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: Burning Hearts Team
To build a culture of encounter, we must start from within ourselves, from our personal call to discipleship. God knows our true selves, desiring that we, too, discover the person God has called us to be. Through prayer, we encounter ourselves before God; we see ourselves as God sees us. And we realize that God delights in every member of our human family because God is truly present in each of us.
Jesus reminds us, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mk 12:31). To love another, we must come to know our own selves, our own hurts and triumphs, our own joys and challenges. What begins as an interior encounter necessarily goes beyond ourselves, challenging us to live in solidarity with people we may never meet. How can we hope to go to the margins, to accompany those who are most vulnerable and in need, if we haven’t properly wrestled with our own vulnerability, our own need? Only then can we recognize that each person we encounter can share with us some unique insight about our world, about ourselves, and ultimately, about our God.
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- Written by: Kristin Bird
Are we really living as missionary disciples or just talking about it?
Pope Francis reminded us that “every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangelization" (The Joy of the Gospel, 120). But what happens when we look in the mirror and realize we’ve been more passive than passionate?
This reflection is for anyone who has felt convicted by Evangelii Gaudium, especially those leading or supporting evangelization efforts in their parish. Download the companion resource at the end for your own or your team’s prayerful use.
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- Written by: Kristin Bird
A Season of Preparation, Holy Waiting, and Hopeful Anticipation
It's the First Week of Advent, but you wouldn't know it at our house. The wreath and calendar are still packed away in the basement. I have made no plans for what additions I will make to my prayer life for the next few weeks. Apart from the fantastic seasonal nail art I helped my 7 year old with last night, I have not even discussed the season of Advent with my children.
The wreath lighting at Mass this morning made me realize that I had procrastinated too long. Advent has started, and I'm not ready.
Then came this morning's social media onslaught. My news feeds were filled with blog posts, book reviews, youtube videos, and list after list of the best ways to enter into the season...
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- Written by: Burning Hearts Team
In Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis has laid out a vision for our families, our relationships, our churches, and our world - a vision of love and accompaniment. Unfortunately, phrases like "the art of accompaniment" have become a musunderstood buzzword within church circles.
The "art of accompaniment” and is so much more than simply a way of being pastoral to those whose beliefs and behavior are at odds with the Gospel. In the hands and heart of a missionary disciple, accompaniment is a tool for walking with others as they journey into deeper relationship with Christ and the truth of the His Church.
All of us fall into the trap of trying to tell other people what to feel and how to think instead of the listening, and openness of heart that accompaniment calls us to. What starts as sharing my own emotions quickly turns into debating, posturing, defending, and becoming solution-focused - to closing the doors of our hearts rather than opening.
When I jump to debate and response rather than listening, I ignore the lived experience of the person in front of me. I focus on myself - my own defensiveness, skepticism, anger, etc - rather than being truly present to the other. When I jump to solutions rather than compassion and empathy, I am not truly present to the way the Holy Spirit is moving and working in myself or the other person.
Genuine accompaniment calls us to compassion, to empathy, and to listening - rather than arguing. To be clear: this empathy doesn’t require us to change our most deeply held convictions. It simply means that we refuse to let the desire to “win” cause us to lose sight of the presence of God in the person in front of us. It means remembering that we can ALWAYS pause for compassion.
The 10 tips for dialouge below come from Amoris Laetitia, and Pope Francis calls this loving dialogue “essential” for family life. I think you'll find them applicable beyond the immediate family to our human family - and civil society as well.
Ten Tips on Dialogue from Pope Francis
1. Recognize the real importance and dignity of the other person.
Recognize others’ right “to think as they do and to be happy.” Pope Francis challenges us to acknowledge the values of the other’s “deepest concerns” and what he or she is trying to say (no. 138).
