EXPLORATIONS
IN FAITH
AND SPIRITUALITY
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Focus: Becoming Missionary Disciples
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Goal: Acquire new skills that will enable us to “become part of that great whisper that wants to keep echoing in the different corners of our lives: Rejoice, the Lord is with you!"
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We dedicate this year’s Explorations in Faith and Spirituality to (1) exploring today's world and Church situation in the light of recent Church documents and (2) discovering what, if anything, we can learn about this and in response learn to be better evangelizers, i.e., make our inner Gospel joy more visible to others, especially through Spirit-directed encounters.
BEING MISSIONARY DISCIPLES
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HOW CENTRAL IS THE CHURCH IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE?
Just as central as the Yankees Team is to Aaron Judge’s life?
If you don’t feel that way, join our Exploration which continues below:
Chapter 2 The Church’s Ongoing Formation of the Individuals and the Team of Missionary Disciples
As mentioned in the previous pages. I have found some material on forming (training) Catholics to be Missionary Disciples and my first thought was that this would be excellent material for the parishioners in our Explorations in Faith and Spirituality sessions. But as I looked for a way to present the material, I came to see that the material is presented by priests and lay persons who, having spent years being educated about the Church, an education that included their spending much time and attention on deepening their own relationships with God and few, if any, of you have had such a prolonged and intensive experiences. It's like the difference between how one would prep a ball player or a fan for a new season. We are all players in the Church. So, each of us needs that deeper preparation. So, hopefully, I will be able to present this concept of missionary discipleship so that it will deepen your understanding and your participation in being such a disciple.
Characteristics of Pope Francis’ and the USCCB’s Engaged Catholic or Missionary Disciples (New Evangelization) Model: “Encounter”, “Accompany”, “Community” and “Send.”
The book, Living As Missionary Disciples, is a document written by the USCCB's Committee for Catechesis and Evangeization. This Committee's charge is to provide us with resources and guidance to help us and the people helping us as we progress on our spiritual journey from conception to death. For me it is helpful to think of that journey as a lifetime in which to grow to know and love the God who made me and whom I will meet or encounter face to face at my death. Having this perspective and taking time daily to allow myself to be in the presence of God, be I at home, in church or in any other place, makes me want to learn more about God and let my love for God deepen and grow. It centers my life. It centers my day.
This encounter with God and with Jesus is a characteristic that Pope Francis names as one of four characteristics of a missionary disciple. A fruit of such an encounter is a joy in being able to participate in such a journey through life, this journey begun by God, spent in the company of God and leading me to meet God face to face. And the guide accompanying us is Jesus, the God-Man. And just like one likes to share something, like a good movie or a good book with friends so that they can experience the joy it brings to us, we should want to share this Joy of the Gospel with others, not in a pushy, proselitizing way, but in an accompanying way. And because God made all of us and becasue the nature of God is a Trinity of persons, we form communities that nurture, encourage and support us. As we are told at the end of each Mass we go forth into the world or are sent into the world to bring to it the Joy of the Gospel that is in our hearts.
EVANGELII GAUDIUM (The Joy of the Gospel)
Evangelii gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel) is the 2013 apostolic exhortation by Pope Francis in which he urges us, the Church of today, "to embark on a new chapter in which she is known to be a "community of missionary disciples." (Evangelii gaudium 2013, § 24)
EXAMPLES OF MISSIONARY DISCIPLES
This video from a Detroit seminary features two lay people who are speaking about their lay life getting are real positive lift and charge when they started focusing on growing in faith and spirituality and letting it influence all of their life. It appears to me that what happened to them was similar to what happened to the bishops, priests and lay persons who worked on the USCCB's Committee for Catechesis and Evangelization: they lives became more joy-filled as a result of their exposure to God and the Gospel.
I hope that St. Michael Church is providing something of this experience for you and your family. We are not a seminary, but we do provide opportunities for you to do exactly what these two individuals are doing. I hope you see their joy and provide yourselves with experiences that encourage you, like they do, to live your life with the joy that living and sharing the Gospel brings.
Heart. Mind. Ministry. from Sacred Heart Major Seminary on Vimeo.
Transcript (as much of it as I can understand)
I am from South America. I am a cradle Catholic but it (my _______?) really didn’t become a part of my life until later.
I was born and raised a cradle Catholic in the former archdiocese Detroit. My main ministry right now, my main vocation, is as a father and a husband.
Sacred Heart Seminary is not only for seminarians. It’s also for lay people like me who are working full-time. Sacred Heart is for people like me who want to feel more comfortable about their faith.
I am a patient volunteer for a hospice company. I was coming to Sacred Heart to get my masters in theology, to be a college professor in theology, I thought. And when I begin my studies here, that is what really opened up the idea of ministry to me.
(She says she has the opportunity to learn about her faith in her own native language.)
The professors here are just the top notch. They are on Pontifical Councils and authors. They leave the word of God in their life. The classes are seminarians, the students and laypeople in classes together. It’s really forming all people who have different vocations to the heart of Jesus together.
Sacred Heart gives me a sense of peace and calmness. I particularly love the chapel. You can always go there for a few minutes to pray and just be with God by yourself.
The four years I have spent at the seminary have been wonderful because I really didn’t understand the depth and the beauty of our faith. And I really learned a lot here.
And you have people around you who will support you.
I have learned so many ways to be open to God, to communicate with God. And it’s through my fellowship with the people here at the seminary, with the different people I have met. It’s been a beautiful experience for me.
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Christ As Center
At Sacred Heart Seminary
and
At St. Michael Church Complex
The place is sacred and they are forming, not cars (Detroit) but hearts.
We can consider our St. Michael Church, Parish Center, Rectory and School as sacred, a place where we form hearts. (And I do like the image of St. Michael, the Archangel, as the protector of God's people: our parishioners, including us, are the protectors of all people who are made to enjoy participation in God's life now - as a community in Cranford and the surrounding area.