Reflecting on God's Gifts With Gratitude and Joy
May 20, 2010 by O'Meara Ferguson
Filed under Daniel Conway
From Dan Conway’s The Good Steward, May 2010
“Here lies the fundamental challenge that we face: to show the Church’s capacity to promote and form disciples and missionaries who respond to the calling received and to communicate everywhere, in an outpouring of gratitude and joy, the gift of the encounter with Jesus Christ. We have no other treasure but that. We have no other happiness, no other priority, but to be instruments of the Spirit of God, as Church, so that Jesus Christ may be known, followed, loved, adored, announced, and communicated to all, despite difficulties and resistances. This is the best service – his service! – that the Church has to offer people and nations.”
— (Concluding document, Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Conferences, Aparecida, Brazil, 2007, #14)
Bishop Jaime Soto quotes this powerful passage from the 2007 Aparecida Conference as he begins his vision statement for the Diocese of Sacramento. “We have always been a missionary people called to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God.” He continues, “Our diocese’s mission statement affirms this — challenging us to be disciples who spread the Gospel by our prayer, our personal witness, our sacramental life, and all the ministries provided by our parishes, schools and other diocesan services.”
What a powerful vision — to be disciples and missionaries who respond to the encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ with gratitude and joy! …
