Getting Caught in the NET

19 Saturday Nov 2022

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Christian Community, Discipleship, Evangelization

Tags

Disciple-makers, Discipleship, Faith, Joy, Laboring for the Harvest, Luke 10:1-12, NET Ministries, Peace

In Luke 10:1-12, Jesus sent the Seventy-two out on a mission to visit villages around the country with instructions of how to convert souls and expand the Kingdom by preaching the new Word of God. They were to enter a house, wish it peace, eat what is offered to them, and cure the sick. They were to take nothing with them, placing their trust in divine providence. He told them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” By this, He was asking his disciples to make disciple-makers.

When we read this passage we are naturally brought to reflect on our own efforts and success at being disciples and making disciple-makers – something at which most of us fail miserably. But, these last couple of days, my thoughts have been more about being on the receiving end of the efforts of these trusting and courageous missionary disciples. In other words, what was it like to welcome these disciples into your home and receive the peace of the Lord through them?

This week my wife and I experienced just that. On Wednesday, we welcomed five young women, ages 18 to 20, into our home for two days. They are part of a team of eight (three young men were hosted by another family) from NET Ministries, a Catholic organization whose mission is to reach out “and challenge young Catholics, through relational ministry, to follow Christ and embrace a life of community in the Church.”

We had never done anything like this before. But, with our four daughters out of the “nest”, we welcomed the opportunity to offer hospitality to these young adults who are laboring for the harvest.

This team, NET Team 3, is regional to the Cincinnati area. They cover a territory of Southwestern Ohio, Southern Indiana, and Northern Kentucky. They travel to a different location and minister to high school and junior high school youths every couple of days, staying with an equal number of different hosts. They are committed for a year to this life on the road, traveling with only what they can pack in their suitcase, and relying on the hospitality of those in the local Catholic communities.

They arrived on Wednesday evening with only a suitcase and a backpack each, and two guitars. After showing them to their rooms and beds we gathered in our living room around a cozy fire in the fireplace and began getting to know each other, swapping stories about life and our personal faith journeys. Sharing came easily with no hesitation to go beyond superficialities. There was an aura of peacefulness about them. Their faith was evident without being in-your-face preachy. I’m sure they had had a long and arduous day but they gracefully stayed up with us to pray a Rosary before retiring for the evening.

Thursday morning we were blessed to prepare a good breakfast for them before they headed off to a local Catholic high school to hopefully save a few souls from succumbing to the ways of the world. They returned that evening and we enjoyed a fine home-cooked dinner (if I do say so myself!). I got the sense that they appreciated not having pizza because they came back for seconds! Throughout dinner and then, again, afterwards around another fire, we continued with good conversation and friendship. A guitar was uncased and we sang a few songs together.

On Friday morning we were all up early as the team had to head about an hour south to their next retreat. We prepared a breakfast for them to take with them. We exchanged hugs and blessings and wished each other well. Then they were gone. But, they left behind the memory of thirty-six hours of peacefulness well spent, and the hope that we might be able to do it again sometime soon.

Their mission is to grow the Kingdom of God with students and young adults. But, I wonder if they know the impact they have on us old folks? The joy they emanate by doing the Lord’s work brings hope to us all that some of the sickness in the world will be cured. Thank you NET Team 3 for bringing your joy and hope to this house!

“Dear Lord, thank You for inspiring these young women and men to be disciple-makers for Your Kingdom. Thank You for the opportunity to serve You by serving them. I pray You abundantly bless Mally, Maggie, Elizabeth, Rebecca, and Terese as they labor for Your harvest. Amen.”

(Getting Caught in the NET was first published on the blog Reflections of a Lay Catholic)

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Feed Your Flock

23 Wednesday Feb 2022

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Discipleship

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Tags

1 Pt 5:1-4, Discipleship, Faith, Feed my lambs, Feed my sheep, Jesus, Jn 21:15-17, Lk 9:13, Tend my sheep

(A reflection on 1 Pt 5:1-4)

Christ’s Charge to Peter, Raphael, c. 1515

One of the most significant moments in Simon Peter’s relationship with Jesus was the third time Jesus revealed Himself to them after His resurrection when He asked Peter three times, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter answered three times, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You!”. And three times Jesus asked Peter to take care of His flock. (Jn 21:15-17)

Peter obviously took that request to heart and remembered it for the rest of his life. In yesterday’s first scripture reading from 1 Pt 5:1-4, Peter writes to the Presbyters, the teachers of the faith, to tend to and be examples to the “flock of God”.

This passage struck me in a number of ways. First, I recalled the many sentiments that were offered from comments at our deanery’s recent Synod on Synodality meeting. Although those present were a mere microcosm of our Church, there seemed to be a general opinion that one of the problems in our Church today is that our bishops and priests are not adequately “feeding their sheep” or “tending their flock”.

Secondly, it brought to mind that we are all called to be teachers of the faith in one way or another – through our vocations as a parent or friend, through our occupations, and our volunteerism in various ministries. We only have to recall Jesus’ words to His disciples when He was faced with feeding the five thousand, “Give them some food yourselves” (Lk 9:13), to understand that He wants us to join with Him in His mission to save souls.

Today more than ever, our Lord needs us all, you and me, to help feed and tend His flock. Too many are not being fed and are straying to what looks like “greener” pasture in today’s world of materialism, idealism and relativism. Once they leap that fence they become easy prey for the wolves. We need to fertilize our “Catholic” pasture so that the grazing sates their appetites.

How do we tend to the flock? I think the first step is to set aside the idea that our faith is something that is done to us, that it’s someone else’s responsibility. With too few priests and deacons to go around, the laity needs to take some ownership in their personal faith formation and that of those in their “pasture”. We need to become better catechized, grow deeper in our relationships with Christ through prayer, and live virtuous lives that are examples of holiness to others.

Every person has an opportunity to be a witness to someone who is hungering for the Bread of Life and thirsting for the Living Water. We need to remember that Jesus gave us one mission, to make disciples of all nations, and we need to make that a priority in our lives. We don’t have to become missionaries or monks, we just need to live simply and find synergies in our everyday lives that will edify our families, friends and acquaintances.

We need to remember that the basic building block of our Church is not the parish, but rather our homes, the Domestic Church. If we want to rebuild our Church we need to recall how the Apostles and the first disciples lived after Christ’s death. Theirs was a two-pronged approach: to stick together and build and protect their community, and to draw others into it by teaching them the truth of the Gospel. We can do that with our families by practicing our faith with our children. We can live hospitality and invite people into our homes for friendship and good conversation which may lead to opportunities to pray together.

We need to look for opportunities to be charitable to those in need by practicing the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.

We need to not be afraid to practice our faith in our work places as employers and employees; at school as educators and students; in athletics as fellow athletes and coaches; and where we volunteer.

Our faith ought to be personal but it should never be private. We need to be bold and leave others with no doubt about our love for Jesus.

Put more succinctly, as laity, we need to step up our game, take ownership and not depend on just our clergy to feed the flock. We need to survey our “pasture” of influence and determine who is grazing mindlessly in that pasture and on the verge of wandering off. We need to provide them with “green grass” that will nourish and satisfy their souls.

What is your pasture? Who is in your flock? How can you feed and tend to them with the love of Christ?

“Dear Jesus, thank you for providing priests and friends who, through their gentle love and care, have shepherded me in my faith life. I pray for the grace to do the same for those whom I mentor and lead to you through spiritual friendship. Amen.”

(Feed Your Flock was first published on the blog Reflections of a Lay Catholic)

No Chance Encounters

16 Sunday Jan 2022

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Discipleship

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Tags

1 Samuel 9, Calling of Matthew, Discipleship, Friendship, God-moments, Mark 2:13-17

The Calling of St. Matthew, Matthias Stomer, 1629

In yesterday’s first reading from 1 Samuel 9, we heard about Saul the Benjaminite who, while out looking for his lost donkeys, just happened to run into Samuel the prophet. Samuel had been told by God the day before that he would meet the man whom he would name as the new king of Israel at that specific time the next day. From Saul’s perspective, It was a chance encounter. From Samuel’s, though, it was God’s plan.

In yesterday’s Gospel, Mark 2:13-17, we read about Jesus calling Matthew, son of Alphaeus, to follow him. Matthew certainly wasn’t expecting to be called, but it was in Jesus’ plan to pass by his tax collection booth that day and invite him to be His disciple.

Jesus meets us in unexpected, memorable and life changing ways, also. Unfortunately, when He does, we can be quick to write them off as mere coincidences. I’ve learned, though, that most anything very far removed from the ordinary is God working in my life and not just a result of dumb luck. He’s calling my attention to Himself and His will. Sometimes it may only be a reminder that He is here with me, sometimes a reminder to be grateful for His providence, and sometimes He’s telling me I need to make a course correction. Sometimes it’s all of the above.

I had a little God-moment yesterday. An old friend, Joe, called me out of the blue. I hadn’t talked to him in many months, and only a couple times since he moved away five years or so ago. Joe and I first met ten years ago this coming April on a Christ Renews His Parish weekend, a retreat in which neither of us ever expected to participate. Joe was a lukewarm Catholic with little desire to grow deeper in his faith but attended to placate the man who kept pestering him. Me, I had never had any faith to allow to grow cold. I was simply at a low point and attended to get away from the stress of life for two days.

From the get-go, Joe and I hit it off. We became instant friends, both satiated with the Holy Spirit by the end of the retreat, and wondering where we would go from there. I chose to join the Catholic Church and learn more about Jesus, and Joe chose to begin living out his faith with renewed zeal. We were both on fire and our friendship kept each other stoked like a blacksmith’s furnace. Together, we went onto the next Christ Renews team. We met for lunch once a week and shared how God was working in our lives. We participated in a men’s small group at which we discussed the Gospel and learned more about our faith from other friends.

And then Joe changed jobs and moved a couple hours away. We lost touch, yet we kept moving forward in our own ways. Joe got involved in the small parish which he attends and started making new friends. I retired and began studying to become a spiritual mentor. Our small group slowly dissolved and I found new friends with whom to share my faith.

We talked for over a half hour, catching up with each other, our families, our faith. He called me because he thought of me and our Christ Renews His Parish journey together. He was giving a pulpit talk this morning to ask men to attend a weekend retreat and he wanted my prayers.

I told him I have a couple groups with whom I meet regularly and just last week gathered together some of the old guys from our first group. It was a fun reunion and we talked about resuming regular get-togethers. Joe said he misses those group discussions and would like to get a small group of friends from his parish together to share their faith. We talked about our prayer lives, and about the spiritual mentoring that I do, and he sounded interested in getting his own spiritual mentor. It was almost like old-times. Before we ended the call we vowed to stay better in touch.

After our call, I thought back to how our friendship evolved. We were both called to be on that retreat together. We had our reasons, but God had His own. It was not a chance encounter. Yesterday’s phone call wasn’t a chance encounter, either. We needed each other during that time to grow deeper in our faith which ultimately made us better disciples for Christ. We needed each other yesterday. It was like God giving a couple pumps on the bellows of that old furnace.

The Holy Spirit is still urging us to continue being disciple makers. And, because of this, we have the grace to know and accept that He puts Sauls and Matthews in our lives by His plan and not by coincidence. But, they don’t know that….not yet.

PS: My wife and I arrived at mass this morning just moments before the opening procession. Not wanting to walk down the aisle to our preferred seat, we took a spot in the back pew on Mary’s side, at the far outside end of the pew. As I sat down I remembered that this was Joe’s seat. He would always get there early to make sure someone else didn’t get it. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

“Heavenly Father, thank you for the friendships we have developed with You as the Common Denominator. Through them You give us the extra help we need to be disciple makers and bring our brothers and sisters to You. Amen.”

(No Chance Encounters was first published on the blog Reflections of a Lay Catholic)