It’s an exciting time for our diocese and parish as we begin a new journey of growing as intentional disciples. Be…Grow…Make Disciples. We are all called by Jesus to be disciples and take the good news to all. That is our mission…Making disciples and growing disciples. It’s simple, but challenging.
Some points to reflect on.
- We are all called. Our Baptism calls us to be disciples. As the candle, the light of Christ, is given to our Godparents then passed onto us, so are we to pass it on. As St. Paul says in Romans, and I’ll paraphrase: We are set apart for the service of the Gospel. We don’t decide. It’s who we are. Jesus has chosen us for this special mission of proclaiming the Gospel and His Kingdom.
- We are called to live the Gospel. The Mass and the Sacraments, although essential, are not enough. We must live our faith every day, in community with others.
- We are called to grow our spiritual life. The heart of discipleship is our personal relationship with Jesus, which begins and grows through our prayer life.
Remember this is a journey, and it will last our entire lives. We all need to be continuously formed in what being a disciple means. That is why we are focusing on the four pillars, which are a good roadmap for our journey: Hospitality, Prayer, Formation and Service.
It all starts with gratitude to God for His blessings on our parish. We trust He will continue to bless us. It won’t always be easy. There will be challenges…bumps in the road. But we are doing God’s work so we are assured that He will always give us what we need.
