Missionary Disciple #2

What does it mean to be a missionary disciple?

For an answer, let’s turn to one of the best sources for learning about our faith: prayer. How we pray is often the surest sign of what we believe.

So, how did the US Conference of Catholic Bishops ask us to pray when the Convocation convened in July? They invited all the faithful to implore God to “move us to welcome the word of life in the depths of our hearts and respond to the call of missionary discipleship.”*

So, being a missionary disciple has something to do with welcoming Christ, the word of life, into our hearts, minds and souls. That’s the disciple part.

It also has something to do with being a missionary. Does a missionary disciple have to travel to exotic places or have special schooling to preach the gospel? Our next post will consider that question and more.

*http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/get-involved/meetings-and-events/prayer-for-the-2017-convocation-of-catholic-leaders.cfm

On Being a Missionary Disciple

This summer, the Archdiocese of Hartford joined with dioceses from all over the United States for the first gathering of US Catholic leaders (clergy, lay and religious) in history. Twenty-six delegates of the Archdiocese of Hartford included three members of the OEEC: Sr. Mary Grace Walsh, Provost for Education, Evangelization and Catechesis; Miriam Hidalgo, Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry; and Lisa Orchen, Director of Catechetical Initiatives.

The focus of the meeting was to “form leaders who will be equipped and re-energized to share the Gospel as missionary disciples.”*

But what does it actually mean to be a missionary disciple? Is it just for “religious” Catholics, or does that apply to me too?

We will explore these questions in upcoming blog posts.

*USCCB website: http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/get-involved/meetings-and-events/usccb-convocation-2017.cfm

Best of Barron 4 July 17

Tuesday, 13th Week in Ordinary Time, Year I MT 8:23-27 Bishop Barron writes: Out of the depths, I have cried to you, O Lord. Psalm 130 is "the prayer offered at the darkest times of life, when we feel utterly incapable of helping ourselves. "During the storm, Jesus' disciples cried out to the Lord in desperation: 'O Lord, we are drowning; don't you care?' Perhaps there are some people reading this right now who feel themselves in this precise situation.... "If that's you, then pray as the disciples did. Awaken someone who can help. Jesus sleeping in the midst of the storm" shows that God has supreme power "over even the darkest and most difficult trials that life throws at us."

Teaching Ministry for CBS Alums

Cathy deSimas, Class of 2004

Would you like to be considered for a new teaching ministry in the Archdiocese of Hartford? Are you a Catholic Biblical School (CBS) graduate?

You may have heard that CBS has a new, introductory program called Making Sense of the Bible. This six-week introduction to reading the Bible was piloted in five parishes throughout the Archdiocese in 2016-17 and has met with enthusiastic success. An updated version will be ready for wider use beginning in Fall 2017.

The program is modeled on the CBS core program and was designed by two Hartford Biblical School faculty members, Amy Ekeh and BJ Daly Horell. This short course is less intense than the four-year program, but it contains most of the educational practices of the CBS Core Program. Homework is minimal and, though strongly encouraged, is not mandatory.

The next teacher training is scheduled for Thursday, August 17, 1:00-4:30 p.m. at St. Thomas Seminary, Bloomfield in Conference Room C (second floor). Interested CBS graduates should contact BJ Daly Horell in the OEEC at (860) 242-5573, ext. 2679, to get more information and to indicate your desire to become a candidate in this ministry. At that time, we can talk at more length to discern mutually whether this might be a good “fit” for you at this time.

CBS 2017 Grads and Basic Certificate Holders at Cathedral