By Madre Jesussandra Rosa, S.C.R.

The fellowship allows us to share Jesus and let him do the rest because we are his instruments.

Our experience with ChristLife has been phenomenal. We provide a joyful and warm welcome to new participants as they arrive, especially to those who don’t know how to join the group. This is really important during Discovering Christ when participants may be intimidated by not knowing what the course is, since many times they were just invited by someone else. We have a support team very committed to communicating the hospitality message of the ChristLife series. I think that the people serving as instruments of Jesus at each table, either as facilitators or any other way, reflects the fraternity and fellowship that ultimately brings the miracle of effectively communicating Jesus' message. The fellowship allows us to share Jesus and let him do the rest because we are his instruments. The human component is very important because sometimes we tend to spiritualize more than humanize. Participants come searching for a human Jesus, searching for a welcoming Jesus. We are like sowers, preparing the soil so that the Lord can plant the seed and make it fruitful. 

ChristLife takes [the participants] even further and transforms them into disciples of action.

When we started in 2016 we didn’t have any volunteers, people committed to the ministry. We only had a few people committed to the parish. As we continued providing the courses, by the second year those who had previously been participants were the ChristLife volunteers. They kept growing in their own experience and kept persevering as servers and support team. More than saying that ChristLife would take participants only to a personal encounter with Jesus to make disciples, I’d say ChristLife takes them even further and transforms them into disciples of action with a firm conviction to persevere and find their own place in the church. They find a place, a space and also find a way to grow in the apostolate of the church. At the end of ChristLife, we commission them and encourage them to commit to any apostolate of the parish. In that way we enrich the Church and they become the new leaders.

 

Madre Jesussandra Rosa is a Mother Superior of the Siervas de Cristo Resucitado religious community and serves at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Bronx, NY. 

Translation by Carlos Castaneda.