Points to Ponder
"Who wants anything to be boring? Why is the
Gospel presented to us as something that is old and irrelevant?
That's so far from the Truth!"
The gospel message is radical and counterculture.
It demands the best of who we are. The gospel is an adventure,
it's a journey, it gets us outside ourselves, its what give
me life. The Jubilee year in the Church (2000) was a pivotal
year for me. During the course of this year, I started to
figure out that life wasn't about what I wanted, but what
God wanted from me. Deep in my heart, I was called to conversion.
I was called to acknowledge my sinfulness and ask the Lord
for forgiveness. Since that time, God has continued to transform
my life to that of service. So much so that I was called
to study to be a Roman Catholic priest. On June 3rd, 2006 I was
ordained a priest to the Church of Green Bay. My soul mission
is to spread the Good News and share the love of Jesus Christ...the
love that changed my life. In response to Pope John Paul
the Greats springtime of evangelization in the Church I felt called
to offer something to young people. Catholic Youth Expeditions
is just that! There are a couple of excerpts below. We want
to respond to our Holy Father's battle cry for the new millennium!
 Words from John Paul the Great
"Do not be afraid to go out
on the streets and into the public places, like the first
Apostles who preached Christ and the Good News of salvation
in the squares of cities, towns, and villages. This is no
time to be ashamed of the Gospel. It is the time to preach
it from the rooftops. Do not be afraid to break out of comfortable
and routine modes of living, in order to take up the challenge
of making Christ known in the modern 'metropolis.' It is
you who must 'go out into the by-roads' and invite everyone
you meet to the banquet which God has prepared for his people.
The Gospel must not be kept hidden because of fear or indifference.
It was never meant to be hidden away in private. It has to
be put on a stand so that people may see its light and give
praise to our heavenly Father." World Youth Day 93
Words from Pastores Dabos Vobis
Associations and youth movements, which are a sign and confirmation
of the vitality which the Spirit guarantees to the Church,
can and should contribute also to the formation of candidates
of the priesthood, in particular of those who are the product
of the Christian, spiritual and apostolic experience of these
groups. Young people who have received their basic formation
in such groups and look to them for their experience of the
Church should not feel they are being asked to uproot themselves
from their past or to break their links with the environment
which has contributed to their decision to respond to their
vocation, nor should they erase the characteristic traits
of their spirituality which they have learned and lived there,
in all that they contain that is good, edifying, and rich.
For them too, this environment from which they come continues
to be a source of help and support on the path of formation
towards priesthood. The Spirit offers to many young people
opportunities to be educated in the faith and to grow as
Christians and as members of the Church through many kinds
of groups, movements and associations inspired in different
ways by the Gospel message. These should be felt and lived
as a nourishing gift of a soul within the institution and
its services. A movement or a particular spirituality “is
not alternative structure to the institution. It is rather
a source of a presence which constantly regenerates the existential
and historical authenticity of the institution."
Words from Holy Scripture
"Cast out into the deep!" Luke 5:4
"But I do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may
finish the course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to
testify to the Good News of God's grace." Acts 20:24
"Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the
ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it
produces much fruit." John 12:24
"Above all, clothe yourselves in love, which binds everything together
in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another
in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns,
and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do
everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father
through him." Colossians 3:14-17
"Thanks be to God, who unfailingly leads us in Christ's triumphal train and employs us to diffuse the fragrance of His knowledge everywhere." I Cor 2:14
|
