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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
On August 20th, ChristLife and the Archdiocese of Baltimore co-sponsored an evening of worship, teaching, and fellowship called One Thing: A Celebration of New Beginnings. This event helped strengthen the connection made with Catholics who made a commitment to Christ while attending the Metro Maryland Festival with Franklin Graham. Those who served the Festival as part of the Catholic core were also encouraged to invite family members and friends to join us. Around 180 people participated in a wonderful evening of prayer, testimonies, teaching, food, and fellowship.
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Old Orchard, a local young adult worship band, began the evening with a time of prayer and praise, which was followed by video testimonies of several people sharing about the one thing that was most important personally in following Jesus as a Catholic. Fr. Arnold witnessed to his life-changing personal encounter with Jesus as Lord; I talked about events in the life of St. Peter as presented in the Gospels to illustrate how God calls ordinary people to follow him, and to enter the great adventure of participating in his mission! At the conclusion of our formal time of teaching and prayer, teams were available to pray with anyone who committed or rededicated their hearts to Jesus or who wanted additional prayer. In addition, some of our priests celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Everyone else headed to a reception for food and fellowship. Young adults and the young at heart filled the room with laughter as they shared refreshments and engaged in lively conversations. Everyone had such fun that we finally had to dim the lights and tell people that it was time to head home! Wonderful things happened! At least one person made a commitment to follow Jesus as Lord for the first time. Several people took advantage of the prayer teams or went to confession. One man who was raised Catholic but is attending a protestant church, came solely because of the invitation he had received in the mail from the Cardinal's office. He shared how much he appreciated the evening and is now reconsidering the Catholic Church. One recent college graduate was so glad that he came and learned how Catholics are evangelizing. "This is so exciting. This is something new." he said, and he wants to be part of it! True discipleship is the ability to follow Jesus Christ as Lord, and bring others to personally know, love and serve him as members of His family- the Church. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of it? An encounter with the Good News is new for every person who personally comes to know the loving mercies of God through Jesus our Lord! |
Old Orchard leads the evening in prayer and praise -
One Thing celebrants share a laugh at the reception - "Those who have come into genuine contact with Christ cannot keep him for themselves, they must proclaim him. A new apostolic outreach is needed, which will be lived as the everyday commitment of Christian communities and groups." Pope John Paul II, Nova Millennio Ineunte #40 |
We seek to proclaim the Good News of Christ to everyone we encounter, and give willingly of ourselves to Christ for mankind, as St. Paul writes, “For it is not ourselves that we preach but Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.” (2 Corinthians 4:5)
We are excited about continuing our work with Catholics around the Archdiocese and beyond as we mobilize together to enter into the great adventure of sharing in Christ's mission of evangelization!
Please pray that the Lord will continue to guide and direct our efforts! Our next meeting for those interested in joining together for the mission of evangelization will be October 4th, followed by a full day retreat on November 4th. See our calendar of events on the back for details!
Sincerely,
Dave Nodar,
Director, ChristLife
Pouring New Wine Into New Wineskins:
What is the New Wine of the New Evangelization?
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Bishop Edward Clark "People do not pour new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and then both are preserved" (Matthew 9:17). Today it is quite common to hear people talk about "new evangelization." But when you listen carefully to what they are saying, they are really talking about the traditional and classic idea of evangelization. |
Bishop Edward Clark |
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They fail to recognize that they are doing today what Jesus warned the disciples of John to avoid: They are pouring the wine of new evangelization into the old wineskin of traditional proselytizing. They are missing exactly what is new, different and deeply challenging about what Pope John Paul II came over the course of years to call the "new evangelization." What Makes It "New"? By 1990, when [Pope John Paul II] issued his groundbreaking encyclical Redemptoris Missio, he had worked out a comprehensive new vision, which he continued to develop and encourage during the remaining 15 years of his pontificate. In contrast to the old evangelization, the goal of the new evangelization is not proselytizing, baptizing new converts or increasing the number of new church members. Rather, the goal is completing the mission of Christ and revitalizing the members of the church by leading those who do not know Jesus intimately into a personal and intimate relationship with him. - |
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| Conversion to the person of Christ, the Holy Father announced, must precede conversion to the church. "The new evangelization," he wrote, "is not a matter of merely passing on doctrine but rather of a personal and profound meeting with the Savior." For the new evangelization, the point of departure is Christ himself, his person, because he himself is our salvation. This is the first focus of the new evangelization (cf. Osservatore Romano, Eng. ed., Jan. 14, 1991, p. 2). |
"The new evangelization is not a matter of merely passing on doctrine but rather of a personal and profound meeting with the Savior."
Pope John Paul II |
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- This process of conversion begins not with the person who does not yet know Christ, but with the person who already claims to know him and to be his follower. All of us stand in need of further conversion, and we cannot bring others to know Christ until we know him better ourselves. As a result, the second focus of the new evangelization is our own deeper conversion to Christ and consequently to the Gospel he preached. An important focus of the new evangelization is on the methods used in communicating the Gospel. The witness of believers will always be the greatest tool for evangelization. At the same time, advances in communication and technology such as the Internet and new and more creative approaches based on developing theories in communication need to be fostered. The call of the Holy Father is for a new evangelization that is not only new in ardor and new in expression, but also new in methods. In the new evangelization it is clear that the work of evangelization is incumbent upon the entire people of God. It is the task of all the Christian faithful [primarily the laity]. Not all are called to go to foreign missions, engage in street preaching or seek out non-Christians for conversion. But we are all called to evangelize one another - friends, acquaintances, family members, fellow Catholics and fellow Christians. The involvement of the laity, according to Pope John Paul, is not due solely to the declining number of priests and religious in certain countries of the world. Rather, it is the rightful place of the laity in the church and in society to collaborate in the work of evangelization, particularly in the home, the workplace, the parish, the school, and the political and social arenas. It is your right by baptism; it is your "rebirth right." "I sense that the moment has come," wrote Pope John Paul, "to commit all of the church's energies to a new evangelization and to the missio ad gentes. No believer in Christ ... can avoid this supreme duty: to proclaim Christ to all peoples" (Redemptoris Missio, 3). The above article is a shortened version of Bishop Edward Clark’s address to the Religious Education Conference in Anaheim, CA on March 31, 2006. |
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ChristLife is Podcasting!
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"The Gospel lives always in conversation with culture, for the Eternal Word never ceases to be present to the Church and to humanity. If the Church holds back from culture, the Gospel itself falls silent. Therefore, we must be fearless in crossing the cultural threshold of the communications and information revolution now taking place." Pope John Paul II, 2002 |
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Podcast - You may have heard of the word, but what does it mean? Don't worry! You're not the first to ask. A podcast is an audio recording available on the Internet that can be automatically delivered to your computer or MP3 player. The really good news is that ChristLife is now using this new medium to proclaim the Gospel and train others to do the same. We went online in July and with the help of our summer intern, Julie Ascosi, we have created five podcasts:
Each episode is approximately 20 minutes long and hosted by different members of ChristLife’s staff. |
Pete Ascosi recording a podcast |
| To listen to our podcasts click: |  |
| To subscribe to our podcast: |
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ChristLife is pleased to announce that our newest intern, Chad Zik has joined us part-time on staff. Please pray that he grows in his love for Christ and his passion to share it with others during this academic year. Following is a brief write-up Chad wrote about coming to work at ChristLife.
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After a personal conversion to the Lord in high school, I developed a love for Christ and his Church. Upon graduation, I had the privilege to participate in mission work in Haiti where I became convinced that God was calling me to use my talents to dedicate my future work to Christ and His people. As an undergraduate studying biology at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County (UMBC), I sensed something lacking in my pursuit of the physical sciences and became increasingly involved in campus ministry and Maryland politics. During the last semester I started to look into opportunities to re-focus my occupational pursuit in a more spiritual setting. ChristLife was kind enough to provide me with the opportunity to serve the Church in a manner that my heart desired. |
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Are you attending college? Interested in an internship that will grow you in your love for Christ and your ability to lead others to Christ? Contact Pete Ascosi at pete@christlife.org or 410.531.7701
Join your hosts, Dave Nodar and Dianne Martin, for a seven-session DVD teaching series on how to share the Gospel everyday. Introduce your family and friends to Jesus Christ with confidence and simplicity.
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3-DVD set - $49.95 Visit our Sharing Christ section for details |
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"The small and enthusiastic staff of ChristLife has made a significant impact on evangelization across the United States. Their most recent contribution to the Church is Sharing Christ, a seven-session course designed to transform ordinary Catholics into everyday evangelists." William Cardinal Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore |
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"I am pleased to recommend Sharing Christ to you. Through personal testimonies and teachings, this series will help you respond to the Church's call to proclaim the Gospel. In a world craving for “good news” - these practical teachings will equip you to share your faith with joy and enthusiasm." Bishop Sam Jacobs, Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana |
If you're in the area please plan on coming to any of the following events - especially October & November 4th! Please pray that the Lord really uses ChristLife at these events to build up the Church and proclaim the Good News.
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For more information on these events and more visit our calendar of events
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!
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ChristLife is a lay Catholic ministry established in response to the Church's call to a new evangelization. William Cardinal Keeler recognized ChristLife as an apostolate of the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1995.
"I encourage you to continue to focus your mission on equipping Catholics for the work of evangelization so that others might come to know personally the love of God in Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit, becoming disciples and members of the Church."
William Cardinal Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore, April 21, 2006
For more information on ChristLife and what we do, visit our about us section.
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