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Open Letter to Michael Gungor About Heaven Crashing Into Earth
Michael,
I'm going to jump right into the Catholic excitement about your post today. On behalf of all Catholics (and any Christians for that matter) everywhere: Thank you. Thank you for an honest reaction to a moment of worship, and thank you for blurring the lines of denomination and hostile opposition by being unafraid to acknowledge authentic worship of Our God when it happens.
I'm glad you experienced Adoration in all its intoxicating mystery and heavy earthiness. I think you and I have a lot more in common than most Christians acknowledge. In fact, I once heard Peter Kreeft say that for the church to become one then Catholics have to become better protestants. Better protestants than even protestants. Then and only then will protestants become Catholics - in order to become better protestants.
"The whole reason for being a Catholic is to be the best possible evangelical Protestant. What I mean by that strange statement is that the essence of evangelical protestantism is to be one with Christ, to meet Christ, and that's the best reason to be Catholic. That's the reason for the Mass, for the Eucharist, namely the "protestant" thing of meeting Christ, that's the whole thing of the "Catholic" thing of the Church and the Sacraments and the Saints and the whole thing. Christ is not great because of the Eucharist, the Eucharist is great because of Christ." (You can listen to the whole talk here.)
Catholics believe Adoration is a meeting with Christ. We participate in creation adoring the creator, and take the first step in all worship to the true and living God: acknowledging that HE IS. And in the Eucharist, HE IS.
"Christ held Himself in His hands when He gave His Body to His disciples saying: 'This is My Body.' No one partakes of this Flesh before he has adored it." - St. Augustine
The first moment of any act of love is the moment when the "I" notices the "thou". Adoration takes that moment of enamored eye-meeting and draws it out over minutes, hours, days or years. It is the purest act of the First Commandment. The Mass, then, is a consummation of this encounter where both lovers are united in communion. Basically, the Eucharist is a pure "Come to Jesus" moment that Evangelical Protestants can really dig.
We should talk more about this whole mystery, metaphor, earthy yet divine encounter with God through worship. Some protestants call it an encounter with Christ, Catholics call it the Sacraments. And if more Catholics believed at least what protestants believed, we would have a revival in our church. And if more protestants could grasp the mystery that you saw in Adoration and that weighs in on some of your music, I think protestants would benefit. It is God making beautiful things out of dust.
Like you said, healing has to start somewhere. The Sacraments, especially the Eucharist as a meeting with Christ, could be a gateway to healing and communion between protestants and Catholics. I think protestants have a lot to teach some of us Christmas/Easter/I-only-pray-at-lunch Catholics about the importance of an encounter with the Person of Christ. And I think us Catholics have a lot to teach protestants about the beauty of the mystery of encounter robbed in the trappings of earth and flesh and smoke and lights and smells and colors and bread.
Thanks Michael, for making me a better protestant.
Your Brother in Christ, Edmund
P.S. If you want to grab a sacramental beer with a young Catholic in Denver who GETS this stuff about Christ and mystery and worship, I've got a friend that would LOVE to buy you a pint.
Atheist Defends the Catholic Church Against 'Progressive' Catholic
[youtube=http://youtu.be/SsqzCDaS5uI] Refuting people who are 'fed up' with the Church's 'refusal' to get with the times is getting boring. If you are still spouting this kind of nonsense, you've got to start hanging out with some smarter Catholics. Even an atheist like Penn can defend the Church's understanding of orthodoxy and infallibility.
Piers: "I've become increasingly, like many young Catholics [From my experience as a youth minister, I find this statement a sloppy generalization], really disgruntled by the failure of successive popes and the Vatican to move at all with the times when society is changing...
Penn: "My understanding is that if you have someone who is a conduit of God and is speaking God's word, even if you can't understand exactly what God's plan is, even if you do see suffering that you see is unacceptable... that still doesn't mean you get to vote on what God actually believes."
My favorite is when Penn (an atheists) compares Piers (a semi-Catholic) to Martin Luther:
Piers: "I don't remember reading Jesus saying you can't use condoms to prevent disease, I don't remember Jesus saying priests, catholic priests cant get married, I don't remember him saying divorced Catholics can't get married in the Church, or that women can't become priests."
Penn: "But now you're talking Martin Luther, that was Martin Luther, saying that an individual can interpret the Bible themselves...and it seems like you either agree or you don't."
7 Ways to Engage in the New Evangelization [Video]
[youtube=http://youtu.be/-Indlp95eQc] If you ever heard someone use the phrase "New Evangelization" and wondered what that is and how you can get involved, this is one of the best hours you can spend learning all about it. It was a pleasure to be part of a discussion with three amazing witnesses for the New Evangelization.
Topics discussed include:
What is the New Evangelization? The Importance of Knowing Your Audience New Evangelization and New Media Blessed James Alberione, Patron Saint for the New Evangelization The New Evangelization and the Parish The New Evangelization and the Eucharist Personal Holiness How do you avoid being an isolated Catholic?
The Crew:
Check out these three Catholic bloggers and the great work they are doing in the New Evangelization!
Amanda Mortus: WorthyOfAgape.com Sr. Theresa Noble: PursuedByTruth.blogspot.com Ryan Eggenberger: EntreCatholic.com
Blessed James Alberione, Pray for Us!
Join Tonight! LIVE Webinar on the New Evangelization
Tonight at 8:00 pm EST
I'm pumped to be a part of a discussion on the New Evangelization to be broadcast live tonight. Join me as I'll be hanging out LIVE G+ style with some great Catholic bloggers and evangelists. We'll be discussing ways to engage in the New Evangelization and be able to take some questions and comments from YOU (if you decide to join us). Sign up here to join the conversation with us this Friday.
Meet the Crew:
First and foremost, Amanda is a woman after the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus. Amanda is also a Colorado native and can hardly imagine living anywhere else. She graduated from Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina in 2009 with a BA in Theology, as well as minors in Psychology and Philosophy. Amanda is a youth minister and loves leading teens in a journey towards Christ. Her blog can be found at worthy of Agape.
Sr. Theresa Noble is a novice, aka nun in training, with a religious congregation of sisters in the US. She left her job in California with eBay to follow God two years ago. She currently lives in a convent in Boston where she prays, evangelizes, bakes bread and blogs at Pursued by Truth.
Ryan is a young Catholic convert. He evangelizes by teaching people how to achieve their career, business, or entrepreneurial goals. Follow Ryan on twitter by clicking @RyanEggenberger or jump over to his blog at EntreCatholic.com to say hi!
And this guy.
We’re going to have a great time talking about the New Evangelization, and we want as many people as possible to join us for the event. Be sure to share it on Facebook, Twitter, and even Email folks who you think would enjoy the discussion!
Go to www.EntreCatholic.com/Hangout to sign-up. Share this link with your friends!
LIVE Webinar This Friday
This Friday Feb. 8th, 8:00 pm EST
Join me as I'll be hanging out LIVE G+ style with some great Catholic bloggers to talk about the New Evangelization. We'll be discussing ways to engage in the New Evangelization and be able to take some questions and comments from YOU (if you decide to join us). Sign up here to join the conversation with us this Friday.
Meet the Crew:
First and foremost, Amanda is a woman after the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus. Amanda is also a Colorado native and can hardly imagine living anywhere else. She graduated from Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina in 2009 with a BA in Theology, as well as minors in Psychology and Philosophy. Amanda is a youth minister and loves leading teens in a journey towards Christ. Her blog can be found at worthy of Agape.
Sr. Theresa Noble is a novice, aka nun in training, with a religious congregation of sisters in the US. She left her job in California with eBay to follow God two years ago. She currently lives in a convent in Boston where she prays, evangelizes, bakes bread and blogs at Pursued by Truth.Ryan is a young Catholic convert. He evangelizes by teaching people how to achieve their career, business, or entrepreneurial goals. Follow Ryan on twitter by clicking @RyanEggenberger or jump over to his blog at EntreCatholic.com to say hi!And this guy.
We’re going to have a great time talking about the New Evangelization, and we want as many people as possible to join us for the event. Be sure to share it on Facebook, Twitter, and even Email folks who you think would enjoy the discussion!
Go to www.EntreCatholic.com/Hangout to sign-up. Share this link with your friends!
NEW: The CatholicStand.com
I am pleased to announce a new Catholic website - Catholic Stand - whose mission is to inform and equip Catholic citizens with the Truth of our Catholic faith as it relates to various areas of the culture we live in. Its not your readers-digest-type website, and will hopefully dive pretty deeply into topics and provide plenty of research to back up the articles.
If you are looking for a website to challenge you to stretch your Catholic brain, this is a great place to turn and I am honored to be a columnist among the ranks of many great columnists who write for this new site.
Stacy Trasancos, Ph.D., Chief Editor for Catholic Stand, was a guest on Teresa Tomeo's Radio Show "Catholic Connection" on Ave Maria Radio to talk about her conversion story and Catholic Stand. Give a listen if you're interested.
Catholic Citizens Unite!
March for Life 2013
[youtube=http://youtu.be/Opl0jnKbn5Y] Send some prayers our way today as our youth group joins over 200,000 others in a March on DC to stand up for LIFE. Check out more about the March for Life here.
"But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?"
- Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Sundance Films, Utah, and Porn
NPR recently covered a kerfuffle going on in Utah. It seems that an intolerant guy named Derek Monson suggested in an article that the State of Utah should end its financial support of the Sundance Film Festival. For what silly reason? Because the festival shows films that are sexually explicit and porn-related.
After all, "What would you call a film festival airing movies that explore the lives of porn stars, adulterous relationships between mothers and their friends’ children, and teenagers competing to lose their virginity?" Definitely not a valid family night option.
According to NPR, Derek is saying that he believes the risque films "cast an immoral shadow over the [Sundance Film Festival] no matter how much money it brings in."
Holy prudish-conservative-crazies!
But wait, there's more!
"...what message does it send to society, especially children, when we try to teach them that sexual promiscuity is bad, only to turn around and endorse it if it brings in enough money? The last thing society and children need is for their government to act in a way that says it is fine to sell your sexual morals for money....Some things are more important than money."
Robert Redford responded by reasonably pointing out how much money the Sundance Film Festival brings in.
In his own words: "If they'd like us to go away, we'd probably take, what, $70 [million], $80 million with us — $80 million comes to the local economy in 10 days. Pretty good." Well put sir.
NPR didn't miss the opportunity to beat a dead straw man, focusing a great deal on *surprise!* how much money the Sundance Film Festival brings in. "And for the Utah Film Commission, $80 million is an excellent return on that $300,000 investment."
These are the types of conversations that make me want to slam my head in a car door repeatably while watching Jersey Shore in slow motion. It is sooooo painful. These are two groups of people talking about totally different things. Derek Monson might as well have ran his article through a third grade Chinese translator before publishing his concerns.
Derek Monson is questioning the morality of State funding going towards a film festival that is notorious for explicit films, regardless of how much money it brings in. Mr. Redford is pointing out how much money the Festival brings in. Anyone else see the miscommunication going on here?
Derek Monson is pointing out an easily understandable concept:
The ends don't justify the means.
Many evil and deplorable acts could be used to produce good outcomes. Human trafficking, for example (I am not equating the two) produced around $31.6 billion globally in profits in 2005. If you spoke out against such an atrocity and someone justified human slavery by pointing out how much money it brought in, you would call that man heartless and insane. He would be sidestepping the question of morality all together.
It seems this faulty moral logic (called proportionalism) has taken a kung-fu-like grip on a majority of people these days - mature smart grown people. It is a weighing of the pros and cons. The ends CAN justify the means. You can justify doing ANYTHING as long as there is a big enough pay-off.
Lying? Sure! If it will help ease someone's suffering. Torture? Sure! If it will save hundreds of people. Abortion? Sure! If the woman can regain her reputation and her future. Inhumane working conditions? Sure! If it gives some poor foreigner some money and you make huge profits. Porn related films? Sure! If it will bring more money to our state economy.
Look, the ends, however big and lucrative, do not justify the means. We should not commit a moral evil to reap some cash rewards.
They are talking about two different things. Mr. Redford needs to address the morality of state funding going toward sexually explicit films and the glorifying of porn actors and sexual immorality. Derek Monson is not saying "I don't fancy porn". He is saying sexual immorality and porn-related films are a questionable way to make money and goes against the values of the people of Utah, no matter what reason it is being shown and glorified.
Whether or not you think it is a matter of free speech or a work of art, these would be arguments for the morality of a state funding Sundance Film Festivals. But to stubbornly wave cash around while refusing to answer the challenge is the wrong way to handle a legitimate concern.
Derek's article seems pretty clear to me, yet NPR and Mr. Redford seem to be focusing on precisely what Derek is saying should not be focused on. So the question remains to the Sundance Film Festival and to the State of Utah:
Is it moral to fund with state money a Film Festival that shows sexually explicit and porn related films?
***** Another well thought out argument is that truth depends on majority rule. This argument that "thousands of Utah people watch porn every day" is littering the comment boxes of the NPR article. Well I hate to quote your mom, but if thousands of people were calling Rick Astley the best rapper of all time, would you? (Not to bring up the fact that many of these porn watchers might just be addicted persons who know porn is evil and hate that they watch it). If the whole world got together to decide that "1+1=cat fart" would that change the fact that only "cat food = cat fart" and "1+1=2"?
Who are You Evangelizing?
The Church's deepest identity and reason for existence is to evangelize. (See Evangelii Nuntiandi par. 14) And Jesus commanded and commisioned all of us to "Go and make disciples of all nations". (Matt 28:19) But who are we called to evangelize? In the Church document "Mission of the Redeemer" (or Redemptoris Missio for you Latin lovers), Pope John Paul II points out three contexts in which the Church is called to evangelize.
According to Pope John Paul II, there are really only three types of people in the world:
1) Those who have never heard Christ or the Gospel. These people don't know about the Gospel, and therefore through no fault of their own they don't care about the Gospel. The missionary activity, or mission ad gentes of the Church is focused here.
2) Those who have heard the Gospel and are committed to Christian living and striving for holiness. These people know the Gospel and Christ and care about the Gospel and Christ. The pastoral activity of the Church is focused here.
3) Those who have heard about Christ and the Gospel to some extent, but have "lost a living sense of faith, or even no longer consider themselves members of the Church, and live a life far removed from Christ and his Gospel." The third context, as a kind of middle position between the previous two ends of the spectrum, consists of people who know the Gospel, or at least have come in contact with it to some extent. And, for some reason or another, they don't care about the Gospel they have been presented. They are the third generation Catholics in a postChristianity Europe and America whose parents only went to Mass on Christmas and Easter, and who become atheists or casual agnostics by the end of college. Or they are the children of ex-Catholics who are told that Catholics worship Mary and the Pope and don't believe the Bible.
What is required in this third case? "In this case what is needed is a 'new evangelization' or a 're-evangelization'". In this third case, a jarring from previously conceived notions is required. For this third case Christianity (or Catholicism) has been tried and found wanting, or so they think.
These activities of the Church's evangelization are related. "Each of them influences, stimulates and assists the others." (Redemptoris missio par. 34) But each context does require a different approach. Each type of person brings with them a different lens through which they see the Church and the Gospel and Christ. Some see Christ for the first time, others know Christ and need to better understand Him. Still others have rejected what they thought was Christ, or have intentionally rejected Christ whom they really did know. Each requires different sensitivities, approaches, and methods.
Whether we are Catholic writers or speakers or missionaries or Priests or Mothers or lawyers or businessmen, the question we should all be asking ourselves when we attempt to participate in the Church's call to evangelize is:
Who are we evangelizing?
Redemptoris missio Paragraph #33
The fact that there is a diversity of activities in the Church's one mission is not intrinsic to that mission, but arises from the variety of circumstances in which that mission is carried out. Looking at today's world from the viewppoint of evangelization, we can distinguish three situations.
First, there is the situation which the Church's missionary activity addresses: peoples, groups, and socio-cultural contexts in which Christ and his Gospel are not known, or which lack Christian communities sufficiently mature to be able to incarnate the faith in their own environment and proclaim it to other groups. This is mission ad gentes in the proper sense of the term.
Secondly, there are Christian communities with adequate and solid ecclesial structures. They are fervent in their faith and in Christian living. They bear witness to the Gospel in their surroundings and have a sense of commitment to the universal mission. In these communities the Church carries out her activity and pastoral care.
Thirdly, there is an intermediate situation, particularly in countries with ancient Christian roots, and occasionally in the younger Churches as well, where entire groups of the baptized have lost a living sense of the faith, or even no longer consider themselves members of the Church, and live a life far removed from Christ and his Gospel. In this case what is needed is a "new evangelization" or a "re-evangelization."
How to Get 112% Parish Engagement
What if 112% of Parishioners read your Church bulletin/website/Facebook page?
"No one reads the bulletin" is a commonly heard lament in Catholic churches, right up there with "No one cares about our parish website" and "No one ever knows what is going on in the parish". Our churches have plenty to offer and plenty going on, but getting the members of your church to listen can be like trying to yell through a brick wall.
In 2001 in the small town of Dunn, North Carolina the local newspaper The Daily Record achieved 112% market penetration. In laymen terms: they were selling more newspapers on a consistent basis than there were homes in the town. Either people from outside Dunn were buying the newspaper, or some homes in Dunn were buying multiple copies. (Not enough to go around the house maybe?)
To say everyone read The Daily Record was literally an understatement.
How does a small local newspaper get over 100% penetration in their town?
Enter Hoover Adams
In 1950 the World War II veteran Hoover Adams founded The Daily Record. Hoover began coordinating a military-like campaign to make his paper the best and most read newspaper in town. Hoover's strategy: "names, names, and names."
Hoover had a laser-like focus on two things: getting as many names in the paper as possible and reporting on local news over and above everything else.
Names
Hoover was known for stating that if The Daily Record printed the entire phone book in the next edition of the paper, people would pick it up and read it just to see if their name made the cut. He impressed upon his staff that reporting on the lives and events of people in Dunn took precedence over everything else.
It is a simple fact of human psychology that we are interested in ourselves first and foremost, then people we know, and then events or people indirectly related to us. Think about it - when you see a group picture of you and your friends, whose face do you look for first?
Community
The local story, no matter how mundane, was more important than anything happening outside of Dunn. For example, in 1995 fifteen people died in an airplane crash in nearby Raleigh. The front page of The Daily Record covered the story of a bear hit by a pickup truck in Dunn.
This created a strong community aspect of the paper. You felt in touch with the community by reading about people you knew about. In a way, the entire town of Dunn connected to each other through the newspaper. And it made sense that the people of Dunn were interested in the local story. If you see two news stories online, one about your neighbor and one about a man from another state, which do you read first?
Being Relevant
In a past post, I argued that being relevant means addressing the cares and concerns of people above anything else.
Hoover Adams knew people in Dunn had plenty of options when it came to newspapers, but The Daily Record would speak to the most important concerns and cares of his readers more than anything else. No event was too small, and if you go to their website you'll still see pictures and stories on everything from the local salvation army to birthday parties.
To figure out how to address the cares and concerns of your parishioners when creating a bulletin, website, Facebook page, or any other communication media, ask yourself the question "Who is involved?" and "Why would people care about this?".
If you build community and connections by addressing what people care most about (themselves and the people they know) they will feel more connected to the church community and be more willing to listen to what else is taking place in the parish - the event you really want everyone to know about. _____________________________________________________________________________
Some practical Do's and Dont's...
Don't
Don't write only about what YOU care about, write about what THEY care about.
Okay: Bible Study Group this Wednesday Better: Want to meet young married couples your age? Newlywed Bible study is this Wednesday.
Don't only communicate events and schedules to people.
No one reads a newspaper because they want to know what every single organization in their area has planned for that weekend. If you want people to be interested in what is going on in the parish, include names and stories.
Okay: Rosary Making Group - Every Sat. at 7am Better: Mary Jane is starting a "Rosary Making Group" with Sue Smith and Billy Bob that meets every Saturday at 7 a.m. They would love your help!
Do
Build community by connecting people to each other.
Include lots of pictures of people and events over and above cool graphics or stock images. Even if that photo of the basketball team isn't that great, people will recognize little Timmy and care instead of seeing a posed photo of some kid model no one knows.
Give people what they want - stories about them and the people they know.
Report more frequently about the people in your parish community. Add photos of parishioners to your Facebook page and website. Tag people on a regular basis.
+JMJ