Apr 01 2025 Creative Adaptations: Running Discovering Christ in a Public High School By: Colin Reitmeyer The American public school system has been overrun by ideologies opposed to Christ and His Gospel: transgenderism, abortion, secularism, and other deceptions are taught regularly. After my conversion to Catholicism in my freshman year, I went through the ChristLife Process at my parish, which further inspired me to share the Lord with my peers. The next year my parish ran Discovering Christ again, and I invited dozens of fellow teenagers to come hear the Gospel. Due to multiple stumbling blocks, particularly busyness or lack of transportation, very few of them were able to attend. It was then that this idea struck me: What if, instead of bringing high schoolers to ChristLife, we brought ChristLife to the high schoolers? This year, my senior year, I endeavored to run Discovering Christ weekly, after school, in a classroom. First I needed to get the club approved by the administration, and by the grace of God, it was approved. Next I needed to find a teacher willing to sponsor a new club. Unfortunately every teacher I’d had either couldn’t commit or wasn’t willing to, so I prayed, and the Lord prompted me to send out an email to every teacher at the school. The Lord was faithful, and I found a teacher to sponsor my club! I couldn’t run the courses alone, so I recruited fellow Christians of all denominations to help serve as facilitators and inviters. In this small context, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant Christians were able to unify together to spread the Gospel in a public high school! I needed to make adaptations to the usual formula, like cutting worship, cutting the videos in half, shortening the meal, and creating new discussion questions that better apply to teens. We were able to condense the sessions into 65 minutes. Me and my team invited all our friends, and at lunch we invited dozens of students to join us. In our first session, 35 students came and heard how Jesus Christ is the meaning of our lives! Over time, we experienced some attrition, and at this point we have a strong group of 10 students. We certainly had some challenges early on in the course, like rowdy participants talking during the teaching, and students trying to take food and then leave early. As we lost the non-serious participants, the discussions got better over time, and now around the end of the course, we are all comfortable sharing our faith with one another. I’m so grateful to the Lord for making this possible, and to all the donors who generously gave to support the costs of the course, like food and supplies. The fruits of the course have been bountiful. In total, over 65 teenagers from all different faith backgrounds heard at least part of the Gospel proclaimed! The seeds of the Gospel were spread to lukewarm Christians, atheists, agnostics, Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and many others! One student, who had only recently discovered that Christianity is true, had been praying at the start of the year for community with fellow Christians, and just a week after that, the club started! He is now seriously considering converting to the Catholic faith! Another student who was a lapsed Catholic was hesitant to join the club because he was trapped in serious sin, but early on in the course, his brother and I shared with him about the redemption of Jesus, and he ended up repenting, going to Confession, and now he comes to Discovering Christ every week! Multiple participants have told me and the team how through Discovering Christ their faith has become an essential part of their life. Colin Reitmeyer is an 18-year-old high school student, and current intern at ChristLife. Colin has a passion for evangelization, and is continuing the club the rest of the school year.
Mar 07 2025 Winter 2025 Founder’s Letter Dear Sisters and Brothers, Thirty years ago, following several years of growing conviction in prayer, discernment with others, mission work in Poland and Slovakia, and studying at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family Life, I was convinced the Lord and His Church were calling me to practically respond to the mission of evangelization by helping Catholics know and make known the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. In response, Leo Rudegeair and I met with Cardinal Keeler to propose establishing a Catholic ministry of evangelization. He was so encouraged that any Catholics—clergy, religious, or laity—were actually evangelizing and wanted to teach others how to share their faith in the Lord, that he established us as an Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Because Leo and I had personally encountered the joy of knowing Jesus as Lord, and knew that the Gospel was truly life-changing good news, we wanted everybody to have the opportunity to turn to the Lord—whether they were in the pews, dropped out, or unbaptized. Initially we taught about evangelization at conferences in dioceses and parishes, but came to a point where we realized we needed to be more focused. Specifically, we wanted to give parishes practical training and resources to help their parishioners personally know the Lord, and to tell anyone and everyone this Good News. And so, the ChristLife Process of Discovering Christ, Following Christ, and Sharing Christ was developed. It is a way to equip parishes to establish an ongoing process of inviting people to hear the Gospel and provide an opportunity to personally respond to it in a relational context. In addition, participants learn the basics of becoming 24/7 disciples and hopefully embrace the essential mission of all baptized Christians—to share Christ in word and witness of life. We are amazed by God’s grace at work in over a quarter of a million people who have participated in the ChristLife Process. We continue to hear testimonies of changed lives by the Lord Jesus. Join us in giving praise to the Lord! It’s very humbling to know what the Lord can do when each one of us says yes to Him. A word of encouragement for all of us: In the Gospel of Mark 5:19-20, we read about a man who had been delivered from many demons. As Jesus is departing, the man begs to go with Him, but the Lord refuses and says: ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.’ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.” What a timely word for us. The Lord calls us to go to our family, friends, and those around us to tell them how much the Lord has done for us! The Lord Jesus wants you and me to be His messengers of the Good News to those right where we live. God’s love, forgiveness, peace, purpose, and power, that we have received and enjoy, are not only for us but for those we relate to. Jesus wants others to personally know Him, and guess what? By the Holy Spirit, He wants to give us timely opportunities to share with others the remarkable news that we know is true. Now is a critical time in the nations when people desperately need to hear the love of Jesus Christ. And you and I carry His presence and word in us for their sake. Jesus has changed our lives and He wants to use us to help others know He can change them, too! Let’s be praying for opportunities to share the Lord with others. Please pray for us as we sincerely pray for you. With love in Christ, I remain your brother, Dave Nodar ChristLife Founder and Senior Leader
Nov 04 2024 Fall 2024 Founder’s Letter Dear friends, In January 1971, a friend invited a few people to get together at his house. We all thought, as was normally the case, it would be to have a ‘good time!’ So, we were quite surprised when he greeted us at his front door, saying, “Praise the Lord!” We were all ‘freaked out’ and thought, ‘What did he just say?!’ Once inside, he shared with great enthusiasm that he had become a Christian. He hadn’t been raised as a Christian, but had now become one. We were sitting there, trying to understand what he was sharing. Even more significant than what he was saying was that he was noticeably different. He was happy, peaceful, and enthusiastically telling us that Jesus was the source of this radical life transformation. Although I didn’t say it then, it was clear to me that he had changed. Before we left, he offered us his remaining LSD, which he wouldn’t be using anymore. He said, “you can have it, but I want to tell you it’s second best.” He repeated, “It’s second best. It’s not the one thing that will give you life.” Then he looked directly at me and said: “Dave, Jesus changed my life and he can change yours.” I tried to dismiss all that just happened, but the redemptive damage was done. The witness of his changed life and his joyful words of hope were convincing and impacted me greatly, although I didn’t say anything at that time. His obvious change of behavior and the joy he manifested in telling us this good news about Jesus, is an essential part of my own conversion. A few months later, in March 1971, I returned to my friend ‘s house and told him I wanted what he had, but didn’t know how to get it. He simply told me to get down on my knees and tell Jesus, out loud, what I wanted. Because of my very real sense of personal desperation, I knelt down and simply prayed out loud, “Jesus help me!” It was my turning to God, knowing I couldn’t do it on my own. It was a turning from the way I’d been going and pleading with God to help me change. It was a turning from my sinful life, doing things the way many people I admired told me was the way to find meaning, love, and happiness. I now knew the way I had been living was entirely bankrupt, a dead end, and leading me further and further into darkness. And so, I cried out to God. In that moment of surrender, I experienced the very personal love of God for me (Romans 5:5); I knew that I was forgiven for my sins (Romans 4:25), later I would go to confession. I now knew that I had power to change. This was not in my own strength, but given to me in the Holy Spirit (John 1:12; Acts 1:81). When I said yes to Jesus Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit given in baptism was released in power! As we say in the Creed, I now said personally, “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ!” Because it was such incredibly good news to me personally, I wanted to tell everyone—if the Lord Jesus would do this for me, he could do it for anyone! Now many years later, ChristLife provides a way to help others to personally encounter Jesus as Lord Jesus; follow him as disciples and make him known to the enormous number of people who don’t know him. We’re producing a new edition of the Sharing Christ course! This model of a friend sharing their experience of the Lord with another friend is the model that we employ in Sharing Christ. This fall we are producing a new edition of Sharing Christ! The Sharing Christ course is an essential part of what is needed for Catholics to fulfill our mission of proclaiming Christ to all. In this new version, Pete Ascosi, ChristLife’s Assistant Director, will take my place as a speaker on the course. Pete is a great teacher who lives what we are all called to be and do in sharing Jesus with others! He will be joined by Fr. Erik Arnold and Dianne Davis, who you know from the current edition. Christ entrusted the Church with the essential mission to, “Go make disciples… baptizing them…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:18-20). The Father longs for all to be saved in and through his Son Jesus Christ and, we, his children, are called to make him known! Please join us and continue to pray for the ChristLife process to help many come to know the Lord and to follow him as members of his Church. Your brother, in the saving love of our Lord Jesus, Dave Nodar ChristLife’s Founder & Senior Leader
Sep 23 2024 Meet Our New Intern! The Lord be with you! I’m Colin Reitmeyer, a High School student, a convert to Catholicism from Atheism, and passionate about sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with everyone. I’m very excited to intern at ChristLife because I believe ChristLife is the best tool in our time to share God’s love with the lost. It’s truly an honor to serve the Lord in this ministry, and I can’t wait to see how God transforms our culture through it. Please join us in welcoming Colin!
Sep 03 2024 A Week of Equipping Catholic Leaders “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us—yes establish the work of our hands” (Psalm 90:17). God is so good and answered this prayer abundantly throughout the Equip Conference! For three days in June, 110 people from parishes across the U.S. and internationally attended our Equip training conference to be spiritually refreshed and learn the basics of the ChristLife evangelization process. Kicked off by keynote speaker Dr. Ralph Martin, the President of Renewal Ministries, participants were encouraged to recognize the seriousness of the times we live in, while relying on the Lord to faithfully and boldly walk in the way of holiness. Our conference team of speakers enthusiastically shared how to use the ChristLife process to respond to this call to holiness and evangelization. Throughout the three days together, Dianne Davis, Jim Roche, Dave Nodar, Fr. Erik Arnold, Fr. Dale Picarella, and other speakers encouraged the participants with talks that explained the process while also sharing the fruit of the ChristLife courses: Discovering Christ, Following Christ, and Sharing Christ. One participant noted: One thing that became evident to me was that the [entire] Discovering, Following, Sharing Christ cycle is all about evangelization, not just the Sharing Christ course.” In addition to learning the specifics of how to run each course, attendees were given the opportunity to experience many of the activities from the three courses: being prayed with for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, prayer practicums on forgiveness, the Spirit-empowered life, and renunciation, and creating cardboard testimonies. The power of these experiences were echoed by many. The presentations and practices were fantastic and are a great tool for learning how to live and share life in Christ.” Inspiring and hope-filled testimonies of changed lives, given by graduates of the ChristLife process, gave witness to the power of God’s love to transform lives. I was excited and energized by everyone sharing their testimonies.” A spiritual highlight of the conference was the Holy Hour with praise led by Fr. Erik Arnold, pastor of St. John the Evangelist and a ChristLife speaker. This was a powerful time of spiritual refreshment and renewal. Dave Nodar, ChristLife founder and senior leader, who gave conference bookend talks, provided an inspirational send off with the final talk about the Lord’s vision of evangelization. He challenged the ChristLife teams to fully join the Church’s mission of evangelization to bring more souls into the Kingdom by the witness of our changed lives. I’m willing to get out of the boat and step into the water,” relayed one participant. The conference concluded with the celebration of Holy Mass, officiated by the Most Reverend Bruce Lewandowski, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Bishop Lewandowski’s words of encouragement and support to continue our personal faith journeys and evangelization efforts were the perfect conclusion to the conference. Written By: Lisa White
