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Letter from the Director

Young Adults Discover Christ at St. Agnes

Building Evangelizing Eucharistic Communities

Letter from the Director

A few weeks ago I attended a reunion unlike any reunion I have ever attended. It was a reunion of people who had encountered Jesus personally and served together in an outreach on college campuses here in the Baltimore area during the 1970's and 80's. It was called University Christian Outreach (UCO) and through it hundreds of young adults from all faith backgrounds embraced the Gospel Message.

56 people came to the reunion, some from far away as Colorado and Minnesota. The bonds of unity from praying, living, and serving together were evident immediately. You would have thought it was just yesterday that the outreaches had occurred by the way everyone enjoyed being together!

In talking with people, many that I had not seen in 15 or 20 years, it was deeply inspiring to hear how they are still living vibrant Christian lives. Many are having wonderful Catholic - Christian influence in their families, churches and jobs. Vocations came out of this outreach both to the Catholic priesthood and other Christian churches, and for those who are laity there’s a clear commitment to mission in their personal spheres of life.

One person shared with me how the foundations for living as a Catholic were established during UCO and how it made an enormous difference in her life. A priest and rector of a seminary shared his gratitude for our leadership commitment to helping others know the Lord and live for him together both in the community and now through ChristLife. He attributed his vocation to his encounter with the Lord through the community.

The charism that we in ChristLife believe the Holy Spirit has given us is really the same as that which was so effective in UCO: the gift of helping others to know Jesus as Lord, helping them to follow him together and make him known. Flowing out of this are three key elements that are crucial for true conversion and discipleship: 1) Discovering Christ: providing relational settings for people to encounter Jesus personally in the renewing power of the Holy Spirit; 2) Following Christ: helping others to follow the Lord together as disciples and members of the Church; and 3) Sharing Christ: equipping Catholics to explicitly proclaim the person of Jesus Christ and invitation to relationship with him.

Here at ChristLife we are committed to helping others to live out these simple yet life changing elements of our Catholic faith. We are so grateful for your prayers, volunteer service and financial support! We need your on-going support to carry out our common mission!

Blessings in our Savior,

Dave Nodar
Director

Young Adults Discover Christ at St. Agnes

by Pete Ascosi

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

-Matthew 7:7

In late May and early June, ChristLife gathered together young adults leaders at St. Agnes in Catonsville, MD to earnestly seek the Lord in prayer and to learn how to share Christ with others in the context of ChristLife’s developing course, Discovering Christ. Faithful to his promises, the Lord Jesus heard our prayers and we were pleasantly surprised when 55-60 young adults consistently attended six consecutive evening sessions beginning June 19.

A Typical Evening

The course began each night with a casual meal, giving the young adults (ages 18-32) the opportunity to get to know one another in small groups. Some brief announcements and a song or two of praise and worship followed the meal. After worship, participants heard a live presentation from either St. Agnes’ associate Pastor, Fr. Tim Fell, Dave Nodar, or me on the relevance of Jesus Christ to everyday life. After a 30-minute presentation, often interspersed with multimedia clips and even a joke or two, participants grabbed a dessert and headed to small groups where the teaching was discussed.

An Untypical Atmosphere

From the table settings to the small group leaders to the speaker, each component of this course was soaked in prayer to our Father. In particular, small group leaders gathered each evening 30 minutes prior to the meal to ask God to use them to minister his love, grace, and truth to those who came. The teachings were also anointed. The first night, Father Fell invited the young adults to ponder the meaning of life. “Our only true happiness can come from loving and serving God,” he said. “Faith is the only thing without limits. Faith is falling in love with God and doing what he wants.” In the following three sessions, Dave Nodar, spoke on the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and the impact God made on his own life. To add a young adult, grassroots flavor to the course, I spoke on the fifth night from my own personal experience of following Christ as a disciple.

The Life-Changer

At the end of each of the talks, participants were invited to actualize the grace of baptism and confirmation and ask Jesus to be the center of their lives. Through God’s Spirit many young adults were moved and are now in a much deeper relationship with Jesus and the Church. These opportunities combined with a day retreat on the Holy Spirit at a Franciscan Friary resulted in life-changing decisions for many!

In Their Own Words

At the conclusion of the course many young adults expressed a real deep change in their lives:

“I went to confession for the first time in many years.”

“As a Catholic I had never heard you could have a relationship with Christ before Discovering Christ”

“I liked the down to earth approach of explaining God's love for us.”

“I absolutely loved the videos for the teachings…amazing.”

“I gained a more clear understanding of the Catholic Church.”

“The talks and life testimonies were most beneficial...it kept things real and was helpful!”

“I liked eating with people - it built community.”

Conclusion

This course was a tremendous experience for ChristLife. It has personally renewed my own passion to proclaim our Lord to all. As a ministry ChristLife is currently pursuing other opportunities in the Archdiocese to present Discovering Christ, as well as a follow-up course for young adults, Following Christ. For more on this course, including an online photo album, visit Discovering Christ page

Pete Ascosi is ChristLife's young adult coordinator and has been working for over two years in full-time ministry. He can be reached at pete@christlife.org
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Building Evangelizing Eucharistic Communities

In the Foreword to his outstanding book, Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict XVI comments on the reason for writing it: “It struck me as the most urgent priority to present the figure and message of Jesus in his public ministry, and so to help foster the growth of a living relationship with him.”

Why the urgent priority? Because, the reality is that many people in the pews as well as those who are not in church, have not heard the Good News explicitly shared about the person of Jesus Christ nor been invited into relationship with him. The Building Evangelizing Eucharistic Communities (BEEC) process begins with a seminar designed to break open the Church's call to a new evangelization. The three steps that follow – Discovering, Following & Sharing Christ – provide practical ways to implement the vision of BEEC.

Building Evangelizing Eucharistic Communities Diagram

ChristLife staff present this seminar. Please consider if we can be of service to your parish or organization! For more information visit our BEEC page or call 888-498-8474

“I’ve experienced many organizations working with evangelization, but I have not found any of them to be as strong and dedicated to the Mission of Jesus Christ in practical ways, as I have experienced through [ChristLife].”

Sr. Linda LaMagna, Coordinator for Evangelization, Diocese of Altoona, PA

Support our Efforts

"For the love of Christ compels us, because we are convinced that one has died for all;
therefore all have died."
2 Cor 5:14

This verse from St. Paul's letter to the Corinthians inspires the all the work we do. If you are looking for a way to "sow" into our efforts, please consider making a gift online. Thank you in advance for your generosity!

Prayer

Prayer is such a powerful way of supporting ChristLife. Please consider praying for three intentions:

* ChristLife's efforts in equipping Catholics for evangelization
* The Catholic Church's efforts as a whole at the new evangelization
* Your own willingness and boldness to proclaim Christ

The following prayer may help you begin your prayer.

Loving God,
You called us each by name
and gave your only Son to redeem us.
In your faithfulness,
you sent the Holy Spirit
to complete the mission of Jesus
among us.

Open our hearts to Jesus.
Give us the courage to speak his name
to those who are close to us
and the generosity to share his love
with those who are far away.

We pray that every person
throughout the world
be invited to know and love Jesus
as Savior and Redeemer.
May they come to know his
all-surpassing love.
May that love transform every element of our society.

We ask this through Christ, Our Lord.
Amen.

Clearance Sale!!

Would you like to grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ as a Catholic? Would you like to help foster initial or deeper conversion for friends or family members? Well, due to the rapidly disappearing audio/video tape market we have the following excellent resources at discounts of 50% - 75% off!! Call ChristLife at 888.498.8474 for these special prices.

Touching Jesus Through the Church
Marcellino D’Ambrosio, Ph.D.

Touching Jesus is a lively and stimulating series looking at the basics of Catholicism. Topics include Baptism, Confirmation, Mass, etc.
VHS Series (8 tapes)1        $55
Individual VHS Tapes        $8
Audio Cassette Series        $10

Catholics Listening to God
Archbishop Mark Coleridge

Seven great teachings by a lively Australian priest, who is now an Archbishop. Topics include hearing God’s voice in the Bible, Tradition, & Teaching of the Church.
Audio Cassette Series1 $10

Drink from the Wells of the Church
Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, Papal Preacher

Seven practical teachings on how Catholics can be sustained in their daily lives. Topics include: How to read God’s Word; The Eucharist makes us Holy; Mary, Our Model; & four more inspiring talks!
Individual VHS Tapes2 $8
VHS Series (7 tapes) $50

**Call 888-498-8474 to order and to take advantage of clearance prices**

Other non-discounted products associated with these courses (ie., DVDs, workbooks) can be purchased in our online bookstore.

¹ DVDs & workbooks for these series are available at normal price. Visit our online bookstore or call for details.

² Only 2 full VHS series are left in stock. However, quite a few tapes are available on select topics in the series.

New Podcast & Blog

ChristLife has been producing biweekly podcasts since Summer 2006. This is a great way to stay updated on what ChristLife has been up to, as well as an opportunity to learn more about how to share the good news of Jesus as a Catholic with others. Not sure if you know what podcasting is? Think you need an iPod to listen to the episodes? Read more about podcasting in our young adult section.

Podcast 28 - Evangelization & Renewal

Chad joins Pete in the "studio" for one last podcast before he heads off to St. Mary's Seminary. After some updates and news, Pete joins Catholic writer and blogger, Oswald Sobrino, for a lively interview on the role of the Holy Spirit in evangelization and renewal in the Catholic Church.

Give us feedback or leave a comment for others to see

ChristLife launched our Everyday Apostles blog in May 2007. This is a great way to read informal news about ChristLife and comment and discuss different news and stories pertinent to the new evangelization.

Calendar of Events

Please keep these dates in prayer

ChristLife Missionary Corps
Tuesdays, 9/4, 9/18, 10/2, 10/16, 7:30pm
ChristLife's offices, Ellicott City, MD

Dave Nodar speaking on the Acts of the Apostles
Wednesday, 9/18, 10am
Crucifixion Parish, Glen Burnie, MD

Dave Nodar speaking on the new evangelization
Wednesday, 10/10
Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit, MI

Discovering Christ & Following Christ courses
TBA

For more information on these events visit our calendar of events

Who We Are

ChristLife is a lay Catholic ministry established in response to the Church's call to a new evangelization. William Cardinal Keeler recognized ChristLife as an apostolate of the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1995.

"I encourage you to continue to focus your mission on equipping Catholics for the work of evangelization so that others might come to know personally the love of God in Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit, becoming disciples and members of the Church."

William Cardinal Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore, April 21, 2006

For more information on ChristLife and what we do, visit our about us section.

Newsletter Archives

Copyright (c) 2007 ChristLife: Catholic Ministry of Evangelization Permission is hereby granted to copy or reprint ChristLife newsletters for personal use, research files, internal circulation, and bulletin inserts. Please include "Copyright (c) 2007 ChristLife: Catholic Ministry of Evangelization" and our web address: www.christlife.org. Written permission is required if the article is to be included in a book, or in newspapers or magazines with paid subscriptions.