The Gift of Faith
08-13-2022Weekly ReflectionFr. Charlie GoraiebDear Friends,
One theme that is consistent among Bishops, Catholic commentators, authors and observers of the Church in the 21st century, is the need for all Catholics to be actively engaged in sharing our faith. Our efforts need to be directed to fallen away Catholics or to anyone who is seeking God.
I am well aware of how daunting that can sound, especially if we have not had a lot of experience in sharing our faith. But the day of simply opening the Church and waiting for all nearby Catholics to join us for Mass is long past. We have to actively seek out the lost sheep.
We have begun an Evangelization Team. Their job is to provide concrete steps and resources for the rest of the parish to be a part of the mission. One project that is currently up and running is the Men’s Fellowship. They meet Saturday mornings at 6:30am in McCready Hall. Their current focus is on apologetics— how to give a clear and charitable explanation for what Catholics believe.
Not too long ago Bishop Barron went on Reddit (a huge social media website for the exchange of ideas and information) and posted that he was a Catholic Bishop who was open to questions anyone would like to ask. He was amazed at the response. His AMA (ask me anything) became the most visited site on Reddit. Many thousands of people wanted to comment or ask him questions. Sadly, not everyone was polite or respectful (that’s putting it mildly), but many, many people—mostly atheists or former Catholics, had some very good questions.
Bishop Barron said that the vast majority of the questions fell into three categories:
- How do you know God exists?
- If your God is so loving, why is there so much evil in the world?
- What makes you so sure that the Catholic religion is the true one, when all world religions make that same claim?
In the video I watched, the Bishop went through some of his explanations to each of these three questions. I would say that all of us who hope to share our faith with a confused and materialistic culture, need to know how to respond to these questions. Here is a link to one of his videos in which he talks about how he handled the questions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_zLFQwlPNQ
A second initiative that we are just launching is a video channel containing conversion testimonies from parishioners and friends. We are looking for converts or those who’ve returned to the Church and would like to share their stories. Chris Vitale, a parishioner skilled in video interviewing, will be hosting the discussions. If you are willing to share how the Lord has worked in your life to bring you to (or back to) His Church, please call the parish office or email RCIA@olmctempe.com.
May God bless you and your family,
Fr. Charlie Goraieb
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