For those who may be unfamiliar, missionary discipleship is a term made popular by Pope Francis, especially in his encyclical, Evangelium Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel). In paragraph 120 of his encyclical, Pope Francis writes: “In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples (cf. Mt 28:19). All the baptized, whatever their position in the Church, or their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of evangelization.” What this means is that each and every one of us—EVERY baptized man and woman, regardless of whether you have any position in the Church, and regardless […]
christina.semmens
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Lent is a clarion call to change. It is our opportunity to reject self-satisfaction, and the idea that we are already “good enough” or “not that bad,” and do battle against our triteness, shallowness, and dullness – – all signs of indifferent hearts and minds. We can resist our indifference and lukewarmness and CHOOSE to “turn away from sin and live out the Gospel” by embracing the 3 classic practices of Lent—prayer, fasting and almsgiving. But as we develop our Lenten “plan” and make resolutions regarding these 3 pillars of the spiritual life, bear in mind that Lent should be about […]
Christina’s next FB Live Event will be focused upon 4 ways that will help you prepare to have a grace-filled Lenten season. Join us LIVE on Facebook on Thursday, February 28th at 7:30pm. To participate in this LIVE event, simply go to the Say Yes to Holiness Facebook page on Thursday, February 28th at 7:30pm. Hope to see you there!
Today, the Gospel is the story of Jesus in His hometown of Nazareth, reading from the prophet, Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” And then Jesus responds by proclaiming “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” For me, this passage is almost a no-brainer. Like, duh, of course this passage is being fulfilled. This is Jesus! By this time in […]
Merry Christmas! (And yes, it is STILL Christmas!) I hope this finds you still rejoicing in the great gift of Him who humbled Himself to become like us as a babe in the manger at Bethlehem! My post today is an outgrowth of my spiritual mentorship ministry work, and the great need that I have seen for people to come to know and understand and embrace that the reality that God loves us so deeply, passionately and profoundly, that He desires nothing more than to love us, and to that end, He invites us to enter into life with, in […]
Today was spent in quiet reflection as I prepared to make my promises to become a member of the AVI (Apostles of Interior Life) Family. In the midst of quiet time in Adoration with Jesus, all of us who were gathered together were encouraged to reflect upon not only the promises that we would be making, but even more so, to reflect upon what does it mean to be family? One of the AVI Family members shared some wisdom given by Dr Greg and Lisa Popcak, national speakers on issues of marriage and family, in which the Popcaks suggest that […]
As we are now drawing super close to Christmas, the world has us in an absolute frenzy of preparations and “checking lists twice.” For those of us for whom Jesus is the reason for this season, it can be extremely disconcerting to traverse through these final days as all the focus seems to be on everything and anything but Jesus. So how do we wrench our focus off all the “to-dos” and allow ourselves to focus on Him? By doing what Jesus told us to do and become like little children. How? By acting like a child. 1. Look with childlike wonder. How often is it that we actually […]
The entire season of Advent is all about preparation, but Gaudete Sunday is the Church’s way to signal to us that we need to kick our preparation into high gear. Why?
During the lead up to Christmas, we are inundated with numerous things to do. Gifts to be bought, cards to send, cookies and candies to bake, decorations to hang, parties, school pageants, and work celebrations to attend. The reality is that this time leading up to Christmas has become in our culture one of the most stressful and anxious times of the year—rather than being filled with hope and joy and peace! So what is the solution? Advent. The Church in her wisdom gives us the perfect solution to the craziness of the world because Advent is designed […]
Before the Second Vatican Council, Pope John XXIII said that it was time to “open the windows [of the Church] and let in some fresh air.” In the last 55 years since Vatican II, there have been many theories proposed about what the now Saint Pope John XXIII meant by his comment, but as the Catholic Church continues to struggle to to effectively evangelize people, especially young adults, in this post modern world, one thing is abundantly clear, some more “fresh air” is desperately needed if people are to come to know and experience what it means to belong and […]