Posted on 12/04/2012 6:53:25 AM PST by Cronos
Archbishop Joseph William Tobin was installed as the sixth Archbishop of Indianapolis on Monday, calling on Catholics to live the Gospel as a personal encounter with Jesus.
“What we will do together as a Church, we will do with passion, the passion that characterized our patron Saint Francis Xavier,” he said at the Dec. 3 installation Mass at Indianapolis’ Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul.
“We will do whatever the Lord asks us to do, in bringing the Good News especially to those who have the least chance of doing it. For those who live on the margin of things, for those who have been hurt by the Church, for those who feel themselves to be forgotten,” Archbishop Tobin told the congregation
..Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the apostolic nuncio to the U.S., told the archbishop that he prayed that, like the missionary St. Francis Xavier, “your apostolic labors for the sake of the gospel and the New Evangelization will bear much spiritual fruit in this portion of the Lord’s vineyard.”
..Citing Pope Benedict XVI, he said the Gospel cannot be presented “first and foremost as a list of moral obligations.” Rather, it is “an encounter with a person, someone who has loved us first, and someone who asks us to continue his loving presence in the world.”
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnewsagency.com ...
Note -- this is an ecumenical thread.
He has clearly never presented the New Roman Missal to a Protestant or a non-believer. If he had he would have answered his own question.
If we are truly followers of Christ we must try to let others experience the Christ that lives within us through our actions toward our neighbor.
Catholics are not generally speaking great evangelists of their faith. Sadly many catholics think that weekly mass attendance by itself can get you into heaven. Also many catholics do not truly know their faith. Finally...there are those who although faithful are afraid to declare their catholicism publicly for fear of persecution.
JMO the beginning of improving catholic evangelization starts with improving catholic education starting with the very young
Christ died for our sins so we may enter heaven and without this no person could gain eternal communion with God.
This however does not mean heaven is automatic. Christ’s death on the cross is not a free pass for those who wish to live as they please. Can we really know Christ the savior if we live a life of selfishness and sin?
HIs death for us means that we can be forgiven our sins ( but to be forgiven we must ask for forgiveness.)
Christ himself was baptized just prior to beginning his ministry. It is a sign that the person being baptized belongs to God and the body of Christ but does not guarantee salvation no matter what the age of the baptized.
What guarantees our salvation is the desire to be saved.
We are taking lessons from other Christians like you.
I evangelize as I go. If I am in the store and someone asks me how my weekend was — I tell that it was great because I went to Mass and received Jesus personally.
This usually leads to them asking me which church I attend. And so I tell them the name of my Catholic Church and invite to come to a Mass or to go to our website and check out the pastors homilies/sermons. (He’s an excellent homilist — everyone feels as though he were speaking directly with them.)
If they ask for more information, I give it, but the seed has been planted.
OK, how did I do?
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