A Season of Waiting, but be Intentional!
BY DR. JEFF ANDRINI, OFFICE OF EVANGELIZATION AND DISCIPLESHIP
Dr. Jeff Andrini
What do Evangelization and Advent have in common? They both include waiting. St. Monica, like many parents over the years, waited for her son to become a follower of Jesus. She waited through his young adult years until Augustine was 33. In the midst of waiting for our kids to come around, it can feel like an eternity. St. Monica, pray for us!
Advent is a beautiful season in the Church year where we set aside four weeks for preparation as we await the celebration of the Incarnation of God into the human race. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Be intentional this Advent and set aside time to pray and reflect each day of Advent. As you wait for the celebration of Christmas in this way, your preparation will allow you to experience the full meaning of Christ’s birth, life, death and resurrection in your life!
Evangelization includes waiting too. We have been talking about its importance in the Church for over 50 years! On Dec. 8, 1975 Pope Paul VI issued an encyclical letter titled, “Evangelii Nuntiandi” where he said, “Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize.” Every pope since has reiterated his words with greater urgency. And we still wait to see this mission and vision become the core of our lives as Catholics.
As a diocese, we too have been waiting… for our four-year process titled Living as Missionary Disciples to transform each of us and our parishes. On Dec. 1, we are participating in our fourth and final annual event. The theme is Send and it will be held via Zoom. All 78 parishes have been encouraged to participate. This final event focuses on the reality that each member of the Church is to live their life rooted in an intimate relationship with God. As each disciple is transformed by God’s love, we are Sent out to share it with the world.
The speaker, Marcel LeJeune, founder of catholicmissionarydisciples.com, will reiterate the importance of encountering God in our daily lives, accompanying others, building dynamic parish communities where people are welcomed and encouraged to grow in faith. Finally, he will present the essential mission, to send people out from the Church to share the Good News of Jesus with the world.
We wait to understand new words. We wait to see if negative trends in church membership slow. We wait for others to step up and lead. We wait for our priest to tell us what we need to do. Waiting is part of life. But we cannot wait forever. We must be intentional about changing unhealthy and unproductive realities in our Church. It is up to all of us! So pray with us for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit and new systems and structures to help us all live the mission of Jesus as a Church.
Peace in Christ,
Jeff
Dr. Jeff Andrini is the director of the Office of Evangelization and Discipleship. Please send comments to [email protected].
Originally printed in the December 2020 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
