Dominican Sisters of Peace

"Spacious" seems to be a word that is either being used more widely or has finally made its way into my consciousness. Today seems like a day that I could describe as "spacious." I had nowhere to go, nothing I had to do, the weather was perfect. There was interior space too; time to reflect on and integrate the Midwest Mission Group meeting from yesterday and the pre-Assembly reading I was doing in preparation for a gathering next weekend and an article that the Associates Council is reading in preparation for our monthly conference call this week.

The latter article, Call and Relationship: A Reflection on Association, states that associated and religious should be asking together, "Where do we see our charism alive and active and calling people to our Mission?" What will best enable movement into the future? What are the best ways to share our charism?

Instead of the regular blog, I share an article on Pope Francis's homily on women and the Resurrection posted by Grant Gallicho:

As I moved through St. Peter’s Square pestering every American I could find, I noticed a trend. Young Catholics kept bringing up the same concerns about their faith: how the church treats abuse victims, gays and lesbians, people of other religions — and women. I hope they’ve been paying attention to Pope Francis since they left Rome, because he’s been addressing the last of those topics with considerable vigor.

"Today at an empty tomb full of light begins the gathering of the community. The crowds have swollen now - you and I are in the crowd with our families, our ancestors, our friends, our children. But the experience is still the same. Yes, I have been touched. Yes, I know that I'm called to do something. I simply do not know what. Or how."
~ Excerpt from Joan Chittister, Journey Into Light: Lent 2012

So how and where does evangelization take place?

To evangelize is to share the Good News of Christ Jesus and the Good News basically is Emmanuel: God-with-us. The Good News is so much more than beliefs, such as those articulated in the Creed. It is more than the doctrines developed in the early centuries of the Church. These serve the Good News. BUT the Good News is a person and relationship with that person. Articles of the Creed and doctrines followed a developed relationship with Jesus the Christ. Plunging into the mystery of God in Christ - meeting God personally - leads to the various articulations of the gift offered by God. The first act of evangelization is to first create a hunger for such knowing God. This is the task of the preacher - to evoke and provoke a hunger for relationship with Father, Son, and Spirit.