Endorsements & Testimonies

ARCHBISHOP O'Brien and Other Priests

"Discovering Christ is a new evangelization program developed by ChristLife, a lay apostolate of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, to introduce people to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.... Please consider using Discovering Christ to ignite faith in your parish, campus ministry or small group. I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide your efforts to evangelize and bring many people to a vibrant friendship with Jesus Christ in the Church... [read more]"
- +Edwin F. O'Brien, Archbishop of Baltimore

"There are many parish programs that offer information about Jesus. Discovering Christ is not one of them. It is a relational course designed to bring people into a life-changing encounter with the Lord Jesus...My parish was richly blessed during Discovering Christ and I look forward to it being made available to other parishes."
- Rev. Erik Arnold

"The fruit that resulted from this course has been impressive. Several students who confessed to being just 'Sunday Catholics,' have come into a deeper relationship with our Lord and seem more committed to service in the Church."
- Rev. Richard A. Gray

"The first course has brought renewal to the participants in ways that I never imagined. They have come to appreciate the power of Christ's love in their lives, and they appreciate the beauty of the mass in celebrating that love...[read more]"
- Rev. Marc Drouin

Clergy and Religious from Slovakia

"I am sending you my recommendation for the course Discovering Christ. For many years we have been leading popular missions in parishes. We have been searching for a follow-up program after the missions for those who are interested to go further. Course Discovering Christ came as a gift in just the right time. After the big Bratislava City mission the trained leaders started several courses and we see the blessing coming out of it. Some courses are still in preparatory phase. Even our neighbors from Poland decided to use this course after the popular parish missions... We look forward for next new courses that will move to another level."
- Fr. Michal Zamkovský, C.Ss.R, Provincial of Bratislava Redemptorists

"I am very grateful that in autumn 2010 the Discovering Christ course was offered to us. After a brief reflection and finding an appropriate form, we used this course as a preparation for confirmands instead of the usual evangelization weekend, which our young people attended during their preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation. I think the whole preparation for the receiving of the sacrament of Confirmation requires a first step, that is evangelization, because today many young people are not receiving the Christian faith within their families. Only after receiving the basics of the Christian faith can we continue with catechesis, liturgical formation and involvement in parish life. Discovering Christ meets these requirements and can help to transcend the traditional issues in preparation for confirmation.

For young people who have some of the basics and are seeking a life of faith, this course provides the necessary encouragement and enthusiasm for a living faith and also clarifies a number of their questions.

What I appreciate mainly about this course is the intelligibility of the language, the follow-up structure and the interesting visual content. It is prepared in a way that it really fulfills the requirements of evangelization: a well thought-out process, easily understood language, clear content, a good format and progressive steps which build up on each other. In our parish there were about 90 facilitators and 20 confirmands, divided into two groups. At the end they all had the opportunity to express their experiences verbally and were also asked to answer some questions about the course content and what they had learned and experienced. They were invited to give feedback on the form the course took and to witness to how they had been affected. From the responses it was clear that the majority of them were impressed by the content of the course and had come to a deeper experience of their faith.

I highly recommend the Discovering Christ Course for any parish, as a form of preparation for the sacrament of Confirmation. It can facilitate our pastoral efforts and also make them more effective. At the same time it can free those of us - priests and lay people - from our frequent feelings of frustration in our ministry to young people, where our efforts have often been rejected."
- Fr. Ladislav Cichý, priest and dean of the Sabinov parish

During the last two months we have experienced great joy in our Ursuline community. The parents of our elementary school, St.Ursula, and Bethlehem Community, met to encourage each other in faith. We are very grateful to the Discovering Christ Course for creating a community of trust and support, as was expressed by one of the participants: "I am happy that I now have many brothers and sisters, that my family is so extended.

A lot of people were involved in this course. Our cooperation strengthened our relationships and we felt we needed to support each other. Our desire is to be with those who already know Christ, but who want to deepen their relationship with Him and also to be with those who are far away from Him.

All of us together are filled with new strength. We strongly recommend the life experience of the Discovering Christ Course to all people. We saw that Christ not only proclaimed the Good News but was also its servant. We have seen that this is an effective way of uniting communities and a powerful new form of evangelization, which is so much needed in today's world. Jesus desires to be discovered, recognized and loved."
- Sr. Kathy Šimalcíková OSU, Principal Provincial of the Ursuline order

"It was a Friday morning as I was walking down 1st street in Washington-DC having just ignored a poor man asking for some change.  I didn't feel a bit good about having ignored him and thinking to myself  asked God a question...'So God, what is the purpose of my life?'  It can't just be a 9-5 job...there's got be more I can do...for others.  The following Sunday I got really excited as Monsignor Luca announced the Discovering Christ course and began by asking the congregation if anyone had recently asked the question...'what is the purpose of my life?'  :-) ...before I knew I had signed up for the course..... Before today I was selfish and always expected graces and favors from God and now I know that I can and must have a two way relationship with God...I have to give some too.  I also know more of His unconditional love for me....Jesus is more on my mind than used to be before. I am also learning to submit to His will for me and my lovely family....I'm very excited to begin the Following Christ course and know it justs gets better from here on. Praise the Lord!"
- Shirley

Testimonies from UMBC Participants

"The retreat was a huge, tremendous life changer for me, and strengthened my relationship with the Lord."

"The past seven weeks have been amazing. I feel so much closer to God, my prayer life as grown dramatically. I have the best connection with God and the Holy Sprit that I've ever had before."