#BeingCatholic Update is out! http://t.co/V5yYbiZ4hL ? Top stories today via @CatholicsHome @EndPoverty @1missionfamily
Posted on May 24th 2013, 19:09
@MagnificatMag it was a pleasure meeting you as we'll!
Posted on May 23rd 2013, 19:01
RT @asmcentee: "if we reduce the New Evangelization to a program, it's not going to work" AMEN. #disciplescalledtowitness #NCCL2013
Posted on May 23rd 2013, 15:19
Posted on May 23rd 2013, 15:12
@Eillax Amen.
Posted on May 23rd 2013, 14:05
The #HolySpirit must be central to our Catechesis - Dr. Ospino #NCCL2013
Posted on May 23rd 2013, 13:12
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  Rediscover Catholicism Book Discussion: Where to from here?January 7th, 2013
Over the next 7 weeks we will be hosting an on-line discussion of the Rediscover Catholicism Book Study that many parishes in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati are hosting in the new year. Each session asks multiple questions based on Chapters from “Rediscover Catholicism” and from videos either from Catholics Come Home or from Matthew Kelly’s talk “The 7 Pillars of Catholic Spirituality.” Please join the discussion by adding your comments on any or all of the following questions. OPENING PRAYERLoving Father, Open our hearts and minds and allow us to see the beauty of our faith. Show us what is possible and fill us with the grace, strength, and wisdom to live all the good things we explore here together. Send your Spirit upon us so that we can discover your dream for us to become the-best-version-of-ourselves, and have the courage to defend and celebrate this true self in every moment of our days. We ask you to bless in a special way the hungry, the lonely, the sick, and the discouraged. Remind us of our duty toward them and inspire us to be filled with a profound gratitude. We ask all this through your Son, Jesus. Amen. DISCUSSION (Rediscover Catholicism, pgs 1-23)
For next week
(This Study Guide is a revision of the free Study Guide found on DynamicCatholic.com) 
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Am I the first one to comment? Here is the question I chose: “As you reflect on the future of Catholicism: What are you most concerned about? What are you most hopeful about?”
I am most concerned about the division in the American church — how Catholics seem to be evenly split along political and social lines. This makes me worry that difficult times are ahead, and that the church will actually split into two rival camps, especially considering the divisive nature of our national politics. I am most hopeful about the amazing amount of vigor and excitement that is being displayed right now from both clergy and lay people, although it seems to be be flying under the radar to most people. The number of lay apologists, radio and television station operators, speakers, entertainers, writers, company owners, charity operators, etc.; the new blood in seminaries and religious orders; and so on — like the people who staff Catholics Come Home and the Dynamic Catholic Institute. In the past renewal has always come from the people, and I think it’s coming from the people right now.
Gail, I agree with you on both of these points. Having worked as a DRE in parishes for many years, and now listening to the common experience of many working in the Church, it seems like we are in a free fall. Mass attendance keeps dropping, money and resources are drying up, less people are taking advantage of the Sacraments, there are not enough priests to go around…
I am most hopeful about this new emphasis on the new evangelization. It really is a movement of the Holy Spirit. I have been so encourage how something as simple as a good Catholic book, a positive commercial, or a friendly e-mail or phone call can be used by the Holy Spirit to re-engage someone in their faith and in the Catholic Church. There is a real hunger in people for God, and the new evangelization has inspired the Church to reintroduce the message of the Gospel in a way that is really bearing some wonderful fruit!
My greatest concern is for the people who identify as Catholic but support things such as gay marriage and abortion. It has been reported that something like 30+% of all abortions in the US are performed on Catholics. Like you, I fear not only for the souls of those involved but that such attitudes may cause a schism in the Church. Both the gay agenda and abortion have become so socially acceptable that many will balk at the Church’s intransigence on these issues.
Gail, Bert – do you think that there is actually a possibility of schism or of rival camps forming? The way I see it going – and what really concerns me – is that so many people are just drifting away from the Church. There are some obvious critics of the Church, many former Catholics who disagree with our fundamental teachings, but I think that number is a lot smaller than the vast number of people who have abandoned the Church for less contentious reasons.
I think that in some ways the rival camps have already formed. The question is, will they solidify and become real “camps” or will they eventually fade, as other very contentious factions have over the Church’s long history? There’s no way to know until it happens. I think it’s hard for the very large numbers of people you refer to come back only to find that “the Church” doesn’t know what it stands for. Does that actually discourage people? I don’t know — certainly a large number of vocal converts and “reverts” come back because of the Church’s teachings, regardless of how many Catholics they meet live and/or believe them. But I don’t know if they are representative or just the most vocal!
Far too many Catholics see the magisterium as an anchor; the Catholic Come Home spots, to me, make the point that the church is indeed a rope, but pulling mankind forward instead of holding it back.
I am most concerned that too many cradle Catholics do not understand the teachings of Catholicism. Since they do not understand it, they do not appreciate it nor recognize its beauty. Nor can they defend the faith, making them and others around them lukewarm to it at best, apathetic at worst.
In regards to any divide, I like John Paul II’s response when he was asked if he was conservative or liberal…he responded “Neither, I am Catholic”…..If we start with what the Church teaches, most of the divide will go away.
I am hopeful that the pendulum is begining to swing…..Compared to prior years, the Bishops are doing a better job in articulating the faith and providing resources for folks to better understand it – however, t will be a uphill battle for a while, because there have been years/decades (?) of weak leadership. I am most host hopeful that Catholicism is the way, the truth and the life. Its the only Chuch founded by Jesus Christ and as noted in the book, it feeds more people, nurses more patients, visits more prisoners, and educates more students than any other instiution on the plaent.
Lastly, the New Evangelization has given birth to quality resources both in terms in content as well as accessibility for us to deepend our relationship and understanding of the Church.
Amen Trey. 100% agree.
Steve – what a great image! When I watch this commercial, I’m tempted to think that it is braggadocios. We are so used to seeing such negative images of the Church in the media, though, that it is very refreshing (and energizing) for me to see the Church so enthusiastically portrayed.
Sean: Remember it’s not bragging if it’s true. Also remember that even the most worthy of ideas has to be sold in today’s culture. And no marketing program works without discipline. That’s why there was so much confusion following Vatican II — no discipline.
What a great discussion here! Steve is right — it’s not bragging if it’s true. I first saw this commercial a few years ago, and found it extremely moving to hear so many good (and true) things about our Church said in such a beautiful way. The thing that stuck out to me most then, though, was the universality of the Church. There really IS a Mass said nearly every moment of the day somewhere around the world, and Catholics (past, present and future) really are present at all of them in a mystical way, because really there is only one Mass we all partake of. The thing that made me sad about the commercial was the gap between the mystical beauty of the Church and the truth about many parishes — which are not very welcoming and sometimes not even very (if at all) reverent. I wondered if people would go back to church only to find that they weren’t welcome, whatever the commercial said. I have since become much more sanguine about that, and less worried. Our job is to make the invitation and do the best we can. Conversion is up to God.
I have wondered for years about not being welcomed as people in other churches do and have decided it’s up to me to greet others, to introducr myself to others. I envision people before mass going around to other pews greeting each other the way some churches do at the kiss of peace such as a church I attended in the ghetto where there was diversity of every kind – a deaf section with ASL signing and the whole congregation did signing at the Alleluia, people of color, disabilities including developmentally disabled persons and a blind 90 year old priest on the alter in a wheel chair holding a young girl with braces on her legs. There were interracial families with adopted children from another culture. In our church, we are too stiff and unfriendly and it grieves me. On the other hand, we do not go there to meet people, we go there to worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I just wish that in the 8 years I have been attending my current parish, that just one person would have acknowledged me. (It’s almost like there are cliques.) In a church on Long Island hung a banner which said, “Lord, please don’t ever let me forget how it feels to be left out.”
I still get chills when I watch this commercial. THIS is the Catholic Church.
We have been one of the greatest forces for good in world history. While its important in evangelizing to acknowledge the failings and mistakes of some of our members over the centuries, we should also never forget to point out just how much good we’ve done. Not to brag, but to give witness.
Most enjoyed being Catholic? Being in the Middle East at Catholic Mass and having pilgrims tell me how much they appreciated the ritual of the Catholic Church and how comfortable they felt at Sunday Mass when the ”vernacular” was not their own language. Because of the ritual, they could tell where they were in Mass and what was happening and was being said, even though they understood not a word of Arabic. One even noted that the priest, speaking Arabic, had the same inflection and cadence in his voice that his priest back home used when celebrating Mass in English.
Most concerned about the future? That people and priests will become more and more imbedded in opposing camps, and will fail to take the humble stance and maintain the humble attitude to listen, to learn and to realize that the church does not belong to any of them. I fear that believers will feel so strongly about what they believe that they will always see things as simple and clear, that their first thought will be to try to control and convince the others, and that thus all conversation and growth will be stifled.
Fr. Rob. I have had a similar experiencing Mass in the Middle East. I very much enjoyed celebrating the Mass in Arabic. I imagined that the prayer sounded very much like Jesus and the disciples at prayer!
As a newcomer to Catholicism, I am so inspired by all that the Catholic church is and has been for two thousand years. There are endless positives on which to focus. I am most hopeful that more and more people will be exposed to this wonderful religion and find their faith to help transform our world. I am hopeful that current Catholics will continually be inspired to live out their faith to the fullest as we all aspire to sainthood.
Lyn – As a lifelong Catholic, I often find the the “newcomers” are the most inspiring! Thank you for your enthusiasm, it is a witness to all of us.
Sunday, I watched a young woman quietly explain the Mass, section by section, to her boyfriend who was obviously not a Catholic. It was nifty. She would not have called what she was doing evangelization, but that’s what it was. Not only was she evangelizing her boyfriend. She also evangelized me.
So true Steve. We never know who is watching us, and how little acts can be a witness to the faith. It makes me wonder who is watching *me* at Mass on Sunday!
Sr. Marla wrote a great reflection on her frsuteration and hopefullness in the Catholic Church http://www.catholiccincinnati.org/49826/pick-up-our-mats-and-walk/
Why am I proud to be a Catholic today?
I am proud because Catholic because of our generosity and reaching out to help others despite of what religion they may practice, political beliefs, etcetera.
The Catholic Churches I’ve attended often have donuts, coffee, pancake breakfasts for free. They humbly ask for a donation.