News Around the Parish
Youth Ministry – Last Sunday, the Jr. High Ministry served at the 9:30am mass by being Lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, Ushers and gift bearers. Afterwards, about 20 of them gathered to make more than 400 sandwiches for St. Vincent de Paul’s Sandwich Sunday. At that event, we also introduced the teens to Ryan & Katrina Dilag, candidates for the High School Youth Ministry position. This young married couple has a heart for Youth Ministry and applied separately to the position. But no matter who the parish hires, they said they’ll be working with each other together, which is quite a blessing for the parish. The youth activity after the sandwich making, led by Ryan and Katrina, was enjoyed very much by the teens and they all gave them 2 thumbs up. So the parish has offered Ryan the position of High School Youth Minister. He’s looking forward to getting to know the teens and develop something with them in the near future. Welcome aboard, Ryan (and Katrina) Dilag!
Faith Sharing Book Club – So far, we’re read about half of Pope Francis’ “The Joy of the Gospel.” Fr. Theo and I laughed that because the Pope has so many gems in the book, that we’ve underline almost half the book. The past week, we read Chapters 2 & 3. In Chapter 2, the Pope spoke about the challenges and difficulties of evangelization in our age. In Chapter 3, the Pope spent over half the chapter, addressing, encouraging and even guiding priests in how to prepare good homilies. As he puts it, “a preacher who does not prepare is not ‘spiritual’; he is dishonest and irresponsible with the gifts he has received” (#145). But he also reminds us, that the proclamation of the Gospel is the responsibility of the entire People of God. As he puts it:
There is a kind of preaching which falls to each of us as a daily responsibility. It has to do with bringing the Gospel to the people we meet… this is informal preaching which takes place in the middle of a conversation… (#127).
Being a disciple means being constantly ready to bring the love of Jesus to others and this can happen unexpectedly in any place: on the street, in a city square, during work, on a journey (#127).
In this preaching, which is always respectful and gentle, the first step is personal dialogue, when the other person speaks and shares his or her joys, hopes, and concerns for loved ones… only afterwards is it possible to bring up God’s word, perhaps by reading a Bible verse or relating a story… keeping in mind the fundamental message: the personal love of God… this fraternal and missionary encounter could end with a brief prayer. In this way they will have an experience of being listened to and understood; they will know that their particular situation has been placed before God, and that God’s word really speaks to their lives (#128).
What have you read that caught your eye? Let me know and we might post your comments along with others. You can write to me at frdan@stbrendanparish.org.
Blessings,
Fr. Dan
