Let my joy with Jesus renew my life.
God our Father, by raising Christ your Son you conquered the power of death and opened for us the way to eternal life. Let my joy with Jesus risen raise me up and renew my life by the Spirit that is within me. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Adapted from the Opening Prayer, Easter Sunday Liturgy.
Help us to bear witness to you.
Almighty, ever living God, you have given the human race Jesus Christ our Savior as a model of humility. He fulfilled your will by becoming one of us and giving his life on the cross. Help us to bear witness to you by following his example of suffering and make us worthy to share in his resurrection. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen
From the Prayer of Evening Prayer of Passion Sunday.
HANDOUT
Conversion:
* The call of the already committed Christian to grow in faith and live it.
* Deepening relationship with God and fellow Christians.
* Initial conversion may be a moving experience.
* An ongoing, gradual, continual process of redirecting our lives.
* We become progressively more open to the presence of God in our lives.
* Grace may come at any moment, in solemn or ordinary circumstances.
* We will be changed (converted) to the degree we respond.
* It depends on us to accept or not.
* We will stray and return, but we must persevere.
* Prayer plays a great part in our conversion.
Discernment:
* The ability to see the difference and to decide.
* A gift from God, but also an art learned by trial and error.
* No fool-proof way to help us grow in our discernment.
* Again, prayer plays a major part.
* The Holy Spirit helps us form a Conscience. With this listen to God.
*7 steps to help us discern:
1. Formulate a proposition (Should I?)
2. Gather the relevant data
3. Bring the gathered data to prayer
4. Make a decision (Depends very much on character)
5. Live with the decision
6. Act on the decision
7. Seek confirmation of the decision.
Evangelization:
*Bringing the Good News, testifying to it and proclaiming it in Jesus.
*Millions of unbaptized, but also lots and lots of inactive and lukewarm Christians.
1. By example, be loving, caring, forgiving.
2. Share your faith --- Bible study programs, Prayer groups.
3. Offer the option for Love --- Best way is person to person
4. Challenge our culture
5. Make what is good better
Evangelize ourselves first:
What can you do to evangelize in your parish?
Conversion:
What is Conversion?...........................................................................
*** The ever-present call of the already committed Christian to grow in faith and live it.
*** Deepening relationship with God and fellow Christians.
*** Initial conversion may be a moving experience.
*** An ongoing, gradual, continual process of redirecting our lives.
*** We become progressively more open to God=s presence in our lives.
*** Grace of conversion may come at any moment, in solemn or ordinary circumstances.
*** We will be changed (converted) to the degree we respond.
*** It depends on us to accept or not.
*** We will stray and re-turn, but we must persevere.
*** Prayer plays a great part in one's conversion.
In the 18th century, Alphonsus Liguori, an ambitious young lawyer, was handling a complicated case between two Italian dukes. When Alphonsus lost the case because of his own oversight, his whole world collapsed. He stormed out of the courtroom saying 'World, I know you now'. A few weeks later, after a dispute with his domineering father, he walked into a church and heard a voice saying 'Alphonsus, give yourself to Me'. He went up the street to the church of Our Lady of Ransom and placed his sword, the symbol of his nobility, on an altar, determined to turn his life around. This dramatic conversion happened in Naples in 1723.
This was not the end. Three years later, Alphonsus was ordained a priest. A further conversion occurred. He was vacationing with four other priests on the Amalfi coast. A sudden storm forced the to shore. All five of them made their way up the mountain to a hermitage called St.Mary's of the mountain. Alphonsus was overwhelmed with the poverty of the simple goatherds nearby. They knew little of the faith, and their moral life was in chaos. He dedicated himself to the poor people in the country district.
But St.Alphonsus was not yet done with conversion. The death of his mentor, Bishop Falcoia, was another step forward that made him take the role of leader. His experience hearing the confessions of the poor marked another turning point and made him understand their troubles more.
Discernment:
What is Discernment?.........................................................................
*** The ability to see the difference and to decide.
*** A gift from God, but also an art learned by trial and error.
*** No fool-proof way to help us grow in our discernment.
*** Again, prayer plays a major part.
*** The Holy Spirit helps us form a Conscience. With this we listen to God.
7 steps to help us discern:
1. Formulate a proposition (Should I......?) ............ We ask God to reveal his truth and give us the inner freedom to carry it out.
2. Gather the relevant data ............. Reflect on all alternatives and the pros and cons of each, considering God, family and others in each alternative.
3. Bring the gathered data to prayer .......... Pray on each option, be open, be ready to let go, be ready to take on new ways. Less talking and more listening to God. Imagine someone else is in this position being given advice by you.
4. Make a decision (Depends very much on character) ............ Go with the opinion that gives you most peace when you are praying over it.
5. Live with the decision .......... Before you act on it, especially if you are impulsive, let it simmer awhile.
6. Act on the decision .......... Simple to say, but hard sometimes if you have to part with something or someone you grew attached to. (Check some Saints)
7. Seek confirmation of the decision .......... If it bears good fruit, be certain it was the right one. You’ll still have struggles and afterthoughts, but this is normal.
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding and my will, all that I have and posses. Everything I have is yours, for you have given it all to me; to you I return it. Take, Lord, and do what you like with me, only give me your grace and your love, for that is enough for me. Amen. St Ignatius of Loyola.
Evangelization
Meaning?......................................................
Bringing the Good News, testifying to it and proclaiming it in Jesus.
To whom?.....................................................
Millions of unbaptized, but also lots and lots of inactive and lukewarm Christians.
How?.............................................................
Five points from Pope Paul VI's encyclical. (Explain encyclical)
1. Witness Christ --- By example, be loving, caring, forgiving.
What can YOU do?..................................................................
2. Share your faith --- Bible study programs, Prayer groups.
What qualifications does a good evangelizer have?...................
3. Offer the option for Love --- Best way is person to person basis.
Faith in action is love. Take the trouble to approach and initiate.
How would you take part in this?..............................................
4. Challenge our culture --- Our witness should affect the values of
our society. We should try to change those which contradict the
Word of God.
Name instances..........................................................................
5. Make what is good better --- Use what is good in the service of the Gospel. Medicine, Technology.
Give examples and how to use them...........................................
Evangelization is Love: (Pope Paul VI)
Be respectful for the spiritual situation of others being evangelized.
Be concerned not to hurt, especially if the person is weak in faith.
Transmit certainties anchored in the Word of God, that is you must be
well prepared through study and knowledge you mean to teach.
Evangelize ourselves first:
Be active to encourage; be convinced to convince others; be caring so
you may attract others.
What can you do to evangelize in your parish?..............................................