,” …and drugs. If you read about a drug in Time or Newsweek in those days, I probably took it sometime between 1968 and 1983. I stumbled through college and two failed marriages by the time I was thirty. Rising from those “soft places to fall” led to some pretty hard places for me and many others.

Life began to change for the better. I met my wonderful wife of now twenty-six years in 1984. We fell in love, married in 1987 and have two terrific, grown daughters.

All the while, I was fascinated by religions, Eastern philosophies, spiritual writings and worship (just not Catholicism). My meandering path back to that momentous day on Bedford Rd. had led me to worship and sing in Protestant churches, dragging my wife and kids along sometimes, but mostly not. God led me to be a better husband and father, little by little. Still, the music in churches I attended kept moving my soul and drawing me in. Remember the soul music I mentioned above? It’s the first cousin of African-American church music.

There is a balm in Gilead,

To make the wounded whole;

There’s power enough in heaven,

To cure a sin-sick soul.

 

There was a God-shaped hole in my heart, in my sin-sick soul, until I started coming home in 2008 at St. Michael CC, led by a banner posted outside the Church. The “Coming Home” weekly meetings, the lovely staff and priests and deacon guided me.

In 2010, I discovered Good Shepherd was closer to my home, so my journey was almost complete. This parish, its wonderful people and friars have led me to more and more service and all the way home to Jesus.

 

How lost was my condition

Till Jesus made me whole!

There is but one Physician

Can cure a sin-sick soul.

Don't ever feel discouraged,

'Cause Jesus is your friend,

And if you lack for knowledge,

He'll never fail to lend.*

* The “balm in Gilead” is quoted in the Old Testament, but the lyrics of this spiritual refer to the New Testament. This difference is interesting to comment. In the Old Testament, the balm of Gilead cannot heal sinners. In the New Testament, Jesus heals everyone who comes to Him.

 

What Does the Bible Say?

“For thus says the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah: Though you be to me like Gilead, like the peak of Lebanon, I swear I shall turn you into a waste, with cities uninhabited. Against you I will send destroyers, each with their tools.”

— Jeremiah 22:6-7

Evangelizing Challenge This Week

Invite a Catholic friend, relative or neighbor who has drifted away from the Church to come to Mass with you, to “come home;” Lent would be a great time to do that. 

 

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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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