Reflections on the Modern World and the Call to Holiness

Let us take a moment to survey the contemporary world and see if we can get our heads and hearts into an active engagement with the witness of the Christian faith under these circumstances. At the heart of many of the current debates between the Church and the world (social policy, ethics and science, etc) there lies the tension of the pursuit of the good and the evil that "must" be done. We all seem to desire good living in this world, but we must ask what does this mean, and what are its implications? Over the last 500 years, we have been ever so gradually indoctrinated into a worldview in which we are at war with nature--ever so constantly fighting for our right for survival in such a hostile and unforgiving place. And our response? Science and technology will save us--we have everything we need to secure our estate in this world, just forget about religion and work for the utopia that lies at our fingertips.

At this point, perhaps we should ask if we can really save ourselves, and what does it really mean to be saved? At the depth of the human person, Fulton Sheen wrote that our deepest needs and desires are for infinite truth, infinite love, and infinite life. Can we, mere men, ever satisfy our noble longings with such weak and innocuous "treatments" as perpetual entertainment and glorified selfishness? Can we ever hope to conquer death with our own power, knowing that we will die before that is accomplished?

Just consider, perhaps the world isn't so hostile and unforgiving as we might think. Perhaps death really isn't the greatest evil in the world--maybe it is a necessary part of our growth. And ultimately, might this wonderful universe of which we are privileged to be a part have a generous and benevolent creator who has entered into the drama our our existence to illuminate our condition and fulfill our deepest needs and desires?

Here is a bold proposition to all who are wondering about the deepest meaning of your existence. Consider the drama of the Incarnation of Jesus as God speaking to you in a beautiful mystery that answers those deepest longings: the yearning for truth, because Jesus has taken the greatest mystery, that of suffering and death, into himself and revealed the Resurrection; the yearning for love, because only a heart of unimaginable depth and benevolence could ever love tax collectors and prostitutes, and forgive his own executioners; the yearning for life, because once freed of the fears and insecurities surrounding the necessary event of our own death, we can truly live in the freedom of love. Take the risk of faith, and follow your wildest hopes and dreams into the ultimate reality they bespeak!

Missionary of Jesus’ Resurrection in Turkmenistan

A dear friend of ChristLife’s, Hana Simcikova – a young woman from Slovakia – wrote us an update on her missionary work in Turkmenistan. Her work is very inspiring. She first came across ChristLife during training Dave Nodar was doing in Eastern Europe during the 1990s. We met up with her in 2007 in Slovakia – and Pete also had the chance to interview her for a podcast on her missionary work.

Here is her letter:

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"'There is no need for you to be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.
He is not here, for he has risen, as he said he would. Come and see the place where he lay, then go quickly and tell his disciples, "He has risen from the dead and now he is going ahead of you to Galilee; that is where you will see him." Look! I have told you.'
Filled with awe and great joy the women came quickly away from the tomb and ran to tell his disciples." (Mt 28)

Dear friends!

Almost a year ago I was writing to ask for your help with the Turkmenistan mission.

First of all, I want to say THANK YOU! Thanks so much to every one of you for your prayers, thoughts, financial support, emails, greetings, and every kind of support that helped us to serve in Turkmenistan last year. You have a special place in all that is going on in that country, and in the small Catholic community there.

The Catholic Church in Turkmenistan still lives underground.
During this mission we were able to meet many more native Turkmen people then during our first mission. We were blessed through those simple, mostly Islamic, people who were open to talking about God; they are so thirsty for His love and presence. We prayed together with them and they were touched by the Father's love through our Lord Jesus! Hope and peace changed their desperation. Their simple and joyful testimonies about Gods miracles strengthened our faith.

In two years, since our last mission, many things are still the same in Turkmenistan. There are still just two catholic priests for the whole country. However, there are many changes – much more people are coming every day, coming to hear about Jesus, seeking His love and help, ready to give Him their all. Mostly they are poor people who suffered a lot in their lives. When they come to Jesus they are blessed by His forgiveness, deep healing and new life in Him! We prayed over them almost every day and we led all the meetings for catechumens, youth and kids, which was so helpful for the priests. We also prepared simple evangelization training, where we taught them how to proclaim the Good News. We saw how the first small prayer group was born--just a few people who want to worship Jesus, and serve others by intercessory prayer.

The Priests also sent us to other places in Turkmenistan, where we spent some time with people sharing Gods love with them. More and more people were coming every day, hungry for His word which many of them heard for the first time in their lives. Their desire for more priests and missionaries in their towns didn't surprise us.

We could see the big gift of God that we have at home– daily Mass and Holy Communion especially.



I personally was especially touched by the warm-heartedness, kindness and hospitality of the poorest people in the village called Arzuw. They told us things like: "If I didn't meet you two years ago, today I would be addicted to heroine and I would also sell it as the rest of my family does." "We know, God has sent you to us – just for me!" – told with thankful heart.

I also met a woman at the market place, whom I had promised two years ago that I would come back. Her first reaction when she saw me at the same place was: "Ooooo – she came!" and invitation she invited us to visit her house. I could write a book about that meeting. Their clear eyes spoke about clear hearts, which we could also visit. In the family, everyone works from the sunrise to the late night. Love, respect and care are given to each other in all small situations, where members of that Islamic family speak so nice about each other, pray together and have God among them – it is a small (or big?) miracle in that nation.
We had a very nice time with the youth during retreats we prepared for them. Their testimonies among their friends and schoolmates bears fruit, and more and more youth came later to the meetings, to pray together, to hear Gods word, or just to play together.

We wouldn't have been able to do any of this without you!

When I was on the plane going into Turkmenistan, I saw a desert named Kara-Kum from above. It looked like a lot of small rivers, or water sources but they were empty and dry. I was thinking about the land, which is ready, rivers which are waiting for water, water which will bring the life to that land. And a prayer grew up in my heart – giving thanks to God and asking Him for living waters of His presence and love to flood this country.

I apologize I haven't updated you about our mission in Turkmenistan earlier. Thank God for these last months. They were full of challenges. I was working on my dissertation, our mission in Turkmenistan was very intense, coming back home I defended my PhD, and started my new job, so I can make some money, pay my loans, and go back to Turkmenistan as soon as possible.

Please, pray for Turkmenistan, pray for the priests. Pray for those, who are going to be baptized tonight; pray for more missionaries in that country; pray for us to be ready to give our time, money and all lives to that mission when Jesus calls us again. I hope that time will come soon!
Lord Jesus, we thank You for the free given gift of being a part of that mission, for every miracle of healing, deliverance and conversion. Thank You for your faithfulness, for your favor, and that we can come personally closer to You!

I wish you a blessed Easter. May your Easter season be filled with the grace and love of Our Risen Savior!

Hana Simcikova (in the black shirt in the above picture)
Slovakia

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Isn’t that an awesome testimony of how our Risen Lord is still using his Church to accomplish his great mission to save souls! If you would like to donate to Hana’s work or get on her update email list – please contact us

God is doing a mighty work among Muslims!

Muslims need to hear the good news of Jesus, our LORD and Savior!

Jesus wants all people to know the forgiveness of sins and the power of the Holy Spirit to give us new life in the loving embrace of God the Father! And the Holy Spirit is working among Muslim people in a very revolutionary way, to bring them to the knowledge of the love of God the Father through the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God! It is a fact! One that we should pay attention to and pray for!

I am including two excellent articles that appeared within days of one another. Take the time to read and pray about both! The first is a letter from a Muslim journalist who was baptized by Pope Benedict at the Easter Vigil. The letter is courageous and inspiring. It should provoke us to an eagerness to share the love of Christ with our Muslim friends. The second article is by Chuck Colson, which highlights the significant numbers of Muslims who are converting to Christianity.

I would also encourage you to listen to ChristLife’s podcast with a Muslim convert to Christ, who shares some practical advice for sharing Christ with Muslims.

Magdi Allam’s conversion to Christ and the Catholic Church
Pope Benedict joyfully baptized seven people from five countries: Italy, Cameroon, China, the United States and Peru, during Saturday’s Easter Vigil Mass.

Among those being baptized was Magdi Allam, a well known journalist who is deputy director of Corriere della Sera, one of Italy’s largest and oldest newspapers. Allam who was originally from Egypt, has lived in Italy for almost 35 years. More significant for many is the fact that Mr. Allam converted from Islam.

Explaining what led the Pope to administer baptism to the journalist, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said, “For the Catholic Church, every person who asks to receive baptism after a deep personal search, a completely free choice and adequate preparation, has the right to receive it.”

The day Mr. Allam became a Catholic was the most beautiful day of his life, according to the Muslim journalist who received the sacraments of initiation by Benedict XVI at Saturday's Easter Vigil Mass. Here is a translation of Magdi Allam’s account of his conversion to Catholicism.

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Dear Friends,

I am particularly happy to share with you my immense joy for this Easter of Resurrection that has brought me the gift of the Christian faith. I gladly propose the letter that I sent to the director of the Corriere della Sera, Paolo Mieli, in which I tell the story of the interior journey that brought me to the choice of conversion to Catholicism. This is the complete version of the letter, which was published by the Corriere della Sera only in part.

Dear Director,
That which I am about to relate to you concerns my choice of religious faith and personal life in which I do not wish to involve in any way the Corriere della Sera, which it has been an honor to be a part of as deputy director “ad personam” since 2003. I write you thus as protagonist of the event, as private citizen.

Yesterday evening I converted to the Christian Catholic religion, renouncing my previous Islamic faith. Thus, I finally saw the light, by divine grace -- the healthy fruit of a long, matured gestation, lived in suffering and joy, together with intimate reflection and conscious and manifest expression. I am especially grateful to his holiness Pope Benedict XVI, who imparted the sacraments of Christian initiation to me, baptism, confirmation and Eucharist, in the Basilica of St. Peter’s during the course of the solemn celebration of the Easter Vigil. And I took the simplest and most explicit Christian name: “Cristiano.” Since yesterday evening therefore my name is Magdi Crisitano Allam.

For me it is the most beautiful day of [my] life. To acquire the gift of the Christian faith during the commemoration of Christ’s resurrection by the hand of the Holy Father is, for a believer, an incomparable and inestimable privilege. At almost 56 […], it is a historical, exceptional and unforgettable event, which marks a radical and definitive turn with respect to the past. The miracle of Christ’s resurrection reverberated through my soul, liberating it from the darkness in which the preaching of hatred and intolerance in the face of the “different,” uncritically condemned as “enemy,” were privileged over love and respect of “neighbor,” who is always, an in every case, “person”; thus, as my mind was freed from the obscurantism of an ideology that legitimates lies and deception, violent death that leads to murder and suicide, the blind submission to tyranny, I was able to adhere to the authentic religion of truth, of life and of freedom.

On my first Easter as a Christian I not only discovered Jesus, I discovered for the first time the face of the true and only God, who is the God of faith and reason. My conversion to Catholicism is the touching down of a gradual and profound interior meditation from which I could not pull myself away, given that for five years I have been confined to a life under guard, with permanent surveillance at home and a police escort for my every movement, because of death threats and death sentences from Islamic extremists and terrorists, both those in and outside of Italy.

I had to ask myself about the attitude of those who publicly declared fatwas, Islamic juridical verdicts, against me -- I who was a Muslim -- as an “enemy of Islam,” “hypocrite because he is a Coptic Christian who pretends to be a Muslim to do damage to Islam,” “liar and vilifier of Islam,” legitimating my death sentence in this way. I asked myself how it was possible that those who, like me, sincerely and boldly called for a “moderate Islam,” assuming the responsibility of exposing themselves in the first person in denouncing Islamic extremism and terrorism, ended up being sentenced to death in the name of Islam on the basis of the Quran. I was forced to see that, beyond the contingency of the phenomenon of Islamic extremism and terrorism that has appeared on a global level, the root of evil is inherent in an Islam that is physiologically violent and historically conflictive.

At the same time providence brought me to meet practicing Catholics of good will who, in virtue of their witness and friendship, gradually became a point of reference in regard to the certainty of truth and the solidity of values. [Here Mr. Allam sites many Catholics who were witnesses to him. See full article for their names.]

But undoubtedly the most extraordinary and important encounter in my decision to convert was that with Pope Benedict XVI, whom I admired and defended as a Muslim for his mastery in setting down the indissoluble link between faith and reason as a basis for authentic religion and human civilization, and to whom I fully adhere as a Christian to inspire me with new light in the fulfillment of the mission God has reserved for me.

Mine was a journey that began when at four years old, my mother Safeya -- a believing and practicing Muslim -- in the first in the series of “fortuitous events” that would prove to be not at all the product of chance but rather an integral part of a divine destiny to which all of us have been assigned -- entrusted me to the loving care of Sister Lavinia of the Comboni Missionary Sisters, convinced of the goodness of the education that would be imparted by the Catholic and Italian religious, who had come to Cairo, the city of my birth, to witness to their Christian faith through a work aimed at the common good. I thus began an experience of life in boarding school, followed by the Salesians of the Institute of Don Bosco in junior high and high school, which transmitted to me not only the science of knowledge but above all the awareness of values.

It is thanks to members of Catholic religious orders that I acquired a profoundly and essentially an ethical conception of life, in which the person created in the image and likeness of God is called to undertake a mission that inserts itself in the framework of a universal and eternal design directed toward the interior resurrection of individuals on this earth and the whole of humanity on the day of judgment, which is founded on faith in God and the primacy of values, which is based on the sense of individual responsibility and on the sense of duty toward the collective. It is in virtue of a Christian education and of the sharing of the experience of life with Catholic religious that I cultivated a profound faith in the transcendent dimension and also sought the certainty of truth in absolute and universal values.

There was a time when my mother’s loving presence and religious zeal brought me closer to Islam, which I occasionally practiced at a cultural level and in which I believed at a spiritual level according to an interpretation that at the time -- it was the 1970s -- summarily corresponded to a faith respectful of persons and tolerant toward the neighbor, in a context -- that of the Nasser regime -- in which the secular principle of the separation of the religious sphere and the secular sphere prevailed.

My father Muhammad was completely secular and agreed with the opinion of the majority of Egyptians who took the West as a model in regard to individual freedom, social customs and cultural and artistic fashions, even if the political totalitarianism of Nasser and the bellicose ideology of Pan-Arabism that aimed at the physical elimination of Israel unfortunately led to disaster for Egypt and opened the way to the resumption of Pan-Islamism, to the ascent of Islamic extremists to power and the explosion of globalized Islamic terrorism.
The long years at school allowed me to know Catholicism well and up close and the women and men who dedicated their life to serve God in the womb of the Church. Already then I read the Bible and the Gospels and I was especially fascinated by the human and divine figure of Jesus. I had a way to attend Holy Mass and it also happened, only once, that I went to the altar to receive communion. It was a gesture that evidently signaled my attraction to Christianity and my desire to feel a part of the Catholic religious community.
Then, on my arrival in Italy at the beginning of the 1970s between the rivers of student revolts and the difficulties of integration, I went through a period of atheism understood as a faith, which nevertheless was also founded on absolute and universal values. I was never indifferent to the presence of God even if only now I feel that the God of love, of faith and reason reconciles himself completely with the patrimony of values that are rooted in me.
Dear Director, you asked me whether I fear for my life, in the awareness that conversion to Christianity will certainly procure for me yet another, and much more grave, death sentence for apostasy. You are perfectly right. I know what I am headed for but I face my destiny with my head held high, standing upright and with the interior solidity of one who has the certainty of his faith. And I will be more so after the courageous and historical gesture of the Pope, who, as soon has he knew of my desire, immediately agreed to personally impart the Christian sacraments of initiation to me. His Holiness has sent an explicit and revolutionary message to a Church that until now has been too prudent in the conversion of Muslims, abstaining from proselytizing in majority Muslim countries and keeping quiet about the reality of converts in Christian countries. Out of fear. The fear of not being able to protect converts in the face of their being condemned to death for apostasy and fear of reprisals against Christians living in Islamic countries. Well, today Benedict XVI, with his witness, tells us that we must overcome fear and not be afraid to affirm the truth of Jesus even with Muslims.

For my part, I say that it is time to put an end to the abuse and the violence of Muslims who do not respect the freedom of religious choice. In Italy there are thousands of converts to Islam who live their new faith in peace. But there are also thousands of Muslim converts to Christianity who are forced to hide their faith out of fear of being assassinated by Islamic extremists who lurk among us. By one of those “fortuitous events” that evoke the discreet hand of the Lord, the first article that I wrote for the Corriere on Sept. 3, 2003 was entitled “The new Catacombs of Islamic Converts.” It was an investigation of recent Muslim converts to Christianity in Italy who decry their profound spiritual and human solitude in the face of absconding state institutions that do not protect them and the silence of the Church itself. Well, I hope that the Pope’s historical gesture and my testimony will lead to the conviction that the moment has come to leave the darkness of the catacombs and to publicly declare their desire to be fully themselves. If in Italy, in our home, the cradle of Catholicism, we are not prepared to guarantee complete religious freedom to everyone, how can we ever be credible when we denounce the violation of this freedom elsewhere in the world? I pray to God that on this special Easter he give the gift of the resurrection of the spirit to all the faithful in Christ who have until now been subjugated by fear. Happy Easter to everyone.

Dear friends, let us go forward on the way of truth, of life and of freedom with my best wishes for every success and good thing.

Magdi Allam

'They Want Jesus Instead' - Why Muslims Convert

In church yesterday, as you celebrated Easter, did you notice anything or anyone unusual?
In churches all over the world, there were millions of people celebrating the resurrection of Christ, who were not there just a few years ago because they were worshipping in a mosque instead.

It is thrilling evidence that God is doing a mighty work among Muslims.

According to the website Islam Watch, in Russia, some two million ethnic Muslims converted to Christianity last year. Ten thousand French Muslims converted, as did 35,000 Turkish Muslims. In India, approximately 10,000 people abandoned Islam for Christianity.

In his book Epicenter, author Joel Rosenberg details amazing stories of Muslims converting to Christianity. In Algeria, the birthplace of St. Augustine, more than 80,000 Muslims have turned to Christ in recent years. This, despite the stiff opposition from Islamic clerics who have passed laws banning evangelism.

In Morocco, newspaper articles openly worry that 25,000 to 40,000 Muslims have become followers of Christ in recent years.

The stories are even more amazing in the heart of the Middle East. In 1996, the Egyptian Bible Society sold just 3,000 video copies of the JESUS film. In the year 2000, they sold an incredible 600,000 copies.

In Sudan, as many as five million Muslims have accepted Christ since the early 1990s, despite horrific persecution of Christians by the Sudanese government. What is behind the mass conversions? According to a Sudanese evangelical leader, "People have seen real Islam, and they want Jesus instead."

In Iraq, "More than 5,000 Muslim converts to Christianity have been identified since the end of major combat operations," says Islam Watch. And just a few days ago, the first-ever Roman Catholic church was consecrated in Qatar, a Sunni Muslim state where the Wahhabi brand of Islam is practiced. This was the first time Christians in Qatar have been allowed to practice their faith openly. Ten thousand people attended the opening mass.

These conversions have not escaped the notice of Islamic leaders. In 2001, Sheik Ahmad Al Qatanni, a leading Saudi cleric, delivered the disturbing news on Al-Jazeera: Every day, he said, "16,000 Muslims convert to Christianity . . . every year, that is six million Muslims becoming Christians . . . A tragedy has happened." It is possible the sheik was inflating high numbers to incite a reaction against Christianity. But clearly, something is happening.

How thrilling to learn that so many Muslims have been set free from the chains of their sins˜just as you and I have˜by the power of Christ's blood! We must pray for these new brothers and sisters; many are being violently persecuted for their new-found faith.
These millions of conversions give us one more reason to rejoice this Easter season. Yes, we may be in a great clash of civilizations; battling Islamic-extremists who threaten to kill us. And the future may at times look bleak. But never despair: God is on His throne, bringing people into His kingdom from the very heart of Islam.

In Closing:

At this time when we rejoice in our Lord’s victory over sin and death, may we pray for the Muslim people and ask the Holy Spirit to give us opportunities to share the good news of our Lord’s mercy and grace with them!

"Lord Jesus, we praise and thank you for your cross and resurrection. We thank you that you are the Savior of the world. We pray for our Muslim friends to come to know the love of the Father and life changing power of your Holy Spirit as they turn to you to receive grace and mercy that you freely give to all who ask. And we thank you for the joy of allowing us to know you and make you known to all! Amen, Alleluia!"

Interview with Matt Maher

Earlier this week, Christy and I had the great privilege of interviewing Matt Maher who is a leading Catholic-Christian singer/songwriter/worship leader. An awesome, down-to-earth guy.
This interview is now our latest podcast, Podcast 42. Listen below to his conversion story, how he fell in love with Jesus, a song from his new album Empty and Beautiful, and some great wisdom on being a worship leader (plus the usual news and updates from what's happening at ChristLife!).

An Easter Message

A friend of ChristLife's, Lilian Schmid from Australia, sent the following testimony to me about her background as a Lebanese Christian - and how we as Christians should be more united - especially at Easter as we celebrate together Jesus Christ's resurrection. Inspiring!

I was born in Beirut, at the age of 13 the civil war of Lebanon broke in 1975. Our shelter was the small living room where many of our neighbours and relatives use to gather to feel safe and protection. Young high school Christian students left their school, Christian students left their universities to join the Christian Militia to fight Muslims. It was a nasty war, I won’t go in details because I hate politics. I didn’t have a happy teen age years, war affected everything, I remember my father use to travel under the bombs, to feed a family of 4, my mother, myself the eldest, my sister and my brother. My parents were always under stress and fear but what kept us going was faith. Being Christian Lebanese means our culture is based on our religion. So in Lebanon we have 2 cultures the Christian and the Muslim Cultures.

I was lucky because our school was not far from home. Finishing high school, money was an issue during the war and many like me didn’t have the chance to go to uni but to start working at early age to earn money to take their burden off their parents. So I was lucky to start work experience at Beirut Ryad Bank in Beirut CBD at the age of 17. I’ve grown up in a very restrictive Catholic Lebanese family; also Lebanese parents are very protective over their children.

Working in a bank at the age of 17 gave me confidence to meet bank managers, CEO, customers and know at early age how to interact with business people. But the only thing I had to keep to myself is my religion identity, because Beirut CBD was a city on fire at the time. The first week my mother use to travel with me and in the afternoon I may find someone coming to the Christian area who would give me a lift.

Prayers always were on my lips traveling everyday from the Christian area to the Muslim area to work. Many other Lebanese did the same. I worked only 6 moths in Beirut CBD and I did ask for a transfer but the problem they need more people in the city then other branches, because Muslim employees occupied the branches in the Muslim area and the Christian employees occupied the branches in the Christian areas.

I had always a cross around my neck but it was always hidden and once I am in the Christian area I would pull it out.

M parents suggested that I start finding work close to home due to the war situation and they were scared if I would be trapped one day in the other area. It was an adventure at the time and I couldn’t believe that I did it. So what kept me going? And who protected me? It was JESUS. MY FAITH WAS SO STRONG. THAT’S WHY NOW; NOTHING MATTERS TO ME BECAUSE I HAVE FAITH IN HIM WHO KEPT ME ALIVE DURING THE WAR.

I decided to go back to college and study Accounting. So I took evening classes and I was teaching languages in the morning in a Catholic School near by. I met wonderful teachers through my teaching years and we use to share our faith and because it is one Christian community, we all know each other and what we believe. Sometimes Catholics picks on Orthodox or vies versa but we never hated each other.

IN FACT ALL CHRISTIANS IN LEBANON STOOD WITH EACH OTHER (PROTESTANT, CATHOLIC, ORTHODOX) AGAINST THE MUSLIMS. HERE IN THE WEST WE PICK ON EACH OTHER AND WE JUDGE EACH OTHER. WHEN YOU FACE DANGER, YOU FORGET WHAT YOUR DENOMINATION IS, YOU ONLY THINK, THAT YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN AND YOU HAVE TO DEFEND YOUR FAITH.

I HAVE SEEN PEOPLE BEEN KILLED AT THE FRONT OF MY EYES, I HAVE FAMILY MEMBERS WHO DIED TO DEFEND OUR EXISTENCE AS CHRISTIANS IN LEBANON AND YET, I FEEL VERY SHOCKED HERE IN AUSTRALIA TO SEE PEOPLE BECOMING AGGRESSIVE AND JEALOUS FROM EACH OTHER AND THEY WANT TO GRAB EACH OTHER’S TITLE OR POSITION AND THEY SAY:” GOD WANTS ME TO DO THIS AND THAT”

I SAY TO THIS PEOPLE GROW UP. WHAT WE DO AS CHRISTIAN IS WE DO GOD’S WILL; IT IS HIS WILL NOT OURS AND IF WE DO ANY MINISTRY, IT IS HIS MINISTRY.

Unfortunately, Lebanese People who were born in Australian don’t know exactly how much Lebanese in Lebanon suffered. And yes we are very educated and we have very intellectual people who achieved PhDs, Master, and degrees, even the war hit their homes and their parents died either from cancer of bombs or stress, or poverty.

I came to Australian in 1991, I studied hard to achieve something I couldn’t achieve in Lebanon, I was lucky to come here and I thank my God for Australia, it is a great nation, be grateful guys.

To start with 1992 I worked as a machine operator at Sydney Institute of Technology and then from 1994 to 1996 I became a Second Officer in Charge in the Payroll Section. I always shared my love of the Lord and how he saved us to come to Australia.

In 1995 I met my wonderful husband Bjorn and through him I learned not to hate other religions but to love them and pray for them. I have lots of experience in the workplace and I know people from executive to cleaners and to me they are the same. Jesus loves us all the same, and he died for us all.

Maybe the cleaner one day will have a higher place in heaven and the executive will be the last. So be humble and let the light of Christ shine on you and then It will shine on others as well.

Brothers and sisters at this time of Easter let us look and feel the suffering of Christ and remember that He died because He loved us. So let’s love one another and put our hate aside

HAPPY EASTER TO YOU ALL!

Lilian and her husband Bjorn work for a Christian group in Australia called Australian Marketplace Connections focused on helping Christians in the marketplace network and together build the Kingdom of God.

Lenten Retreat!

"The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." - Mark 6:30-31

Sometimes in ministry it's easy to become caught up in all the work that needs to be done that we don't make enough time to rest and simply be in Christ's presence. We can't give what we don't have ourselves, and even the Apostles went into solitude with Jesus to rest and regain their strength for their mission.

I am so blessed that I am working for an Apostolate that places the greatest emphasis on each person's individual relationship with Christ. From that relationship and the power of the Holy Spirit, the "work" of the ministry flows. As a ministry, ChristLife's staff begin each work day with prayer and praise to God and every year we take two retreats - for Advent and Lent. We recently had our Lenten retreat and it was such an amazing time of refocusing on the Lord and His love, and quieting our souls so that we could listen to His direction in our lives and in our ministry! We were able to use the lovely Franciscan Friary grounds for the retreat, and enjoy the beauty of the Lord in His creation!

One of the things we meditated on during the retreat was a Lenten sermon by Fr. Cantalamessa entitled, "Crucified through weakness, Christ lives through the power of God." It was great being able to reflect on that sermon and allow it to resonate in our hearts, and then discuss it as brothers and sisters in Christ. The part of the sermon that really struck me was when Fr Cantalamessa said "God's weakness is therefore caused by his love for man. What a sorrow it is [for God] to impotently stand while a loved one destroys himself with his own hands." This made me see the love and compassion of God in a whole new light. It amazed me to imagine that God would allow himself to be weak out of love for us. It is by giving us free will that He must stand helplessly and watch us fall, and this fall so greatly wounded God's heart that He allowed himself to become weak "taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearence, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:7-8). Thank you Lord for the becoming weak to show us the debth of your love for us!

Fr. Cantalamessa also comments on Jesus' cry to His Father when he says, "Father forgive them!" Fr. Cantalamessa that these are the most powerful words ever uttered! As we enter into this Holy Week I hope we can reflect on these mighty words of love from our savior that saved us from sin and death!

Prayer and Honesty and Action

At ChristLife we bought the DVD series NOOMA by a Christian speaker and pastor named Rob Bell. Each video is 10ish minutes long and creatively presents a Christian truth. Sometimes his perspective leaves me asking a few questions - but I am happy that he is making a really good effort at engaging our culture with the God of truth and compassion and mercy and justice.

Thanks to YouTube, below is his latest video, Open. It is a very powerful video on "how prayer works" from Rob's perspective. He grapples with the question of suffering and God's response in a very good way. From the NOOMA Web site:

Many of us have experienced situations where we’ve prayed and it felt like God wasn’t listening. And yet other times we’ve prayed or known someone that prayed and the situation changed. Does God answer prayer? Sometimes, but not all the time? Or does God always answer prayer and it's just that sometimes God says no? Some of us are angry with God for not answering the prayers we’ve prayed for years. Why did he answer their prayer but not ours? What if there’s more to prayer than just God listening and answering? Maybe if we understood how Jesus prayed, our concepts and expectations of prayer would change.

Part I:

Part II:

He hits on some real powerful issues here in this video. Especially when it comes to, like the Psalmist, being honest in our prayer. And in following the book of James in the Bible - about combining our faith with works - and therefore our prayer with action.

This takes me to the new evangelization. Pope John Paul II said it must be new in its ardor, methods, and expression. I think NOOMA is a step in the right direction.

Furthermore, when we consider our prayers for "lost souls" or for "conversion" we are in the same breath - challenged to partner with him in reaching out to the lost - this is evangelization.

Your thoughts? comments?

Getting ready to evangelize at OLPH!

Things are stirring at Our Lady of Perpetual Help these days! A team of 20-30 adults are readying for a new evangelization initiative ChristLife is sponsoring - Discovering Christ.

We met together as a service team for prayer, worship, planning, etc. this past Saturday. The day went quite well. After mass and some super breakfast food - Dave Nodar began the day with a talk on evangelization and Discovering Christ. Quoting from Pope Paul VI, we all joined Dave in reading from On Evangelization in the Modern World,

"The churches have the task of transposing the gospel message, without the slightest betrayal of its essential truth, into the language of the people... It loses much of its effectiveness if it does not use their language, their signs, their symbols, if it does not answer the questions they ask and impact their concrete lives."

This was one of the main points I pulled out of the day. We need on one hand to "transpose" the authentic Gospel and on the other - we need to speak in the language of the people and aim at impacting people's "concrete lives." To borrow the title of a fellow evangelization ministry's blog name, we need to engage in intentional discipleship - and especially in intentional evangelization. Looking at the Gospels, we can see that osmosis is not how Jesus made disciples or converts.

Moving on throughout the day I was struck by the parallel between our training day at OLPH and Acts 2:42,

"And the disciples devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers."

apostles' teaching = Dave's exegesis of Scripture and Church teaching on evangelization
fellowship = during our delicious pizza meal provided by Larry (see below)
breaking of bread [eucharist] = started the day with mass
prayers = all throughout the day we had times of praise and intercession

So, all in all - it was a wonderful day. One more thing I forgot to mention was - the fact we were joined by Dianne Martin, former staff member, who is now the Catholic coordinator for Alpha USA. She gave an excellent presentation on small group pastoral care. It was wonderful having her with us.

Please pray for Discovering Christ at OLPH and visit their Web site for more information about being a part of the course.

Reaching Young People for Jesus!

"The need to proclaim Christ boldly and courageously is a continuing priority for the Church; indeed it is a solemn duty laid upon her by Christ who enjoined the Apostles to 'go out to the whole world, proclaim the Good News to all creation.'" -Pope Benedict XVI, December 2007

Many young people do not know the basic Gospel message of Jesus Christ - either they have never heard it or it has never hit home in their personal lives. It is the duty as laid out for us by our Pope to share the gift we have received with everyone we encounter. Jesus said if we trust in Him and spread his message he is able to do "far more than we could ever ask or imagine, according to His power at work within us" (Ephesians 3:20).

He is the same God of the Gospels, he can perform the same healing and miracles in and through His people as He did then - but we have to ask in faith! I went on a nine month Catholic evangelization trip around the US with NET ministries. I traveled on a team with 10 other young adults (ages 18-30) in a huge van with destinations to Churches and schools to perform retreats for high and middle schoolers. During that time I was able to see God work in ways I never thought possible, in my own life and the lives of the people I was ministering to.

I specifically remember one instance that may seem trivial but God worked in such an amazing way that I will never forget it. I was giving a talk on a retreat and I was nervous because I had just come back from a two day trip home for my friend's funeral, so I felt like I had nothing to give at that point. After my talk one of the high school girls asked if she could talk to me, she didn't know why but while I was talking she had this feeling that she could trust me and should share some things that were on her heart. She told me about how her father had died and she just wanted to know there was a father figure who loved her. After experiencing the loss of a friend my heart went out to her and we cried and prayed together for almost the rest of the retreat. When I left she thanked me, and I asked for what, and she said "for being there".

It's amazing how small situations can greatly impact our lives and the lives of people around us if we are just open to the healing power of Christ! A friend of mine, Danielle, shares in ChristLife's newest podcast about God's healing power in her brothers life. Also on this podcast is an interview with Mark Berchem and Christopher Kraker, the Director and Associate Director of NET ministries, and a news story about a man who was raised from the dead by the power of prayer! To listen to this podcast click here, or press play below:

The Lord's strategy

We are now moving forward with Discovering Christ on several fronts now. Exciting stuff!

What's our strategy? Well, I hope the Lord's. During morning praise & prayer at ChristLife last week I shared a Scripture I was reminded of-

"Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, have you any fish?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, for the quantity of fish." John 21:4-6

The lesson I took from this "word" is that we could "fish" all day long and not get anything - unless we are in tune with the right way of doing things - with Jesus Christ.

Back to Discovering Christ...

We want to make available the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all humanity. And we want to equip Catholic communities to enthusiastically and intentionally do this.

So we are now praying for God's anointing to rest upon the Discovering Christ course. We also - following up from our meeting with Archbishop O'Brien - are focusing our efforts here in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Part of the strategy is to hopefully see great fruitfulness here locally and then leverage this to others across the nation.

Where locally? Well, we've done the course at Crucifixion Parish, St. Agnes (for young adults), UMBC campus ministry (Newman club), and now we are preparing to get started at Our Lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH). And, we are really excited about doing it at OLPH! Our Board member, Fr. Erik Arnold, is the pastor here and has a really solid vision for parish renewal and evangelization. Plus, my friend Erin, is the youth minister and has been doing some awesome stuff with the youth there! Our Lady pray for us!

At the national level - we are working with two other Board Members - Bert Ghezzi and Michael Timmis. Bert, a senior editor for the Word Among Us, is helping us put together a manual - so we can make Discovering Christ exportable - in a similar fashion as Life in the Spirit. Michael, who is connected with a lay apostolate who does some great work - Regnum Christi - hopes to run a version of Discovering Christ down in Florida for men in his pseudo-theology on tap series (or he might call it beer n' bible - "stealing" the name I used for a bible study I did in Baltimore at J. Patrick's pub).

So, we are excited about all of this, please pray for us and if you have any comments, suggestions, connections, etc. - please let us know! It may be all a part of the Lord's strategy.

"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts." Zechariah 4:6