Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We are entering a new liturgical year as well as a new liturgical season this weekend. Advent is perhaps the most countercultural of all the seasons of the Church year, especially when we consider events like "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday."
The Catholic Church explains the season this way: "Advent has a two-fold character: as a season to prepare for Christmas when Christ's !irst coming is remembered; as a season when that remembrance directs the mind and heart to await Christ's Second Coming at the end of time. Advent is thus a period for devout and joyful expectation."
Hmmm…. a period for "devout and joyful expectation" and a season to prepare ourselves to Christ's Second Coming…Is that what Advent is for you? Devout? Joyful? Preparing for Christ's Second Coming? It is so easy for the noisy expectations of the world to be in con!lict with the beauty and serenity of our faith. It can be so difficult for faith to win out and to let the celebration of Christmas inspire us to become saints!
READ MOREDear Brothers and Sisters,
I was born in Chicago into a very Catholic family, and my parents were my first teachers of the Faith. Growing up I wanted to serve God as a priest, and I attended Quigley South High School, the Preparatory Seminary for the Archdiocese of Chicago. After graduation, however, I felt that God was calling me to a different vocation than the priesthood. I studied at John Carroll University, and I spent my junior year of college at Loyola University of Chicago's Rome Center. Throughout college, my love for God and my relationship with Him matured, and I loved His Church in a whole new way after living in Rome.
While I enjoyed majoring in Comparative Literature, I felt that God wanted me to serve Him and His people as a physician. I studied medicine and specialized in Urologic Oncology. I have been married to Dr. Nanette Tibbitts, a specialist in Internal Medicine, for 33 years, and we have one son, Anthony James, an aspiring lawyer. I have always actively participated in the life of the Church, but when I began to feel that God was calling me to serve Him as a deacon, I managed to "avoid" responding to His call, despite the encouragement from a very special deacon. When God's call became impossible to ignore, I opened myself to Him, and He sent a very wise and holy priest into my life, who started me on the incredible spiritual journey of Diaconate Formation.
READ MOREDear Brothers and Sisters,
The fifth step of conversion is INTENTIONAL DISCIPLESHIP.
You cannot seek forever. Eventually you have to "drop your nets". Our Lord invites us to let go of those things that weigh us down. Jesus invites each one of us to make a conscious commitment to follow Him. This is a deliberate act of the will. An INTENTIONAL DISCIPLESHIP is not passive. An INTENTIONAL DISCIPLESHIP is active and engaged in the relationship that Our Lord is calling them to. As an INTENTIONAL DISCIPLESHIP in the Church, the obedient disciple desires to re-order their life for Our Lord. This is the final step of conversion.
The INTENTIONAL DISCIPLE has moved beyond the phase of the "exploration of Jesus and His Church" to full and complete commitment. This is what Weddell calls the "dropping the net" moment. We are all familiar with the moment Our Lord called Peter to come and follow him – to drop his nets. This moment meant the Peter was to leave behind his former life and livelihood. Dropping his net meant that Peter left behind his friends, his home and even his family. Dropping his nets and following Our Lord wherever He went no matter what the cost(cf. Lk 5:4-10).
READ MORE