Blog Evangelism?

Though I’m thoroughly part of the wonderful postmodern generation - I own a cell phone, blog, email, podcast, surf the Internet, watch Youtube, watch movies – I have never been a huge fan. Two things mitigate against techno-mania in my life: 1) the fact that I love the outdoors, and 2) I have a history degree (ah, I think to myself, wasn’t it so much simpler back in the day...)

So, while I don’t advocate super crazy amounts of time using technology – I do think that if St. Paul used a ship to go across the Mediterranean to proclaim the Gospel, than we should use the modern ship of information technology to proclaim the Gospel. Cardinal Ruini, a top clergyman at the Vatican, sparked this whole blog idea off with his comments the other day: "I don’t understand the Internet, but especially young religious ought to enter blogs and correct the opinions of the youth, showing them the true Jesus.”

Ha, I like that. He doesn’t even use the Internet, and he’s all for using it to proclaim Jesus :) And, while we do need to use technology to evangelize, I think some of us young techno crazy people also need to think twice about the amount of virtual contact we have with people versus real contact – especially when sharing Jesus with others – through a blend of witness and word – something hard to achieve online. For more on this subject see JPII's letter, Internet: A new forum to proclaim the Gospel.

Hat tip to my little sister, Julie for this blog idea.

Our Call to Sainthood!

"We must have a real living determination to reach holiness. 'I will be a saint' means I will despoil myself of all that us not God; I will strip my heart of all created things; I will live in poverty and detachment; I will renounce my will, my inclinations, my whims, and fancies, and make myself a willing slave to the will of God." (Mother Teresa, "A Gift for God").

I think sometimes as Christians, we can make excuses and settle with being comfortable instead of going against the flow and living our lives radically for the Lord. We forget that all Christians are called to be saints!

Bert Ghezzi, an author and board member of ChristLife, recently developed an inspiring book called "The Heart of a Saint". ChristLife's most recent podcast includes an interview with Bert, discussing his new book and every one's individual call to holiness and sainthood!




Speaking with him was a very moving experience for me. His words challenged me to not be content with mediocrity, but to strive for perfection and sainthood because that's what Christ calls all of us to! Jesus did say, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48). I hope we can all respond more willingly to this call from the Lord!

Listen in to the newest podcast here, or click play below:

The energy God so generously gives me! Part 1

That's what I'm working so hard at day after day, year after year,
doing my best with the energy God so generously give me.
(St Paul to the Colossians 1:29 The Message)

Recently we received a question from Walt. In his comments on the October 18th blog, he shared: "... I’d really enjoy seeing some posts on how y’all stay motivated, how you keep that fire of the Spirit stoked in your daily personal lives (because, from what I've seen on this blog, you must have found some ways to do that!)..."

Great question, Walt! Over time I will try to to add points to the blog on elements that keep us motivated in personal life and service, but let me begin with the foundation of it all!

Most essentially the zeal we have for the Christian life, service and for evangelizing is personal knowledge of the love of Christ (see 2 Cor. 5:14,15; Gal. 2:20b). St Paul tells us, "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Rom.5:5). Here St. Paul is speaking of God's love for us that transforms and energizes us.

There are many of us who have never encountered Jesus as Lord in personal relationship. Practically speaking, many of us have never personally ratified the covenant made for us at baptism by our sponsors. Renewing our Baptismal commitment today can introduce us to personal relationship with God and encounter with his love for me! How do I do it? By asking Jesus to be Lord of my entire life, and asking to be renewed, immersed, baptized in the Holy Spirit at this stage in my life. It is essential to knowing the love of God that is the motivator of all motivators.

When I was twenty years old, this truth of asking Jesus to be Lord of my life and asking for the power of the Holy Spirit transformed and brought clarity of purpose to my life. The Gospel became good news to me because I came to know Jesus personally and knew that I was loved by God!

You too can pray and ask Jesus to be Lord of your life. Turn to him and talk to him personally asking him to come and lead you. Ask the Holy Spirit to renew you in his love. NO one is excluded from the offer! If you feel you have sinned so bad and there is no way for you to come to him. Turn to him and ask forgiveness. He wants you to know him and have the power to live as a child of God! Follow through and go to confession soon and receive even more graces!

God promises us that if we seek him we a sincere heart he will be found. Jesus tells us that if you ask, you will receive. The Father wants you to have the Holy Spirit, to be renewed and empowered to live the Christian life and to be a witness for Jesus !

This is the foundation, no other foundation will do it. Our energy, our ardor, comes from the Love of God made real to us in the person of Jesus and relationship with him through the Holy Spirit!

We cannot bring to the world the Good News which is Christ himself in person if we ourselves are not deeply united with Christ, if we do not know him profoundly, personally, if we do not live on his Words.

Pope Benedict XVI, Vatican City, March 11, 2006

What's happening at UMBC

While most college students are enjoying the last of their weekends, finishing up last minute homework, and getting ready for the start of a new week, 30 young adults are joining together Sunday nights at UMBC for fellowship, teaching, and prayer! That’s not something you see everyday.

ChristLife has joined forces with UMBC’s Newman club to start a 6-week course called “Discovering Christ”. The purpose of this course is simply to introduce or reaffirm in young adults the love of Christ and the impact of having a relationship with Him. The course consists of: dinner, fellowship, prayer, a teaching, dessert, and small group discussions. The themes of the courses include of variety of topics such as: “The meaning of Life”, or “Why do I need a savior?”. There are about 30 young adults that come each week, including a core group of 10 young adult leaders who help to facilitate the different aspects of the course.



The vision of this course can be summed up by the inspiring words of Pope Benedict XVI when he said:

"Those who allow themselves to be led by the Spirit understand that placing oneself at the service of the Gospel is not an optional extra, because they are aware of the urgency of transmitting this Good News to others...I assure you that the Spirit of Jesus today is inviting you young people to be bearers of the good news of Jesus to your contemporaries."
- Pope Benedict XVI, Papal Message for World Youth Day '08, July 24, 2007

The Pope does not give us the option; he makes very clear the necessity of sharing your faith with others. Hopefully through this course young people will enter into a relationship with the Lord and it will have a ripple effect as they pass it on to others.

As a participant in this course, I can testify to the impact that is has had on my life and the lives of many other young adults. This past week my small group discussion was about the love of God as our Father and how it is constant know matter what we do or how many times we fall. It was a tear filled conversation as we reflected on our own failings and the freedom that comes with surrendering them to the Lord. We ended the discussion each saying a brief prayer giving our individual burdens to the Lord and allowing His love to free us! It was a very powerful experience for me, and hopefully the rest of the group!

Happenings at ChristLife

Well, all sorts of good things are happening at ChristLife these days. Recently its just been two of us in the office, as one of our co-laborers in the vineyard of the Lord, is hanging out in the vineyards of Tuscany, Italy. Nice!

So what are we doing? First, we are worshiping everyday to draw close to Jesus and praying that we follow Him where He leads us to go (the picture is of our tiny little chapel in our office where we begin everyday).

Beyond that we are helping people know and follow Jesus through two courses: Discovering Christ and Following Christ. Right now we are hosting Discovering Christ for about 25 young adults at a local university (UMBC) and hosting a small Following Christ course - to follow-up our Discovering Christ Course at St. Agnes, for 10-15 young adults at ChristLife.

Discovering Christ takes its cue from a recent speech to the German bishops by Pope Benedict:

"We must reflect seriously on how we might carry out a true evangelization today, not just a new evangelization, but often a true first evangelization. People don't know God, they don't know Christ. A new paganism is present, and it is not enough just to maintain the community of believers, although this is very important. I believe that together we must find new ways of bringing the Gospel to today's world by preaching Christ anew and by establishing the faith."

Both courses run into mid- to late November. Please pray God continues doing great things among the young adults attending.

Finally, have a wonderful day! I'll close with a random inspirational verse from the Apostle for whom I'm named:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you... Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. As the outcome of your faith you obtain the salvation of your souls!" 1 Peter 1:3-4,8-9

Bishop Sam is the man

Hey there blog readers! I thought I would mention the incredible good news that God is love and that love is our origin and our destiny! Isn't that great!?

This is just a snippet from Bishop Sam Jacob's address to 250-300 young adults at the Catholic University of America in DC last weekend. It was a powerful young adult festival sponsored by the great folks at Youth Arise.

After his talk, my sister Julie and I got a chance to interview him as part of ChristLife's 31st podcast! He shares his thoughts on the Youth Arise event, on being Christian in today's world, and sharing God's love with others. Listen in here or click play below.

Don't judge by appearance!

Check this youtube video out! It is deeply inspiring.

It's an audition on the English TV show, "Britain's Got Talent" (American Idol is a spin-off of this show). The contestant is a mild mannered, soft spoken cell phone salesman with low self confidence, and a real need for some dental work. His goal in life is to be a singer, and when asked what he is going to sing for the audition he says, "opera". The three judges (including Simon Cowell) can't believe it and fearing the worst, prepare for what they are going to have to suffer through. Given the go ahead the man (Paul Potts) delivers a totally unexpected, exceptional performance that will amaze you, as it did the judges and audience. Note the reactions of everyone and their total disbelief and then, joy at what they are hearing.

This is a real life illustration reminding us not to judge people by their appearance, - or you just might miss a beautiful gift intended for the blessing of others!