Crossroad & By-roads of LIFE

I haven't taken a Greyhound since college.  This is certainly an interesting journey to say the least.  There is something fascinating about the places of crossroads.  There is something novel about it for me, but for those whose reality IS this, there is an appreciation for a different perspective of American life.  For myself as a clergy, the "ecclesial bubble" is all too easy to fall into.  Whatever you may say about Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Father Marti Carr had this quote on his funeral card.  Chardin says,

"I, your priest, will make the whole earth my altar and on it will offer you all the labors and suffering of the world."

I suppose it is at this Greyhound crossroad that should have the sober realization that the new evangelization is so far from being realized.  That for all our talk of it, there is far to few of us really willing to live it out in the crossroads of life.  GO OUT INTO THE MODERN METROPOLIS, the BY ROADS and invite everyone you know to the banquet of love which is the Eucharist.  Such a simple invitation that we miss it in what we deem to be so important.  Please dear God, help me to SEE amidst the self-aggrandizement of ministry, the wider scope; the grand view of life out on the crossroads.  Help me to SEE that God is not limited to my own parochial view and IMPART to me the gift of vision to encounter YOU in ALL people.  Amen.

Made it to Charleston!

Praise the Lord!  There is something liberating about hitting the road.  There is a freedom to follow the spontaneous Spirit of God!  Evangelization is linked to the informed and concise discipline of discipleship.  Listen up people!  Check this out:
"The passion for simply abiding in the company of Jesus, the need continually to be with Him in every sense of that verb, is the very heart of discipleship.  But how does one become a disciple?...Mature Christian freedom...is my total availability and obedience to the will of the all-wise God.  We may initially find any disciplinary structure difficult, but with time we may so internalize it and identify with it that it becomes a new and comfortable improved self-image.  But that would be too bad, because this accommodation would defeat the purpose of Christian discipline as a permanent instrument of openness to the work of the Spirit within us.  It is not enough by far to have taken radical initial steps of conversion and to be a reasonably observant and faithful Christian.  At the center of our being we must remain poor and free and available to God, rather than barricade ourselves through habit to the approaches of God's ever-surprising graces."  Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word by Brother Simeon

As JP II said, "break out of comfortable and routine modes of living!"  You see this what Ad Gentes is all about!  We no longer are shackled by the convenience of comfort and security.  Ad Gentes moves us out...to the PEOPLE.  An ever constant and vigilant watch of God's will in our lives.  This is what, at the heart of discipleship, produces the fruit that WILL LAST!  Brothers and sisters, this is NO TIME TO BE ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL.  We must go out!  We must proclaim the Gospel at the expense of our own limited scope of reality.  This breaking out and into the lives of others is the fuel that propels ministry; an ever dynamic shifting us into a regular stage of flux.

Heading South!

I'm looking forward to heading down to Charleston, South Carolina tomorrow.  After our high school expedition this past weekend, I am going to meet up with the missionary interns at Belmont Abbey in South Carolina.  Before doing that, however, I will be visiting my nephew in Charleston.  On Wednesday morning, I will be taking a Grey Hound bus to Columbia, SC and visit with a priest friend.  From there, I will get a ride to Belmont Abbey.  I'm excited to visit this campus seeing that is is a new up-in-coming Catholic university.

I received an excerpt from a book called Sober Intoxication of the Spirit by Cantalamessa, a Papal preacher at the Vatican.  I think is someone reflects where we are as an apostolate right now:

"I have asked myself sometimes, what in these new budding communities pleases Jesus so much....its seemed to me the secret of what makes them precious to God is there poverty, the fact that they have no past, and hardly any future, they are almost "nothing", like a little cloud that calmly disappears from the sky after having poured out its water.  Traditional religious orders have a past, often a glorious one, recent ones,  (lay institutes, ecclesial movements) have a future and sometimes they are very aware of it.  God is looking for something very - very small, among so many grand and established groups, (which do please Him and are useful to Him) something that He can take just as it is, without having to be concerned about its past or its future.  He is looking for something that will be useful to Him for an instant, something unencumbered that wants nothing, and asks for nothing in return for pleasing God save to please Him alone and to make His power and His wishes shine forth in the world" for souls who will say "Yes"  to All He asks.  Do we want to be that small thing that is precious to God? Do we want to be that instrument of "nothing" in His omnipotent hand? Then, let us not worry, about "setting up house", let us not worry about numbers, let us continue to pour out all that we are, directly into the bosom of life, that is the Church" p. 29,30

We'll keep in touch.  If you read, this let me know because I don't know if anyone reads the blog!

Reflections on discipleship in the POPE MOBILE

Of course, it has been a long time since blogging, but right now is a good time to write.  I'm am currently sitting shotgun in the 1984 Chevy Blazer that we converted into the POPE MOBILE.  Five years ago, I began to transform an old military vehicle into a traveling evangelization machine.  Usually, on my days off during the first few years of ordained ministry, I would spend time at the formation center in our garage working on restoring the old truck into what it has become today.

Now, as we travel to Charleston, WV, I can't help but think about how important it is for us to share our Catholic faith.  Building a Pope Mobile isn't the most effective means to do this nor the only way, but being on the road in the modern metropolis sharing the Gospel with all those we encounter is powerful.

This morning, I was talking with some our seminarians about discipleship and just how important it is to share our faith with others in a concrete way.  Three components of discipleship are important to remember:

1)  GET TO KNOW THEM!  It may seem obvious, but really coming to understand WHO someone is rather than what they do is important.  Establishing a real relationship with a person takes time and we must be willing to take that time because it is the first step of discipleship

2)  BE HONEST WITH THEM!  Only when we know someone can we challenge them to grow.  In working with young adults, I've come to discover that this is what they are really looking for.  They are eager to grow in holiness and be a saint.  But many times there is simply too much false affirmation and not enough true honesty.  Be honest in discipleship.  Imperative to this, however, is our own discernment and personal growth in the faith life.

3)  STAY WITH THEM!  We must be willing to walk with those we disciple as they go through the gunk of sin.  This can be difficult because it drudges up our own issues and failures.  However, Christ can shatter through this and the hard-work of discipleship can be so rewarding!

So here we are!  AD GENTES!  On the road, reflecting on the love of Jesus, the beauty of the Gospel and the glorious event of mission!