Evangelization

The United States bishops have stated that, “Whether you were baptized as a child, or joined the Church as an adult, you have a story of faith. Whether you sincerely live your faith in quiet or have a great public ministry, you have a story of faith…”

My wife and I were blessed to meet after college as we served on the National Evangelization Teams (NET) based in St. Paul, Minn. As a Catholic ministry, we worked with parishes around the U.S. hosting parish retreats and leading small groups with teens.

I expect you’ve heard about the National Eucharistic Revival, and you may wonder what this effort will offer you and our wider Church. You might not know that this effort is coming out of the Office of Evangelization at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

A little boy was having trouble sleeping and his parent came into his room and said, “You know that God is always with you, right?” To which he responded, “I know Mama, but I want a God with skin on.” Often when we see God working in our lives, it is through people that are cooperating with God’s grace.

Check out the King Salmon my nephew caught when we were on a charter trip a few weeks ago! Nice fish but seeing the picture does not do it justice. In fact, this kid lives to fish.

I recently watched a webinar by one of my favorite business mentors, Patrick Lencioni. He consults for Fortune 500 companies like Boeing, Chick-fil-A and Southwest Airlines, and has authored more than a dozen bestselling business books over the past 25 years. Turns out, he’s Catholic! Ten years ago, he co-founded The Amazing Parish, a training and consulting ministry for Catholic parishes.

As I have been traveling around our diocese offering the Encounter Love/Encounter Jesus experience, one sentiment continues to come up, “Other adults in our parish need to experience this retreat…” Adults are hungry to grow in their faith and long to experience the joy and presence of God in their daily lives.

All 78 parishes and 17 schools are invited to a special event for all parish ministry leaders, catechists, teachers and volunteers. The event is titled, “Living a Eucharistic Life as Missionary Disciples” and it will be held on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022 at the Owensboro Convention Center.

The early Church was born through the power of the Holy Spirit. The disciples huddled in fear following the crucifixion as they contemplated the end of their journey with Jesus. Then the unimaginable happened, he rose from the dead and they were transformed!

The three-day “Great Feast” of the Church year is upon us.