Do you love the faith? I mean good pastor, bad pastor, boring homilies, great homilies, soaring music, boring music — do you love the faith? May it please God that your answer is YES with capital letters. I know — inside and outside — I know it can be hard. And if your answer is no… no, I used to love my faith but I’ve seen too much. I’ve been hurt or I’ve seen sin and coldness. Please join us for this podcast. My prayer — our prayer that you start to come to the point where your heart starts to form and inform your face and it becomes a happy and smiling yes.
Now mind you – I am not a candidate for a smiley face model. Truthfully — I’ve had a few folks… a few who suggest that I look serious to them. That may be — it is perhaps just me and it may be inadvertent; But inside — my heart is full of love and a desire to share that love of Christ and love of His Church with others. And before we talk about today’s podcast — there are some that confuse ‘getting along’ with whether someone is a good zeal-full Christian. There are several circumstances where i don’t try to get along. When I preach pro-life homilies – I’ve had people (again, a few mind you) get up and walk out. When I’ve preached about the Catholic Church’s teaching on the Eucharist and that we don’t and shouldn’t admit people of other faiths to receive — or people who aren’t married and living together — they shouldn’t come to Holy Communion. There are people that don’t like that and confuse these words with not being Christian… not being nice. EXCUSE ME… have these folks read the Bread of Life Discourse in John’s Gospel? Or Paul’s letters? Do they know what popes and bishops have taught? Have they studied the Church Fathers and early Church practices? Do they have ZEAL for doing the right thing? Or just for not offending others?
Okay – that sounds a little soap-boxish and this isn’t a preaching venue here. But ZEAL for His Father’s House does consume me. And when I’m with like-minded people, it adds fuel to my zeal-pot. I want to do more and more to help people to see the beauty, the truth and the gift of Christ’s Mercy found in the Church and the Eucharist and the Sacraments.
Executive Director of Christian Outreach is the title of Mark Nehrbas. He and his staff handle all the scheduling, speakers, marketing, facilities and such for some 10,000 to 11,000 people who come to Franciscan University each summer for various conferences. I attend the Priest/Deacon/Seminarian retreat and conference. There’s a new Men’s conference, the Charismatic conference, the John Bosco conference for religious educators, Scott and Kimberly Hahn’s Bible-oriented teaching conference, etc. If you are interested, go to the link below for conferences.
What I remember of Mark’s ‘teaching’ for us during this interview was this: recent popes have called the faithful to new levels of zeal. We need to exceed the zeal of the Apostles and we need to strive for the zeal of the early Church. Mark said that one of the best ever talks that speaks to the topic of zeal was the 2007 Charismatic Conference talk by Dr. Ralph Martin — a nationally known speaker and writer. That CD or DVD is available from the bookstore at Franciscan. The link is below.
Thank you Mark Nehrbas. Thank you listeners. To you who listen and in one manner or another participate in the Catholic Vitamins process (voice messages on our feedback, emails, Facebook postings) — you are adding to our zeal. And I believe you’re also helping others. In the big scheme of things — this isn’t about us or our listeners — but it’s about coming together in faith and communio (a holy union) for reasons of celebrating Christ’s gift of the Church.
Blessings again and again. Deacon Tom & Dee
LINKS AND SHOW NOTES
Franciscan University Conferences: www.franciscanconferences.com
Franciscan University Bookstore:
www.franciscan.edu/bookstore
The bookstore is great for popular and powerful Catholic books, obviously. But they also have audio tapes, CDs and DVDs from prior year conferences. This summer conferences are usually posted and available some 8-10 weeks after the conference finishes. It’s a great way to pick some or all of your favorite speakers and topic areas, e.g. Charismatic, Biblical, Men’s movement, etc. We particularly want to call your attention to the 2007 Charismatic Conference and the talk by Dr. Ralph Martin on a New Pentecost for the New Evangelization. Our guest Mark Nehrbas said it’s one of the best ever summer talks.
Oh — don’t forget the book SOBER INTOXICATION by Fr. Cantalemessa — the preacher to the Holy Father and the papal household.
Finally — we’ll add some new talks, stories and sermons by Fr. Patrick O’Doherty in the coming days. Check the Fr. O’Doherty web page regularly for free audio teachings.