AFAC: UNDERLINES AND SKETCHING

 


“It’s simply a letter about how we can draw closer to Christ, and there is no controversy in that,” Bishop Malesic said. “Let’s just pray 15 minutes a day; join a small group; invite your Catholic neighbors and friends together to have a cup of coffee and talk about ‘Why are you Catholic?’; ‘How can you become a disciple of Jesus?’ 
I think these are the basic things.” 


I invite every Catholic in the Diocese of Cleveland to read this pastoral letter in its entirety, as I have written it with each of you in mind. Make notes and underline your copy of the letter; Consider reading it more than just once. then, meet with some other Catholics who have read this letter and discuss it in a small group. Over the next year I would like this letter to be at the forefront of conversations around the diocese. 

OVERVIEW OF LETTER AND POST

Underlines

Sketches

Overview   


Part I: The Paschal Mystery

We Catholic Christians first enter into the Paschal Mystery by following Jesus down into the deep, sanctifying waters of Baptism. Catholic Christian living is not about a one-time conversion, but about a lifetime of conversions, of authentic growth in friendship with God.

Conversions: Changes in How We Think About God, Ourselves, Others, World

Religious: Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Marriage, Anointing of the Sick, religious education, course, retreats.

Role changes: Graduations, Degrees, Professions, 

 


“Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul. Each moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitality. If these seeds would take root in my liberty, and if His will grow from my freedom, I would become the love that He is. and my harvest would be His glory and my own joy." first chapter from Thomas Merton, Seeds of Contemplation, available free on internet.  


Part II: Friendship with God

What we think of God and how we think of God matter. Our Catholic faith teaches us not simply that God loves, but that God is love. Love always requires more than one person; there is the lover, and there is the beloved, and then there is the love between the lover and the beloved. God reveals himself as a communion of love, as a communion of persons, as a communion of friendship, and as the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. An increasing number of people today, if they believe in God at all, do not think of God as a friend.

My parents were best friends. When my father, a steelworker, was advised by his doctor to take up fishing as a hobby, my mother joined him. Together they built a cabin near Lake Pymatuning as well as creating a beautiful home and gardens. After I attained financial independence in graduate school, my parents became my best friends. 

I was a member of a mostly voluntary pastoral staff at a parish in Toledo in the 1980s. We asked ourselves "why we were Catholic?" My faith came from my parents more than from religious education or even my extensive theological reading and study. Their faith, hope, and charity became my faith, hope and charity. Even their virtues, especially mom’s compassion for others and my dad's deep respect for others, became my virtues although expressed in very different ways than they had expressed their virtues. 

The contemplative dimension of my mother's life especially her deep love of beauty was very evident very early. My father was less expressive. However, in the decade after mom's death, I came to appreciate the mindful way he worked and related to others. Although my mother has been dead for 30 years and my father for 20 years, they live on in me. Our family trinity of loving persons continues to guide and motivate my contemplative lifestyle ask well as care and service toward others.


Perhaps the most important question we all need to answer is this: What kind of friendship