God Awaits Us... in Our Stories
People pay more attention to witnesses than to teachers. And when we do pay attention to teachers it is because they are witnesses.
- Pope Paul VI
The people who fascinate us are the ones who live their hopes and share their stories. Stories ignite our imaginations because we have a knack for finding the truth in all stories. We want to be surprised. We are fascinated when the whole turns out to be greater than the sum of the parts. We sense God’s presence when 1+1=3. This is the math in all the stories told by Jesus. Startling abundance! Anyone who reads the Bible knows that God loves stories. What is your story? What part does God play?
Whether it be on stages, pages or screens, we are addicted to stories. This is because in our deepest marrow, we long to know and we hunger to believe. Stories move us from left brained skepticism to right brained receptivity. Stories communicate truth that is emotional and transcendent. That is why we love good guys who are seriously flawed and villains who remind us of ourselves. People are not afraid that they will come to church and be changed. People are afraid that they will come to church and NOT be changed. Good stories ask us: who we are, to whom do we belong, what do we believe, and for what do we hope. Disciples live in hope and stories generate hope.
For evangelization to happen we do not need to invent another program because God awaits us in our stories. All we need to do is help Catholics discover God in their story, encounter God in that story and learn how to share that story with confidence. This can be accomplished in a morning, two or three evenings, or as a parish retreat for the entire congregation.
God Awaits Us... in Our Stories
My Faith Story – It is often said that Americans are experience rich and reflection poor. In a post-modern age, the perennial question remains: ‘Is God with us or not?’ Like Moses (Ex. 33:11), Elijah (1 Kings 19:12) or the first disciples of Jesus (Luke 24: 13-35), we sense God, out of the corner of our eye. We only have to use peripheral vision to see the burning bushes of our lives. Life brings us to our knees, if we pay attention.
A Confident Faith – Those who miss God are those who expect to see God in our world. Actually, it is the other way around. It is we who are in God's world. The most fascinating people are not the most self-confident. The most fascinating people are those who draw from a deeper well. Their confidence is quiet but larger than life. What difference does God make in my life? Where is God leading me? What does that change about my life? Is that evident for all to see?
A God-Sized Faith - The life of Jesus tells a story that unites people across all divides. And everyone gathered at the Lord’s table is gathered to be sent. What does it mean to be a church gathered and scattered? How can everyone be an ambassador of God's mercy. How does my story connect me with the stories of others? How does the parish sustain me in a God-sized purpose?
For help in discovering how God Awaits Us... in Our Stories, contact Dennis Mahaney or call 716-847-8393.
- Pope Paul VI
The people who fascinate us are the ones who live their hopes and share their stories. Stories ignite our imaginations because we have a knack for finding the truth in all stories. We want to be surprised. We are fascinated when the whole turns out to be greater than the sum of the parts. We sense God’s presence when 1+1=3. This is the math in all the stories told by Jesus. Startling abundance! Anyone who reads the Bible knows that God loves stories. What is your story? What part does God play?
Whether it be on stages, pages or screens, we are addicted to stories. This is because in our deepest marrow, we long to know and we hunger to believe. Stories move us from left brained skepticism to right brained receptivity. Stories communicate truth that is emotional and transcendent. That is why we love good guys who are seriously flawed and villains who remind us of ourselves. People are not afraid that they will come to church and be changed. People are afraid that they will come to church and NOT be changed. Good stories ask us: who we are, to whom do we belong, what do we believe, and for what do we hope. Disciples live in hope and stories generate hope.
For evangelization to happen we do not need to invent another program because God awaits us in our stories. All we need to do is help Catholics discover God in their story, encounter God in that story and learn how to share that story with confidence. This can be accomplished in a morning, two or three evenings, or as a parish retreat for the entire congregation.
God Awaits Us... in Our Stories
My Faith Story – It is often said that Americans are experience rich and reflection poor. In a post-modern age, the perennial question remains: ‘Is God with us or not?’ Like Moses (Ex. 33:11), Elijah (1 Kings 19:12) or the first disciples of Jesus (Luke 24: 13-35), we sense God, out of the corner of our eye. We only have to use peripheral vision to see the burning bushes of our lives. Life brings us to our knees, if we pay attention.
A Confident Faith – Those who miss God are those who expect to see God in our world. Actually, it is the other way around. It is we who are in God's world. The most fascinating people are not the most self-confident. The most fascinating people are those who draw from a deeper well. Their confidence is quiet but larger than life. What difference does God make in my life? Where is God leading me? What does that change about my life? Is that evident for all to see?
A God-Sized Faith - The life of Jesus tells a story that unites people across all divides. And everyone gathered at the Lord’s table is gathered to be sent. What does it mean to be a church gathered and scattered? How can everyone be an ambassador of God's mercy. How does my story connect me with the stories of others? How does the parish sustain me in a God-sized purpose?
For help in discovering how God Awaits Us... in Our Stories, contact Dennis Mahaney or call 716-847-8393.
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Not so hard to believe NOW is it?
View the live action report (at left) on a tragic travesty of justice....
If we are capable of this kind of imagination with a fairy tale, how much more powerfully might we tell a story that defines life as we know it, has proven universally relevant and has stood the test of time? Christ entered the world over two thousand years ago and we tell the story all over the world everyday. How has Christ entered my life and changed it? Perhaps it is still just as true today as two thousand years ago - it matters not who they say Christ is. The real question is "Who do YOU say I am?" Check out www.storyingfaith.org for one way to do share the power of the Gospel today. |
Web Resources
New Evangelization - Resources from the U.S.C.C.B., 2012
Disciples Called to Witness: The New Evangelization - U.S.C.C.B., 2012
Porta Fidei - Pope Benedict XVI, 2011
New Evangelization, Synod Preparatory Materials - Vatican, 2012
Pouring New Wine Into New Wineskins: The New Evangelization and What It Means for the Way We Do Catechesis by Bishop Edward Clark, Auxiliary Bishop, Archdiocese of Los Angeles, 2006
Disciples Called to Witness: The New Evangelization - U.S.C.C.B., 2012
Porta Fidei - Pope Benedict XVI, 2011
New Evangelization, Synod Preparatory Materials - Vatican, 2012
Pouring New Wine Into New Wineskins: The New Evangelization and What It Means for the Way We Do Catechesis by Bishop Edward Clark, Auxiliary Bishop, Archdiocese of Los Angeles, 2006
evangelization, new evangelization, parish, Catholic, renewal, innovation, pastoral planning, faith formation, young adults, Millennials, Mosaics