Pastor’s Letter: September 22, 2024

Pastor’s Letter: September 22, 2024

20 Sep 2024 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear St. Philomena Parish Family,

Blessings to you all this day—I hope everyone has had a fruitful week!  It has been a full week for me but one that definitely brought many blessings.  This week alone I have had the opportunity to connect with five families that are preparing for Baptisms, six couples preparing for marriage, more than 20+ in our OCIA (formerly RCIA) class, as well as some very joyful interactions with our school students. There definitely is a lot of life and growth happening here in these walls! One of my favorite moments of the week was witnessed by some people who were finishing up a visit with me in my office. One of our school classes happened to be walking through after visiting the church. All the children were walking together in this very orderly line…yet also were all smiling and waving and greeting me as they walked by. That moment reminded me of how discipleship and evangelization can go together so well in our life in Christ.

Over the last few weeks we have been reflecting on how we follow Jesus and how we share the love of Jesus with those around us. Perhaps there is a natural tendency to think that these are individual parts of our life in Christ…or maybe that they are a kind of progression we follow. However, just like those students following in line and greeting at the same time, we are certainly able to live both discipleship and evangelization together.

A while back Bishop Lou gave all the priests of our Diocese the book:  Start with Jesus: How Everyday Disciples Will Renew the Church. The author, Julianne Stanz, is the Director of Parish Life and Evangelization for the Diocese of Green Bay, WI. Stanz writes from her experience working within the Church, and provides an opportunity for us to dive more deeply into understanding what discipleship means…and in particular what missionary discipleship means. If you were a regular reader of the Catholic Post, you might remember that I wrote a summary of her book…I thought I would refresh a couple of those notes this week for our reflection.

In her book, Stanz spends some time reviewing how Jesus called and formed disciples. She outlines discipleship as following Jesus, but also reminds us what Pope Francis has taught about becoming missionary disciples, “Every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus: we no longer say that we are “disciples” and “missionaries” but rather that we are always “missionary disciples” (The Joy of the Gospel, #120). As Stanz will elaborate, “When we follow [Jesus], he’s going to ask us to lead for him at a certain point. When he leads us, we start to become leaders of others.… A missionary disciple emphasizes the importance of following and sharing Jesus with others. A missionary disciple inspires, equips, and forms others to be disciples and disciple-makers. Missionary disciples go beyond duty and obligation to become active missionaries of their family, friends, neighbors, and those in their wider communities. Missionary disciples are passionate in bringing Jesus to others because they love him and love the Jesus they see in other people. Mission is not something we do; mission is at the heart of how we bring Jesus to others” (p.35). What she is getting at is that when we are living our life in Christ, we really are living out both the following part and the sharing part that we have been talking about.

Without a doubt, we have a tremendous gift in the invitation for life with Jesus. Just stop and think about something amazing—God knows you, loves you, and wants to share life with you! Of course, recognizing this gift, we want to share it with people we love and care about. How do we do it? How do we share with the people around us? As we have been saying the last few weeks, one of the best ways is through a joyful witness. If our life in Christ is making our lives better, more peaceful, more hopeful, etc…letting people see that joy is a great way of inviting them to deeper life with Jesus. As part of that witness they might also see in us honesty, generosity, kindness, and willingness to grow and change…perhaps many other things. Sharing our life in Christ is not about being perfect or a finished product, but a humble work in progress. Jesus is leading the way, and as disciples we are striving to follow him. As missionary disciples and evangelists who are sharing life in Christ with others, we are simply asking them to join with us in following Jesus.

I hope everyone has a great week ahead—know of my prayers and blessing for you all!

In Christ,

Father Luke