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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“…and I will make you fishers of men.”

One summer break during my college years, my father informed me that I would be accompanying my brother, Quintin, on his fishing trip to Alaska.  Quintin, a freshman in college, loved the outdoors and fishing, but could be a bit absent minded.  My father sent me to save him from being lunch for the bears.

Our plane arrived in Anchorage and we took a rental car to one of the many rivers on the Kenai Peninsula.  We stood on the bank, casting our lines into the clear, cold water teeming with salmon.  Hours passed without a single strike.  Several local fishermen were nearby catching fish, but were doing so by using a different method.  One of them, an older man in his 70’s, slowly worked his way next to us and politely asked “What are you boys fishing with?”  We held up our bass lures that had been so successful all of our lives in the ponds and lakes of Kansas and Oklahoma.  It was then that the Alaskan fisherman uttered the line that still causes laughter around family campfires today.  “You boys aren’t from around here, are you?”

As Catholics, our Father, through his Son Jesus, also sends us to save others:  “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” (John 20:21)  Jesus does not ask us, He sends us, confident that with the aid of the Holy Spirit, from the rising of sun to its setting, we will be able to bring all those who are lost back to Him.  “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19)  Whether on the Sea of Galilee, a river in Alaska, or around the water cooler at work, to be successful fishermen, we must be prepared to change our tactics to meet the situation at hand. We need to follow the great Evangelist, St Paul, who said “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some,” (1 Corinthians 22)

Let’s look at the top ten reasons that people return to the Catholic Church. As we talk to our brother or sister who has left the Church, we may be able to discern which of these reasons is most meaningful to them and thus “change our lure” to ease them back home.  .

1.         Because they want meaning in Life.  In the hustle of today’s busy lifestyles, lots of people suddenly realize that their lives have lost a sense of meaning.  They begin to ask themselves, “What is my life all about?  Why do I do what I do?”  There is widespread confusion in our culture with regard to morality and truth.  The Catholic Church offers a beacon of light that gives meaning to our existence and leads to eternal life.

2.         Because childhood memories surface.  Some people say childhood memories of feeling connected to God re-surface in later life.  They begin to ask themselves, “Is it possible to recapture that simplicity of faith?  Can I ever really believe that God is watching out for me?”  The secularization of our society leads people away from the spiritual side of themselves.  The Catholic Church offers both religious and mystical experiences that free the heart, the mind, the body and the soul.

3.         Because they made mistakes. Some people become burdened with the weight of accumulated sin. They want to get rid of the guilt of having hurt themselves or others. They begin to ask, “Will God ever forgive me? Is there any way I can start over with a clean slate?” You can always tell God that you’re sorry, but if you want the complete assurance of God’s forgiveness and the grace to start again, the Catholic Church offers absolution in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Next week, we will present the next seven top reasons people give who return to the Catholic Church. Please read these over carefully. In evangelization, as in fishing, presenting your “lure” in a variety of ways increases your chance of success, and success means the return of one who was lost back to the loving embrace of the Church and the opportunities for grace She provides.

(The Ten Reasons are from Our Sunday Visitor)

What Do the Saints Say?

“The nation doesn’t simply need what we have. It needs what we are.”

— St. Teresia Benedicta (Edith Stein)

What Does the Bible Say?

“And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of full stature of Christ.”

— Ephesians 4:11-13

Evangelization Challenge of the Week

This week, end your nightly prayers with the following “God, please give me the courage to evangelize.”

We pray for a Church

where no one feels alone ● that loves God and each other ● that values each person’s strengths ● that is guided by the Holy Spirit to rediscover itself ● that continues to embrace the vision of Vatican II ● that is fully engaged ● that focuses on love, peace, justice and compassion ● in which everyone is welcoming ● that proclaims the good news of Jesus Christ in word and action ●

We pray that we will be that Church! ● Amen

 

RCIA was Key

     Sally comes from a long line of Christians and has always loved the Lord and loved church. Three generations of her family preceded her on her faith path as a girl when she was moved to be baptized where her family worshipped, the Church of the Brethren in Wenatchee, WA. Her high school sweetheart, whom she later married, was a Catholic. They considered marrying in the Catholic Church, but Sally’s first encounter with the parish there was negative, to say the least. For that reason, she and her fiancé married in the Church of the Brethren. She and her first husband were married for twenty years.

Circumstances started leading her to our faith. She and her then-husband started having and raising children in a house and in a marriage that was buffeted by strife and damaged by her spouse’s mental and spiritual problems. After her first son was born, it weighed on her heart that he had not been baptized. They went “church shopping,” but nothing seemed right until they found a church, St. Cecilia in Beaverton, OR where they lived at the time that had a “cry room.” The practical consideration of having a place to take their infant when he cried, be able to see and hear the Mass and not disturb the whole church seemed a good answer.

 

So, they tried it. Sally was amazed at the priest’s powerful, inspiring messages; he was young, funny, energetic and down-to-earth. She really liked the experience there at St. Cecilia, so when the family moved the short distance to Vancouver, they looked around for a Catholic Church and found St. Joseph. The pastor there was very influential and supportive in her decision to follow the call of the Holy Spirit and become Catholic. When the children were old enough, they enrolled them in religious education and Sally was the parent who usually took them on Wednesday evenings to RE. St. Joseph’s offered Bible classes for adults at the same time, Sally became more involved and even became an aide in RE. At first, she didn’t even feel qualified – thinking one “had to be Catholic” to do it. The teacher urged her to help and so she did. Sally was being taught, just like the kids, just by being there, in the RE environment. The teacher would send home a note to parents after every class (“what we did, what we learned, and here’s what’s coming up at Church…”) so she took one, too. Suddenly, she was the faith leader in their home. Sally led her kids in donating to charitable causes and began to lead them in praying the Rosary on Monday nights. Soon, Sally became a catechist herself, teaching a class of kids.

After a morning catechist training meeting one Saturday with the pastor and the head of RE, she was chatting with a fellow catechist girlfriend, a convert to the Faith, who asked her, “Why aren’t you a Catholic?” Sally replied, “Well… not enough time… it’s all about my kids…I’m the breadwinner.”

 

Her friend told her about her own experience in RCIA suggesting Sally might “check it out.” When she finally enrolled and started RCIA, she was scared; it was a packed session of over 100 catechumens. But says, “It was like a curtain parted, a veil lifted, revealing so much truth. It was very open, accepting, free – to voice concerns and questions. In the nine-month program we catechumens dispelled our misconceptions one-by-one and met privately twice with a priest - really getting the chance to probe and explore why we were there… I learned so much. The Church is always guided by the Holy Spirit but we humans can make bad choices, bad decisions. Just because a Catholic sins, the Church itself isn’t a sinner.”

“In my RCIA group, we studied together, read together, we socialized, we were like a family. When I proceeded through the Three Scrutinies* and finally got Confirmed, I was ‘on fire’ with my faith.”

Life circumstances brought Sally here; travails and low points followed her relocation, but she “never lost Faith that God would see her through.” She was right, of course, and is today deeply active in many areas of Good Shepherd. She knows that the Holy Spirit will guide her in whatever is next.

 

· The Scrutinies of RCIA are celebrated on the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent; celebrated at liturgies where the Elect are present.  The Elect are those in our midst who are preparing for Baptism or Confirmation. These are ancient rites and they may, at first, seem strange to us.  But they are profoundly rooted in our human experience.  We need to examine (scrutinize) how we are, the areas of our lives where we are tempted, or seriously sin - in what we do and what we fail to do.  We really need healing and the strength that can come from the support of our sisters and brothers. (Creighton University Online Ministries) In Sally’s case, some of the Elect, including her, were confirmed before Palm Sunday Vigil, participated in that Mass, felt truly a part of the Church and were moved to tears.

What Have Church Leaders Said?

“God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission—I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. Somehow I am necessary for His purposes… He does nothing in vain; He may take away my friends, He may throw me among strangers, He may make me feel desolate, He may prolong my life, He may shorten it; He knows what He is about.”  — John Henry Cardinal Newman (himself, a convert)

 

 

 

 

Love Will Find a Way...Back to God

After more than a decade of not walking with the Lord and a failed marriage, I met my wife Susan and fell in love. Susan lived at home with her parents and was a Catholic who had attended parochial school and a Catholic college. Many of our interests were the same and I always felt very comfortable with her.  She attended Mass faithfully, some might say “religiously,” on weekends, Holy Days and other days of obligation. I began to go with her though she never pressured me.  I firmly believe that God sent her to save me. In 1980 we were married first in the Baptist Church as she explained that we would not be allowed to be married in the Catholic Church. I knew very little about Catholicism. The first experiences of Mass were a source of wonderment to me. Susan never raised the issue of religion nor did I feel any pressure from her at all to become a Catholic. Having just come out of a decade of not walking with the Lord I hungered to return to him. I decided to examine the Catholic faith. My love for Susan led me to want us to share a strong foundation spiritually for our marriage. In retrospect part of what attracted me to Susan was her faith.

I received my own private RCIA training from Monsignor Louis at a nearby Church. I began the process of seeking an annulment from my first marriage and was blessed that it went quickly. Susan and I were married in the Catholic Church shortly before the birth of our son Adam. Later that year I received the Eucharist and Confirmation and was brought into full communion with the Catholic Church.

I have a daughter from my first marriage and I had visitation every other weekend. I was grateful that her mother did not stand in the way of Jennifer being raised in the Catholic faith. Her training was accomplished privately with Monsignor Louis during visits and ultimately she was baptized, and received her First Holy Communion at an Easter Vigil. I arranged for ongoing religious education through the Church in New York. Being able to give my daughter her Catholic faith and now my Grandchildren Olivia and Derek have been baptized and are being raised Catholic, are two of my greatest joys.

I have heard it said that our Mission as Husbands and Fathers is to get our loved ones to heaven and that is my quest.

— Parishioner Steve

What Does the Bible Say?

“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends… And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.”                                                                         (1 Corinthians 12 - 13)

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

What Do the Saints Say?

"To convert somebody go and take them by the hand and guide them."

— St. Thomas Aquinas

 

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