ChristLife Newsletter
August 2001
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Jesus said to Peter, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Imagine, the professional fisherman is told by a carpenter how and where to fish! Peter protests, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything!” (Luke 5:4,5) But then grace enters the situation and Peter agrees to do as asked. “And when they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets began to break.”
In Rome recently, his Eminence, Cardinal Mahoney appealed to the Pope, “Our Holy Father has made the New Evangelization a major priority for the Church, and I am eager to help translate this into action steps at the level of my Archdiocese. But I need help, and very possibly, other Bishops around the world need similar guidance and assistance.” (Full text available at www.christlife.org.) This humble admission, I believe, is pleasing to God. Repeatedly as I have had the opportunity to talk with Bishops, clergy and laity, I hear a candor expressed about our spiritual poverty in the area of evangelization that can be an occasion of grace and hope. Let us turn today to the Master, acknowledging that we have fished all night without catching anything, and get ready to follow his direction! Let’s pray for our Bishops, clergy and all of God’s people to respond to the call of our Lord Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit!
In our Savior
Dave Nodar
The Call to Be Evangelizing Communities
This summer is providing many occasions to discuss evangelization with church leaders around the U.S. These discussions have provided us with significant information and encouragement regarding the directions we are taking to help equip the Church for the work of evangelization. In particular, we have seen the importance of establishing a vision for parishes becoming evangelizing Eucharistic communities. Not simply parishes with an evangelization program, but parishes as vibrant witnessing communities. The Church teaches that evangelizing constitutes her essential mission and is, in fact, her deepest identity (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 14). This clearly means that simply ticking off "offer an evangelization course" on the parish To Do list is inadequate for what Jesus has called the Church to be and do. In the U.S. our Conference of Bishops has written a revolutionary national plan and strategy for evangelization.
It calls for conversion, small faith communities, and discipleship, developing the means of reaching out to those outside the church, and fostering Gospel values in our society by the transforming power of Jesus.
We in Christlife are committed to helping parishes and ministries implement the plan by providing leadership training, resources, and national leadership forums. Please pray for us that we will be wise in the use of our staff, money and time!
In the next newsletter we will share about some of the events we have served at this summer!
Quote of the Month
“Yes, now is the time for mission! In your Diocese's and parishes, in your movements, associations and communities, Christ is calling you. The Church welcomes you and wishes to be your home and your school of communion and prayer. Study the Word of God and let it enlighten your minds and hearts. Draw strength from the sacramental grace of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. Visit the Lord in that 'heart to heart' contact that is Eucharistic Adoration. Day after day, you will receive new energy to help you to bring comfort to the suffering and peace to the world. . . . . By contemplating the light radiant on the face of the Risen Christ, you will learn to live as 'children of the light and children of the day' (1 Th 5:5), and in this way you will show that 'the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true' (Eph 5:9).
Pope JPII, 7/25/01
Calendar of Events
September 10,11
El Paso, TX
ChristLife will present an Alpha for Catholics Seminar
September 20, 21
New York Alpha Conf. (REMOVE 2nd PERIOD)
ChristLife will present an Alpha for Catholics Seminar
November 2,3
Archdiocese of Philadelphia
ChristLife will present an Alpha For Catholics Conference
Prayer Needs
• For the Holy Spirit to bring about in all Christians the same passion for the lost that God has!
• For a new springtime of evangelization throughout the Church
• For wisdom and direction for our development of an evangelization process.
• For funding to support this apostolate and to hire additional staff.
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
What We Do
ChristLife provides the training and materials needed for dioceses, parishes and ministries to perform the work of evangelization, discipleship and small group community building, including the Alpha course as a first step. We help connect these groups so that through association we are all better able to respond to the call to a new evangelization and mission to the nations.
Subscribe to our newsletters!
If you are interested in receiving these newsletters by mail, please click here.
Contributions to help with the cost are appreciated.
Copyright (c) 2001 ChristLife Catholic Evangelization Services
Permission is hereby granted to copy or reprint ChristLife newsletters for personal use, research files, internal circulation, and bulletin inserts. Please include "Copyright (c)2001 ChristLife" and our web address: www.christlife.org. Written permission is required if the article is to be included in a book, or in newspapers or magazines with paid subscriptions.
Top