The Making Disciples Today Blog has reflections to help you grow in your journey of missionary discipleship, reviews on recommended Catholic evangelization resources, and practical insight on how to evangelize in your daily life.
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- Written by: Kristin Bird
In this episode of the Transforming Parishes, Transforming Lives podcast, we focus on how to nurture the disciples you have in the parish (particularly new ones)--especially in the early days of parish renewal when they get called upon to handle a disproportionally large amount of the work necessary to move forward with transformation.
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- Written by: Fr. Larry Rice
Green is the color of most of our Church year. Green vestments on the priest and deacon, green banners hanging behind the altar, green plants adorning the sanctuary. After the glitz and glamor of the Christmas and Easter seasons, this season in our Church year can seem, well, ordinary.
Ordinary Time
The period in our Church year that follows the Christmas season, and then again follows the Easter season, has an unfortunate name—Ordinary Time. The name comes from the fact that while we are outside of special seasons, the Church simply counts the time as it passes (3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, etc). It's counted time using the ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd...) which is how it got it's name. Of course, being that it's also outside of the special seasons, it often feels mundane, routine, ordinary as well.
Rev. Larry Rice, CSP explains Ordinary Time this way...
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- Written by: Kristin Bird
Have you heard of the Jesus Juke?
The “Jesus Juke” is a move that tells a friend,
“I wish you possessed the uber holiness I do and were instead talking about sweet baby Jesus in this conversation.”
Coined by Jonathan Acuff in his Stuff Christians Like blog, a Jesus Juke is like a tiny “shame grenade.” You throw it into an otherwise harmless conversation and then watch it splatter everyone in guilt and condemnation.
Christmas (and maybe Easter) seems to bring out the worst of the Jesus Jukes. Combine them with intentionally controversial headlines and memes and you can suck the Christmas joy right out of jolly ol’ Saint Nick himself.
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- Written by: Kristin Bird
Creating and sustaining "shallow entry points" is essential in the process of parish renewal. Shallow entry points are places where those who may be disconnected from Christ and His Church can be introduced to the Christian community and the love of God in non-threatening and warmly welcoming ways. Being intentional about creating these shallow entry points requires a more individualized approach to pastoral care and, therefore, is more time consuming to both create and sustain.
In this episode of the Transforming Parishes, Transforming Lives podcast, we focus on these shallow entry points - specifically talking about the most common objection to this approach: "I just don't have time to do all that."
Discernment is a decision-making process that seeks to align our own will with the will of God in order to learn what God is calling us to. Every choice we make, no matter how small, is an opportunity to align ourselves with God's will.
Our reflection guide is designed otherwise help you identify where the Holy Spirit may be calling you to align to the mission of evangelization and discipleship.
Do you need help with discernment in your life or ministry?
