Evangelism, The Church’s Duty

Deuteronomy 11: 18-19

Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be frontlets between your eyes.

And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Matthew 16: 18

That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

 

 

Let us remember that the Church exists to evangelize.

The church,which is you and I, is missionary by nature. Through our baptism, we were baptized into this body of Christ, the Church. For better or for worse, we are symbols of Jesus Christ in the world. It is therefore our mission, our very lifeblood to see Mission Sunday, not as an outsider, but as someone called to be on mission. 

It's an old principle that says: we cannot give to others what we do not have ourselves. Hence we need first of all, to be "missionized".
lf our Christianity is only a matter of rules and regulations like
going to Church on Sundays and not eating meat on Fridays; if our
faith is only a matter of convenience and not of conviction; if Christ is only a statue and not a person whom we really know, then we are certainly thinking and viewing Mission Sunday as an outsider. We will end up with excuses saying: "Not me, I am too busy; I am too afraid, I don't know how to talk to others about Christ."

We need to have the faith level conviction in our intellect and in our hearts. Once that happens, we will need no urging to witness to Christ.
We will feel impelled from within to celebrate and share the life of
Jesus. We must begin today and begin now because now is the acceptable moment of salvation. In our own corner of the world, let us light the lamp of Christ by what we say and how we live, by what we believe and what we stand for, and by the attitudes we manifest. Let these be seen and heard loud and clear at home, in our study and work place, in our neighborhood, and particularly with those who do not share our faith.
May the people around us begin to see a difference in our lives, and let that difference be Christ Jesus himself. After all, he is there to inspire us every step of the way. Let us not forget that with his
great commission: "Go make disciples of all nations", we also have his great promise: "Know that I am with you always until the end of time."

Mission Sunday is a day to thank God for our faith. Christ expects
each one of us to never let a day pass by without proclaiming God's message of salvation to those around us. None of us can say that we cannot be a good Christians, that we cannot pray, that we cannot offer to God our crosses for the salvation of our brothers and sisters. If we try, we shall discover that we can help to spread the kingdom of God far more that we think.

Let us keep in mind that there is no shorter way to heaven than
helping others to get there. And so, as we worship God today, let us pray we may have the courage to shout out and offer to all those around us Jesus Christ and his message of salvation for Christ is our lifeblood and theirs as well.

By: unknown author

Seeking Religion through the Internet

More and more, people are searching for spirituality and religion on the Worldwide Web these days. What are the pros and cons of this new way of seeking God’s Living Word and answers to most of life’s issues that we all face?

The internet is the greatest search tool the world has ever known and the power to seek and understand things is now right at the fingertips. It’s truly amazing what knowledge the human brain can acquire just sitting at a desk looking for information regarding any given topic whether it be finding out about how something works or information about health issues that concern us or policy about laws and governmental procedures.

It’s a wonder that we don’t all have a touch of attention deficit disorder now trying to keep up with our email boxes, our chats, our online friends our discussion groups etc. etc.

The internet gives us new meaning to the catch phrase TMI, too much information.

Only in the last few years have I come to realize that since God is everywhere and in everything, it is true that He also is here on the internet as one can plainly see. I used to think that the Web was a place full of darkness and evil just waiting for you to come onboard and swim in the transgressions it can allow you.

Now, by revelation, I’ve come to realize that this thinking was my own and had nothing to do with what the internet was doing. If I look for bad,I can find it anywhere. If I look for good, I also can find it anywhere, so now I am out here looking for all the good I can find and what to my wonder, I’ve surely tapped into a new world of goodness, kindness, compassion and love that I was not even aware of existing. I would like to thank God and all the wonderful people I’ve met here on the Web for helping me to have a better mindset about the Web and about the many mercies that God provides for every occasion of life. I feel blessed now just to have a computer and to be connected to so many good people and places. Thanks you all and God Bless you!

Sundays Reflection from a group message

REFLECTION
One of Ignatius of Loyola's contributions is the Examination of
Consciousness. Unlike the Examination of Conscience, which is an
exercise of identifying faults as we prepare for the Sacrament of
Penance, an examination of consciousness allows us to be more aware of
how God continues to be present ever y moment in our lives.

It is usually done twice a day — during the middle of the day and when
we are about to sleep. As we review part of the day, we are grateful
for the God's many gifts and then, we ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten
us as we go over the events of the day to see how God continually
invites us to a deeper relationship with Him.

For the times we have responded positively, we are encouraged to move
on and be as faithful as ever. And for the occasions we may have
procrastinated or worse, did not heed the call of Jesus, we beg for
forgiveness and ask the Holy Spirit that we may not be discouraged and
lose heart. It is during this process of looking into our hearts that
we become more aware of our decisions that will either strengthen or
weaken our relationship with Jesus. If done with honesty and openness
we are able to see our various motivations as to why we acted in such
a manner. And from such reflection, we hopefully learn in order that
we may become better loving people that will make us pleasing to
Jesus.

We do many things in life for mixed reasons, some good and some not so
good. Thus, we need to constantly and continually purify ourselves in
order that in the end, we may hopefully do things for the right
reasons.

"Where your heart is, there your treasure lies" is something that
Jesus taught us too. There is truth to this insight as we know very
well that whatever we value, this is where we fully invest ourselves.
If family is important, we spend quality time with them. If money is a
priority in our lives, we work very hard in order to earn enough
perhaps at the expense of other equally important aspects of our
lives. Finally, if God is truly number one in our lives, then we show
in our actions how God is truly present particularly in our quest for
love and justice for the poor and the innocent. This disposition can
be supplemented well with our efforts to spend time in prayer
individually and communally through the celebration of the sacraments
particularly of the Eucharist. We do this not to impress others but
rather because of a deep desire to strengthen our relationship with
Jesus whom we love and desire to serve. In doing so, we become his
friends.

And so, in this Eucharist, let us examine ourselves and look deeply
into our hearts. What is it that we truly treasure? Why do we do these
actions? Is it for our personal glory or is it for Jesus? May the Holy
Spirit enlighten us in order that we may lessen our hypocrisy and
truly be consistent with what we say and what we do.

Author unknown

How important is life to you

I was reading this morning and it came on me all of a sudden, my life to me is not as important to me as it is to others whom think of me more significantly. This concept of looking at your self worth allows you to believe that, if my life has significance to others it should at least be that meaningful to me.
So today, which is all I have, I will look at my life and carry myself as if I were some very important person in the world, because I am.
If I look at myself as being VIP there is no way I can think lowly of myself or any other person. This to me is a good idea! Love large, play hard and be true to thy self, all the day long.

I LOVE YOU

A dear friend sent this in an email to me today, knowing what I am facing and I thought it special enough to put it out here for all to read and share. I don’t know who wrote it, but that person is very special, I can tell. I hope whomever reads this is touched by it and does something afterwards, something nice and loving.

One day a women’s husband died and on that clear ,cold morning, in the warmth of their bedroom,the wife was stricken with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn’t “ANYMORE”.

No more hugs, no more special moments to celebrate together, no more phone calls just to chat, no more “just one minute”.

Sometimes the things we care about the most give up and go away, never to return before we have the chance to say good-bye and I love you.

So while we still have them, it’s best that we love them, care for them, fix them when their broken if we can, help them to get well when they’re sick. This is true for marriage , old cars, children with bad report cards and dogs with bad hips, aging parents, grandparents.

We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it. Some things we keep, like a best friend who moves away or a sister-in-law after divorce. There are just some things make us happy, no matter what. Life is important like people we know who are special. So we try to keep them close!

I received this from someone whom I thought was a “Keeper” Then I sent it to the people I think of in the same way! Now it’s your turn to send this to all those people who are keepers in your life, including the person who sent it to you if you feel that way.

Suppose one morning you never wake up, do all your friends know that you love them? I was thinking, I could die tomorrow or next week, and I wandered if I had any wounds that needed to be healed, friendships that needed rekindling or three words needing to be said. Let every one of your friends know you love them, even if you think they don’t love you back, you would be amazed at what those three little words and a smile can do.

And Just in case God calls me home. I LOVE YOU ! :-)

Live and love today because tomorrow is not promised!

A Way to His Heart

Whenever you are covered with darkness and can not see

Do not be discouraged, just ask God to set you free,

Whenever you see light in a gloom filled world today

Thank God for faith, hope and for showing the way,

When you feel lost or full of dismay

It is Gods desire to brighten your day,

When fear clouds the mind and causes confusion

Just ask God to remove all doubt and delusion,

When you feel lonely and extremely down

Remember what Jesus did and make a frown upside down,

Whenever all seems so vain and you feel you’re coming apart

Bow a knee and in silence ask Him into your heart,

Happiness is the mindset one can have

If the promise to love is kept alive

Your life will change and truly you will thrive

December 17,2007

By; Arthur Wartenbe

HURRICANE SEASON AGAIN

Well here it is August 2009 and the first storm popped up in the Gulf of Mexico a few days ago. It, the storm came ashore near Destin,Florida and wasn't too bad. We are watching Bill closely now, it is a major hurricane and the first of the Atlantic storm season. The forecasters are predicting that it will turn north before reaching the coast. I hope this is the case, cause our country has been abused lately so much that the economy is suffering from all the disasters of the previous few years.
I am a believer that our wonderful Creator, will not put more on us than we are able to handle and He will help us through the tough times whenever they befall us. I will write more later, when I have more time, but for now this is the most I can get out. Hoping all are well out there in blogland and enjoy having access to a wealth of reading. Bless you all this day!
Well, it's another day and it has started with rain, alot of it. This is what we call dog days here along the Gulf Coast! I got wired up on coffee this morning and did a few honey do's, but now I'm done except for finishing the laundry I started hours ago. Guess I'll go take care of that and review my position for options to complete the day. So many things to do, never know what to do next. Slow down and focus on one task at a time I reckon. Yeah, sounds like a plan!