ChristLife Feb05 Newsletter

I recently received a phone call from a Catholic pastor who is responsible for three parishes. He shared how he has been using the Alpha course for three years with the intention of reaching out to neighborhoods around the parishes with the Gospel message. What he observed was that during the three years those who attended the course were mainly parishioners. And while that was a very good thing for the sake of helping them encounter the Lord personally, it was not helping the parish to reach out and evangelize others. He began to ask those who helped with the course why they were not getting ‘outsiders’ to come. The answer was not surprising but critical to hear and address. Most of them simply responded that they had never been taught how to share their faith in God with others. Though many of them had received years of Catholic education and were faithfully attending church, they had never heard a thing about how to talk with others about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The reason for his phone call was that once he heard his parishioner’s answer he decided that the goal for this next year would be training everyone in his three parishes to share Christ. And he had just heard about the video teaching series, Sharing Christ we have produced and wanted to work with us to help to get the parishes moving forward with personally sharing their faith!

Thank you, Lord, for pastors who understand that the essential mission of the Church is evangelization and are attempting to practically implement it. And who understand that at its core, the Gospel has to do with encountering personally the love of God the Father in and through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and receiving power through the Holy Spirit to live as disciples and members of the Church! After all, the reason for all of the Church’s activities and in fact the only reason the Church exists is for the very same reason the Jesus became man, - to save lost humanity! That is the business the Church is in!

“The risen Christ is in need of witnesses who have encountered him, who have known him intimately through the force of the Holy Spirit, men and women who, having touched Him with their hand, so to speak, can attest to him.” - Pope Benedict XVI, May 9, 2005

By August 1, 2005, we will be prepared to release the video recorded version of ChristLife’s seven-session Sharing Christ training course. The course presents simple, practical methods for ordinary Catholics to share their faith with confidence and effectiveness, and will equip you to invite others to learn more about faith in Christ and discipleship in the Church, so that Catholics can reach out to co-workers, neighbors, friends, and family who have left the Church or who have never been part of it.

We are blessed to have had an enormous portion of the production costs donated so that the final resources are very affordable. We want to make it possible for as many Catholics as possible to have the chance to use Sharing Christ. Please consider starting, or, encouraging others to start, a small group to run the Sharing Christ course

The Sharing Christ small group kit includes the seven-part video recorded teachings on two separate DVDs, one Facilitator’s guide to assist the small group leader, five participant guides, and six copies of the booklet “Characteristics of the New Evangelization.” The cost for the entire kit is $69.95. That works out to less than two dollars per person per week!

The Sharing Christ resources can be ordered through our on-line bookstore or by calling (888) 498-8474.

Please pray that Sharing Christ will be anointed to empower many Catholics to share the love of God the Father in Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit! And that many will come to know, love and serve our Lord with us!

We are very grateful to God for sending us Pete Ascosi to serve as a full time volunteer for the next year. Below Pete shares about coming to serve with ChristLife.

Greetings in Christ Jesus! It is with great enthusiasm that I write you about my involvement in full time volunteer service with Christlife.

After graduating from Mount Saint Mary’s University in 2004, the Lord, in His grace and mercy transformed my life in a deep and wonderful way.

While working as a research assistant in Washington DC, I attended the filming of the Christlife video series called Sharing Christ. There I had a conversation with one of the staff members, Leo Rudegeair, and received from him a strong impression that Christlife earnestly needed additional help.

He went on to explain the areas they needed assistance in – marketing, website maintenance, technical assistance, grant writing, etc. – and it struck me, that this is exactly what I do at my current job as a research assistant. Even more incredible was the fact that in the previous two weeks I had been considering leaving my current job to perform some type of full-time volunteer service, but had been unsuccessful in getting a clear “green light” from God. After spending some time in prayer and discernment with Dave Nodar, I felt the “green light” from the Lord and decided to devote a year of my life to serve the Lord at Christlife beginning in June 2005.

After nearly two weeks of service, I feel incredibly blessed and privileged to be a part of this wonderful ministry. In addition to working in the aforementioned areas, I am particularly excited to help Christlife bring the message of Christ to the youth.

In 1993 Pope John Paul II addressing thousands of young people at World Youth Day declared, "Do not be afraid to break out of the comfortable and routine modes of living in order to take up the challenge of making Christ known. It is you who must 'go out into the byroads' and invite everyone you meet to the banquet which God has prepared for His people."

Twelve years later this exhortation resounds in my heart and is the earnest work and mission of Christlife. Therefore with great thankfulness to the Lord for his abundant blessings in my life and at Christlife, I greet you and look forward to joining you in proclaiming Christ to all peoples!

Dates to remember
Please pray for these events and if in the area, join us!

September 17 Building Evangelizing Eucharisic Communities, Diocese of Altoona, PA

October 1 Building Evangelizing Eucharisic Communities, Northwest Corner Catholic Community, Ferndale, WA

October 22 Parish Evangelization Seminar, St. Joseph's Catholic Church, York, PA

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ChristLife Catholic Ministry of Evangelization
12990 A Folly Quarter Road
Ellicott City, MD 21042, USA.

Who We Are
ChristLife is an apostolate of the Archdiocese of Baltimore that is responding to Jesus' call to, "Go and make disciples of all nations," and to the Church's call to a new evangelization

"It appears that there are only a few Catholic ministries actually developing the means for Catholics to respond to the urgent call for a new evangelization and mission to the nations, and so I am especially grateful for this service."

What We Do
ChristLife provides vision, training, and resources needed for small groups,parishes, and ministries to do the work of evangelization.

Host a ChristLife training event in your diocese or parish!
Contact us for more information.
Call toll free 1 888-498- 8474
info@christlife.org
12290-A Folly Quarter Road, Ellicott City, MD, 21042, USA

ChristLife is a tax-exempt ministry dedicated to equipping Catholics for the work of evangelization.
To continue in this work, we depend entirely on the donations of fellow Christians like you.

We appreciate your support!