Witnesses to Jesus

On a recent podcast interview Chad and I conducted several months ago with Fr. Francis Martin, a holy and passionate priest and biblical scholar - he mentioned that in the Gospel of John the word "evangelization" never occurs. But "witness" does. He said, a witness is someone who has been with Jesus and has experienced his power and presence in their life.

One of my friends wrote this about her own experience of being witnessed to-

"Witnesses to Jesus are all around me, in every moment of gladness, every kindness bestowed upon me, every person with beauty in their heart, those that love me and continue to love me in my weakness. These are the witnesses that point to Christ. The most positive witnesses of my experience never come from those who are most learned or who make the best argument. They come, always, from those who live humbly with Jesus, who know Jesus so well that they can speak for Him when I am unable to hear for myself. It is out from behind their eyes that He peers, it is between their arms that He embraces, it is from their lips that He sings His love song to me." Click here for the full text of the reflection.

Wow. That is beautiful. Lord, make us true witnesses to you!

How have you been witnessed to?

What type of person best radiated the character, good news, and promises of Jesus to you?

How so?

Evangelizing and Weakness

I'm a personal fan of Pope Benedict XVI... he is an inspiring 80yr old. I don't know how he does it... must be something about the Holy Spirit.

A few weeks ago at the Easter Vigil he prayed an inspiring prayer at the end of his homily-

“Lord, show us that love is stronger than hatred, that love is stronger than death. Descend into the darkness and the abyss of our modern age, and take by the hand those who await you. Bring them to the light! In my own dark nights, be with me to bring me forth! Help me, help all of us, to descend with you into the darkness of all those people who are still waiting for you, who out of the depths cry unto you! Help us to bring them your light! Help us to say the "yes" of love, the love that makes us descend with you and, in so doing, also to rise with you. Amen.”

The lesson I learned from this passionate prayer - was that we all (including those of us who evangelize) of us fall short and we all have "dark nights," but it is precisely in our weakness that St. Paul says Christ is strong...

I helped lead a high school retreat for the People of God Catholic Community in Nanticoke, PA a few weeks back - and we played a Christian "dating game" to teach the kids a lesson. The bachelor asked three girls all sorts of normal dating game questions (to find out who would be the best Christian among them to date) ... and the girls responded in the character of three stereotypical Christian personalities... the Colgate Christian (always smiling - thinks Christianity is synonymous with being jolly all the time), the Chameleon Christian (changes their character to suit the people they are around), and the Super Spiritual Christian (who couldn't really answer the questions - because she was so busy praying the Rosary and reading the Bible simultaneously!).

The kids loved it and the bachelor too - who ended up choosing the "Colgate Christian" ... but found that he should of chose none of them at the end.

Do you find yourself acting like a "Colgate Christian" sometimes?

What about the Pope's prayer resonates in your heart the most?

When has Christ used you precisely in your weakness to lift up others?

Welcome!

Hi all this is Pete Ascosi - let me introduce myself and this blog. I'm a 25 full time young adult lay "missionary" or "minister" whose job is to help mobilize my generation for the new evangelization. Pretty cool job position!

I've worked with ChristLife for almost two years now and it is a blast working with great people who are passionate for Jesus and the mission of evangelization in the Catholic Church. ChristLife is a lay apostolate in the Baltimore area equipping Catholic for evangelization - for more on who we are visit our about us section.

Personally, my life changed several years ago when the Lord Jesus came into my life in a powerful way through family, friends, strangers, and some great writers - including the Holy Spirit - inspired writings of the Gospel of John. More on this later...

For now, welcome!