Feedback from OLPH Discovering Christ course

Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Ellicott City recently wrapped up a Discovering Christ course. I wasn't part of it. However, I have had the privilege of reading the feedback participants wrote. WOW! It's amazing how God has worked through those seven weeks of teaching, fellowship and prayer. Here are some pictures and testimonies:

"While it is hard to explain, I feel closer to God and more willing to show my feelings out loud. God had invited me to open the door to him in the past, and now that door is open wider."

Women's small group.

"The most important thing that I learned was to not just focus on God, but to open and talk with God...Also, going to confession was empowering because I learned the word Gratitude and actually felt the Holy Spirit come in...Another thing that was great[:] my husband is now listening to Christian music."

Overhead shot of Discovering Christ final night.

"During the laying of hands I was on fire of the Holy Spirit."

"I don't worry anymore, esp. about the future. I really have placed my life in God's hands - total freedom."

Kids' table at OLPH DC (Aren't they cute?)

"After being prayed with at the retreat, I felt a real connection with God. I feel a fullness that always used to be empty. "

"Before the course I was not involving God in my daily life and felt very unfulfilled and felt like I was failing in life. Now I see that God is with me everyday even when the days are bad. I feel a freedom from the stress and have more clarity."

Some of the kitchen crew - who help make it all possible.

"It was a very moving experience. Very hard to write explanation. Holy Spirit was working in the room. I know I want a deeper relationship and I can have it!"

It's exciting to see what God has done through Discovering Christ - especially when it's going to be released nationwide at the conference next week, and be able to impact lives across the country, and maybe even throughout the world.

Holy God, we praise thy name.

Steadfast in purpose. An amazing example!

Recently while prayerfully reading Acts chapter 11:19-26, I was struck, once again, by the early church's missionary zeal.

It is the account of those who were scattered because of the persecution in Jerusalem and how they continued to witness to Jesus as Lord! They weren't silenced or intimidated by the persecution.They couldn't stop talking about this good news of what God had done in Jesus of Nazareth who was raised from the dead. Some of those who were evangelizing began to share with non-Jews, Greeks, about the Lord Jesus. As a result many came to believe! The Church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to Antioch to see what was happening and to help build up the new believers. When he saw the grace of God evident in the lives of those who believed, he was glad. Barnabas then exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord and steadfast in purpose (vs 23). I felt like that was a word for me and for those of us who serve in and our friends of ChristLife. It is a good word, isn't it? Something we all want in our walk with the Lord Jesus. To be faithful to him and absolutely steadfast in our purpose.

While in Michigan last week presenting a mission for two parishes, the pastor of St. Therese's shared a YouTube video that really illustrates faithfulness and steadfastness in purpose. Take a look and give thanks to the Lord for this man! You may not feel called to do what he did, but the key point that all of us should admire is his steadfastness in doing what he was called to do!

May we all have such passion to make the Lord known to others! May each of us be steadfast in purpose.

Set apart a day of praise and thanksgiving to God!

In 1863 during a time of severe human tragedy and division within the United States, President Lincoln called the nation to stop everything and set apart a day to remember with thanksgiving and praise the Father from whom all good gifts come. Really! That is exactly what he called for.

This proclamation is one worthy of reflection precisely in the times we are living in. In the midst of conflicts and shaking throughout the world and here in the U.S., we would do well to again set apart a "day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwells in the heavens."

Lincoln's Proclamation of a National Day of Praise and thanksgiving to God.

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well as the iron and coal as of our precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the imposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 3d day of October, A.D. 1863, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.

Abraham Lincoln

God the Father loves you!

When you have a chance to put on hold any busyness that you are involved with, a time when you can quiet down and open up to God and receive, I have something wonderful to share with you!

It's a video of a song that communicates in word and Spirit the love God has for you personally. The song is, How He loves us! and is sung by Kim Walker in the context of a worship time at a conference.

I first heard this song when we posted a video called, Cardboard testimonies. Subsequently I listened to the testimony of the author of the song, John Mark McMilan - quite an incredible testimony of love inspired the song.

Fr. Arnold used this video at the end of his teaching during our Discovering Christ retreat day recently, and I simply got undone with the Father's love for us, for me personally, as I watched and listened! That is how the good news works you know. We experience good news and want all of our friends to know about it!

We all need reminders of our Father's love which is the foundation of our life and identity! Oh how he loves us!

"Holy Spirit come and reveal the Father's love in great power as my friends listen to this song, in the name of the Lord Jesus we pray, Amen!

ChristLife's 50th Podcast!

Wahoo! I can't believe we are already at 50 Podcasts! It's so amazing to look back and see all the inspiring men and women of God we were able to interview and learn from in all of these podcasts! If you've listened to any or all of them, I hope the Lord has impacted you in some way through them, because He definatly has impacted me!
You can Listen in to this exciting podcast with congratulations from many of our supporters including Archbishop O'Brien, and news about the awesome things going on in our ministry! Also, Chip shares with us his personal experiences of living out the call for a New Evangelization by JPII! To listen click here or press play below:

Give us your feedback please! How have these podcasts affected you? We'd love to hear from you!

My Cardboard Testimony

Take a look at this video!

This very simple means of having members of a congregation share a key point of their conversion, or place of deepening faith is very powerful and profound! It is a great way of sharing your faith in humility and succinctly. It is also a great opportunity for the person sharing the testimony to reflect and note a specific turning point.

This willingness of the people to humbly honestly share what has brought them to faith in our Lord, or to trust him more completely in crisis, is the way the Lord deeply touches those who need his grace and mercy!

One practical response to seeing this video, is to take the time to pray and write down your point of conversion or deepening faith in the Lord. Think of it as writing a few words just like they did on cardboard and then flipping it over and giving the change that has occurred. Some of us have numerous testimonies from our journey. All of them are redemptive doors of grace for people the Lord brings to us in daily life. This is a good exercise for each of us to do. It will increase your praise and thanks to God for the mercy He has shown you!

Can you imagine doing this in your parish! What amazing grace could be released for others, and what an amazing opportunity this would give us as parishioner's to proclaim the good news and lead people to receive forgiveness and into personal commitment to the Lord Jesus!

Hunger & Healing

"If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,'you would not have condemned the innocent." -Matthew 12:7
ChristLife's latest podcast is dedicated to the healing power of Jesus in our lives when we hunger after Him, not because of anything in us, but because of His great love and mercy. Pete and ChristLife's director, Dave, discuss the awesome healing works of the Lord. Dave shares stories from Lakeland, Florida and the healing revival going on there. Also, Laura, a friend of ChristLife, shares her testimony of her hunger for the Lord and His healing power in her life! Listen in here, or press play below:

We discovered Christ at OLPH

We just recently wrapped up with the Discovering Christ course at OLPH with over 100 adults hungering for Jesus! The course went for seven weeks with topics such as: The meaning of Life, Why do I need a Savior?, the Holy Spirit, etc. Fr. Erik Arnold, the Pastor of OLPH, and Dave Nodar, the director of ChristLife, were the speakers throughout the course.

It was amazing to see the willingness of so many members of the parish to help out in numerous ways to make the course run smoothly and effectively. A service team of about 30 parishioners helped with small group facilitation and other technical aspects of the course. Three women of the parish used their artistic talents by making flower presentations every week for the tables, and a group of parishioners cooked incredible meals every week. To see a photo album of some highlights from the course click here.
It was a tremendous blessing to be a small group helper and to grow in the knowledge and love of Christ with the members of my group. The most amazing thing, though, was seeing the Lord impact the hearts and lives of the participants in a personal and unique way. Below are some of the testimonies they shared of the Lord impacted them during this course:

“This program came at a really good time in my life. I needed it and I think the Holy Spirit is working through me to get me through a tough time.”

“It hit me that Christ is God’s love sent down for us.”

“I think the biggest miracle for me is something is happening inside…this is just the beginning and I’m very hopeful.”

“I’m a very shy person and the night before the course I asked the Lord to remove the spirit of fear from within me…and I found myself speaking to the members of my small group without fear.”

“During the retreat I asked Jesus to reveal Himself to me, and I just surrendered…and I’ve noticed a change in my life and my perceptions.”

"Ever since I started coming to these sessions a complete peace has come over me. I am more relaxed and calm even during stressful times because I know God is in total control and I have nothing to worry about or fear about."

"I feel that the emptiness in my life is beginning to be filled by learning more about my faith and sharing with others."

"My personal conversion happened on training day. I fully committed myself to living for the Lord and I am so excited and happy about this rebirth. This is the BEST gift I could ever and will ever receive - everything else in life is icing on the cake. Praise God."

"I was spiritually bankrupt and seeking Jesus. Now I see things in a different way - my perception has changed through noticing God and Jesus at work in my life..."

Praise the Lord for all He is doing to show us His love and radically change our lives! If you have experienced the Lord "breaking into" your life please comment on this blog and share what the Lord has done in your life with us! For He "is able to do far more than we could ever ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work in us" (Ephesians 3:20).

Amazing testimony of disabled young man!

This is really an amazing video, worth seeing. If you have anyone in your life going through suffering or who is physically disabled - this is quite an inspiration. Born with no arms or legs, Nick Vujicic gives an inspiring testimony about overcoming circumstances in one's life.

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God is on the move and is using all sorts of people in their different circumstances in powerful ways to get His message out there! This reminds me of the First Reading today, the Lord Jesus speaks to Paul and says, "Take courage. For just as you have borne witness to my cause in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness in Rome" (Acts 23:11). Particularly the phrase "my cause" caught my eye - and made me think about this grand cause, this divine conspiracy that Jesus initiated to destroy sin and death in our lives - and bring us to life, peace, and confidence in Him and His plan for our lives now, and eternally. No matter our circumstances.

Nick's circumstances in the above video - and how he deals with them - and gives glory to God - is really the miracle. And in my own life it seems that it is particularly in those times of suffering where God uses us to broadcast his message of love to the world. A video I watched several months ago called the Megaphone of Hope by Christian speaker Louie Giglio - is all about this. If you have time check it out - it is powerful - and such an integral connection between suffering and evangelization.

Jesus Saves!

"We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world." - 1 John 4:13-14

What an incredible witness to share with others the amazing things God has done in our lives and His saving power! Our friend Jen King who went through ChristLife's Discovering Christ and Following Christ courses, has a powerful story of the Lord saving her and drastically changing her life! It is such a privilege to know Jen and her story is such an inspiration to me!
To listen to her testimony click here or press play below:

Pink Flamingoes and the Pearl of Great Price

When I came to you, brethren, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. St. Paul - I Corinthians 2:1-5

When I was a young boy my family traveled down the east coast of the U.S., from Maryland to Florida, to go on vacation. Back in those days we didn't have the interstate highways we now have and there were places where you had to travel along two lane roads that ran through small towns. I can remember in some of those areas you would see homes where the owners had decorated the yards with all kinds of things. Mirror balls, pin wheels, antique (abandoned) cars, statues of all kinds of things, dwarfs, deer, people and pink flamingo's. Now some of those lawns were so filled with 'decorative items' that it was hard to figure out how to get from the road to the house! Some home owners had gone even farther in their extravagant decorating and had affixed all kinds of things to the front porch walls. Flags, hubcaps, beware of dog signs, and other creative wall mountings! Kind a like the yard, some homes had so much stuff on the wall that you couldn't even see where the front door was!


Sometimes we as Catholic Christians feel compelled to immediately share with friends who, perhaps do not know the Lord or are not church goers, about the treasures of the Church,- Mass, the sacraments, Mary and the saints, Apostolic succession, etc. We feel the need to get it all out in front of them immediately. Sort of like the yards with the pink flamingos. By attempting to get it all out there immediately we run the risk of not establishing first things first. We can easily put the horse before the cart. We certainly want people to know all about the treasures of the Church, but we want them to know first and foremost about the Pearl of Great Price, who is the person that our faith is all about. We want them to know the reason for all of the wonders of the Church, His Body! When we share with others about the joy of knowing Jesus Christ personally as our Lord, as the center of our lives and of all creation, it puts first things first. We want them to know the way into house of God, and Jesus is that way! We want them to know the meaning of life which is found in union with the Trinity through what our Lord has done for all by his life, death and resurrection! If in fact our friends come to know the love of God in Jesus our Lord, the forgiveness of sins and, power of the Spirit given in baptism, then they will hunger to learn more and, live in the truths of the Church!

Let's growing in learning to share about the Lord Jesus, and look for opportunities to tell others why He is the pearl of great price and the joy of our lives!

“This is the principal proclamation of the Church, which remains unchanged down the ages. The Christian faith, therefore, is not an ideology but a personal encounter with the Crucified and Risen Christ. From this experience, both individual and communitarian, flows a new way of thinking and acting: an existence marked by love is born, as the saints testify.”
Pope Benedict XVI, Parish of God the Merciful Father, Rome, March 26, 2006

The Reason for the Season!

ChristLife's most recent podcast has some excellent content especially in regards to this Christmas season. Jean, a friend of ChristLife, shares a powerful conversion story, and there is some great Christmas gift ideas from a group called Advent Conspiracy. Advent Conspiracy's goal is to transform the consumerism of Christmas into the message of compassion laid out by Jesus Christ!
This podcast is very inspiring and you can listen in here, or click play below to listen.

This is my Friend

From an old manuscript.

Let me tell you how I made His acquaintance.
I had heard much of Him, but took no heed.
He sent daily gifts and presents, but I never thanked Him.
He often seemed to want my friendship, but I remained cold.
I was homeless, and wretched, and starving and in peril every hour; and He offered me shelter and comfort and food and safety; but I was ungrateful still.
At last He crossed my path and with tears in His eyes He besought me saying, Come and abide with me.

Let me tell you how he treats me now.
He supplies all my wants.
He gives me more than I dare ask.
He anticipates my every need.
He begs me to ask for more.
He never reminds me of my past ingratitude.
He never rebukes me for my past follies.

Let me tell you further what I think of Him.
He is as good as He is great.
His love is as ardent as it is true.
He is as lavish of His promises as He is faithful in keeping them.
He is as jealous of my love as He is deserving of it.
I am in all things His debtor, but He bids me call Him Friend.

I thought I would share that. What a great testimony of conversion! It is anonymous and serves as the introduction of a book written by Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson called Friendship with Christ written in 1912. Good Stuff!