It’s that time of year when many ministry staff and volunteers are preparing to launch or re-start initiatives, groups, programs, and more, as students and adults transition back from summer vacation season. Sometimes we can get caught up in the…
From Inauthentic Evangelizer to Witness
How authentic are you as an evangelizer? When people ask you questions, are your responses what you experience? Or a idealistic, textbook answer? Pope Francis writes, “people prefer to listen to witnesses: they ‘thirst for authenticity’ and ‘call for evangelizers…
Faith to Evangelize Without Seeing Fruit
“I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother.” Hard words from today’s Gospel (Mt 10:34-11:1). But, I’m going to warn you in advance–just to temper your expectations–today’s blog post isn’t really about this…
Jesus’ Love in Words
Jesus’ passion and death by crucifixion reveal the depths of his incredible love for each of us. As Paul reflected decades later, “only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might…
Don’t Let Fear Limit the Gospel
Today (Acts 14:5-18) we find Paul and Barnabas on mission in Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe. And they’ve been on quite a streak. They were in the Lycaonian region because of an attempt to stone them after their most…
Are You a Youthful Disciple?
What was it like when you first believed that Jesus has power over death? When you had that conversion that led to your personal relationship with Jesus Christ? For me, it was (literally and figuratively) a springtime. A new part…
Making Sense of Institutional Evangelization
A lot of “New Evangelization” talk gravitates towards questions of how to re-evangelized those who may be baptized but not practicing, those in our neighborhoods who’ve never even heard the Christian Gospel proclaimed at all, or even those who are…
I Don’t Get Anything Out of Mass
If you’ve been talking to friends, family, or co-workers who’ve left the Church, you may have heard the explanation, “I just didn’t get anything out of Mass.” As believers set on knowing, loving, and sharing the faith, there are so…
Gospel Response: Making “Now” Now
Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. –2 Corinthians 6:2b, Gospel Acclamation of Monday of the First Week of Lent The verse before today’s Gospel makes one thing quite clear–God is ready for…
The Powerful Prayer of Amen
At the beginning of this year my husband and I decided it was time to offer our almost-two-year-old son an opportunity for prayer that was designed for his interests, his way of viewing the world, not ours. While our son…