Dear Fellow Witnesses to the Truth of Jesus Christ,

Transcription

1 October 2013 Proclaiming Jesus through Catholic Renewal and Evangelization Dear Fellow Witnesses to the Truth of Jesus Christ, It s a joy to be able to support the efforts of so many godly parents and grandparents in trying to raise their children as followers of Christ in such a difficult environment today. Praise Inside this Issue Do Whatever He Tells You Page 3 Mission to Serbia Page 5 Mission to Vietnam Page 6 Mission to Lithuania Page 7 A letter from Recently I ve had reason to remember the familiar and true sayings that where sin abounds, grace abounds still more, and while the darkness is growing greater the light is growing still greater. We are truly a light because God himself is dwelling within us. At the Eucharist the priest prays that the bread and wine will become the Body and Blood of Christ and then in Eucharistic Prayer III: Grant that we, who are nourished by the Body and Blood of your Son and filled with his Holy Spirit, may become one body, one spirit in Christ. May he make of us an eternal offering to you, so that we may obtain an inheritance with your elect. All of us who partake of the Body and Blood are one body and one spirit with him and are being offered with him to the Father as a sacrifice of love, thanks and praise. Continue, dear fellow witnesses in offering your body as a living sacrifice, and remember that those who labor in the Lord, never labor in vain. I ve just returned from the closing ceremony of a yearly summer camp for junior high age girls that we have been involved with for many years now, first as a part of our local charismatic community and now as a local outreach of Renewal Ministries. This past June 120 young boys, and in August 180 girls benefitted from the leadership of Peter Burak, Debbie Herbeck and a large group of older high schoolers, college students and young adults who gave a week of their time to foster a deep encounter with the Lord at these camps. and worship at Pine Hills Girls Camp. I was there not only because it is now a local outreach of Renewal Ministries, but also because our two oldest granddaughters came all the way from Steubenville, OH with two of their friends to attend. It s a joy to be able to support the efforts of so many godly parents and grandparents in trying to raise their children as followers of Christ in such a difficult environment today. It s a joy to see the opportunities that the Lord is giving Renewal Ministries to support the next generation, recently with the launch of our post college age ministry, i.d.916, and the junior high camps. These events are self-supporting and we hope to establish i.d.916 chapters in other cities, and continue to draw youth from all over to the camps. Peter and Sr. Ann continue to preach and teach widely and to produce their daily radio programs as they have faithfully done for many years. Peter has just returned from taping additional episodes of Crossing the Goal involving some of our young adult men for the first time. This continued on pg 2

2 Dear Fellow Witnesses to the Truth of Jesus Christ, continued from page 1 After long preparation the Audio Book of The Fulfillment of All Desire has just been published, containing the entire unabridged text... 2 Ralph gave five talks on the New Evangelization to the Nashville Dominican Sisters this summer. summer for the first time I spoke at three Franciscan University of Steubenville summer conferences. A special highlight was the privilege of giving five talks over three days to all 270 of the Nashville Dominicans on the New Evangelization and how the educational apostolate of the sisters is now also a missionary apostolate. Another highlight was doing five TV programs down at EWTN with Johnnette Benkovic. We were really on the same page and I look forward to their release, probably this month. I ll send out an alert when we are told the actual days they will air. If you include your address on the enclosed Reply Card, we can send you occasional s with info that you may find of interest. The international missions continue at full speed. Each time I receive a report from one of our country coordinators I am deeply grateful for their generosity and the faithfulness of the Lord in rewarding their efforts with mighty outpourings of grace that have truly changed the lives of countless thousands. This past spring and summer were busy with missions to Serbia, Lithuania, Vietnam, Mexico, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Papua New Guinea, Hungary, Tanzania, Ghana, Uganda and Latvia. In this issue, on the website, and in upcoming newsletters you can read about the wonderful things happening in those countries. I am preparing to leave for Brazil in a few days to give a series of talks to 700 preachers involved with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the Fortaleza area of Brazil. Shortly after I return we ll begin taping another 26 episodes of The Choices We Face. Our TV producer, Christina Thomashefski has been busy all year preparing for these intense weeks of taping. Also, this month we offer you important new resources. After long preparation the Audio Book of The Fulfillment of All Desire has just been published, containing the entire unabridged text, and read by a professor from Franciscan University of Steubenville. It contains 17 CDs and over 16 hours of life-changing wisdom from the saints. It s also possible to download the audio files from and listen on multiple devices--kindle, Apple and Android. Just go to the amazon website and type in The Fulfillment of All Desire Audio Book and you ll find it. Also, a new book of mine is available which brings together in one place and in more popular form many of the themes I ve been speaking about and writing about in Will Many Be Saved? It is called The Urgency of the New Evangelization: Answering the Call and is published by Our Sunday Visitor. It is only about one hundred pages and it s already been hailed by advance reviewers as the best book available on the New Evangelization. It also contains chapters on the New Pentecost, new material on what Jesus asks us to tell people, discussions of Divine Mercy, true compassion and how all of this relates to St. Faustina s vision of hell. Don t give up, don t get discouraged. Just keep showing up and God s plan for the salvation of the world will continue to unfold through our prayer, our witness, our love, our suffering. Your brother in Christ,

3 From the Heart By Sr. Ann Shields S.G.L. Do Whatever He Tells You WHEN POPE FRANCIS addressed the throngs of people at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil, he said, I too come to knock on the door of the house of Mary who loved and raised Jesus that she may help all of us, pastors of God s people, parents and educators, to pass on to our young people the values that can help them build a nation and a world which are more just, united and fraternal. Our Holy Father, Francis went on to develop three points, three simple attitudes that can help in living a life of holiness and contribute to the building of a more just society. (See L Osservatore Romano, Number 31, July 31, 2013) The first attitude is hopefulness. He spoke of the passage in Revelation where a woman (the Church) is being pursued by a dragon the devil who wants to devour her child. But God intervenes and saves the child. (See Revelation 12:13 and 15, 16) Many times in life we feel overwhelmed by great difficulties, even great evil, but God will never let us be destroyed. Pope Francis reminded us: Always know in your heart that God is by your side and will never abandon you Never lose hope! Evil is present in our history, yes, but never lose hope. Evil does not have the upper hand! He goes on to elaborate; many young people today are attracted to the idols of money, success, power and pleasure. We experience loneliness and emptiness at times and they can lead us to seek satisfaction in idols that are passing. We need, in these times, to be lights of hope for one another and for the next generation. We must show them that they can change and that they can build a better world. They need to have held up to them the non-material values which are the spiritual heart of a people. Our Blessed Mother can help us through such times. The second attitude is openness to being surprised by God. Anyone who has faith knows that very often it is during difficult times that God surprises us. The Pope used the example from the Shrine of Our Lady, where he was speaking, and what happened there many years ago. Three fishermen after a day of fruitless toil find in their nets a statue of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Who would have ever thought, the Pope said, that the site of a fruitless fishing expedition would become the place where all Brazilians can feel that they are children of one Mother? God always surprises us, like the new wine (at Cana). God always saves the best for us. But he asks us to let ourselves be surprised by his love, to accept his surprises. Let us trust God! Cut off from him, the wine of joy, the wine of hope runs out. If we draw near to Him, if we stay with Him, what seems to be cold water, difficulty, sin, is changed into the new wine of friendship with Him. The third attitude is living in joy. If we walk in hope, allowing ourselves to be surprised by the new wine which Jesus offers us, we have joy in our hearts and we cannot fail to be witnesses of this joy We have a Mother who always intercedes for the life of her children Jesus has shown us that the face of God is that of a loving Father. Sin and death have been defeated. Christians cannot be pessimists! Christians cannot look like someone in perpetual mourning. As Benedict XVI said at this shrine in 2007: the disciple knows that without Christ, there is no light, no hope, no love, no future. Pope Francis concluded: We have come to Mary s house. She has opened it for us, she has let us in and she shows us her Son. Now she asks Always know in your heart that God is by your side and will never abandon you Never lose hope! If we draw near to Him, if we stay with Him, what seems to be cold water, difficulty, sin, is changed into the new wine of friendship with Him. continued on pg 4 3

4 From the Heart continued from page 3 We have come to Mary s house. She has opened it for us, she has let us in and she shows us her Son. Now she asks us to do whatever he tells you. us to do whatever he tells you. The Pope then renewed his consecration to Mary in these words: Mary, most Holy, by the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, in your beloved image of Aparecida, spread infinite favors over all Brazil. I, unworthy to be counted among your sons and daughters but full of desire to share in the blessings of your mercy, lie prostrate at your feet. To you I consecrate my intentions, that they may ever dwell on the love that you merit; to you I consecrate my tongue that it may ever praise you and spread your devotion; to you I consecrate my heart, that, after God, I may love you above all things. Receive me incomparable Queen, you whom Christ Crucified gave to us as Mother, and count me among your beloved sons and daughters; take me under your protection; come to my aid in all my needs both spiritual and temporal, and above all at the hour of my death. Bless me, heavenly helper, and through your powerful intercession, give me strength in my weakness, so that, by serving you faithfully in this life, I may praise you, love you and give you thanks in heaven for all eternity. Let it be! In this month of the Holy Rosary, perhaps it is time to renew or make for the first time a consecration to the Blessed Mother. In our many battles to grow in holiness and advance His kingdom as His disciples, we need the Mother that God Himself gave us to help guide each of us safely home. O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee! + For more information about consecration to Jesus through Mary see our Reply Card. Please Pray... for the upcoming Lift Jesus Higher event in Toledo, Ohio this month. that Catholic parents and grandparents will be equipped and strengthened as they raise their children to love and serve the Lord in an increasingly difficult world. for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church and her leaders, that enables us to respond more fully to the call to evangelization and a life of holiness. for the prayer intentions of all our supporters and their family members, especially as they face the challenges of illness and economic uncertainty. 4

5 Mission to Serbia By Deacon Zoltán Kunszabó AT THE INVITATION of Diocesan Bishop László Német, we continued our wonderful mission series in the Diocese of Nagybecskerek, Serbia. The plan was to visit all of Fr. Tamás Masa s four villages with mission programs focusing on the candidates for confirmation, their parents and confirmation sponsors. We began our opening Mass for the whole mission in the parish church of Padé. I spoke about God s desire to communicate His life-giving love to each person, and our task as Catholic Christians to help fulfill His will. On our first Evening of Witness, the church was almost full. Laci Csiszér led the worship and Tomi Olaj gave his testimony. He had lost both of his parents when he was 17. He left school and began a criminal career as a burglar. By the time he was 25, he had been in prison four times. We met him in this situation in our homeless care center in Budapest and immediately recognized his intelligence and openness to the big questions of life. He was very happy to attend our Alpha Course and his heart was wonderful soil for the word of God. His life changed dramatically and after an additional year of preparation he received the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and first communion. I am his proud godfather. Now he works in a factory and lives in a rented room. In September he began high school through a correspondence course and he has the chance to continue in university. After his testimony I spoke about God who has power to change lives. Then we gave people the opportunity to receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit through prayer ministry. The people were really thankful for it. Many were really touched by the love of God. The next day we had a very busy program. In the morning we spent a long time in prayer. At noon we started a service in the gym of the elementary school for the upper grades and their teachers. Laci taught them Christian songs with hand motions and Tomi shared his testimony. After that I spoke about the biblical theme of two ways: one that leads to life and one to devastation. The youngsters were really attentive. At the end I led them in a common prayer to choose life. Most of them were really praying. In the afternoon we formed two groups. Fr. Róbert led a team to Hódegyháza for a meeting with the youth who were going to receive confirmation. Then he celebrated Mass with a mission speech and began an Evening of Witness. My team had a very similar program in Tiszaszentmiklós. Then we started an interactive meeting with the candidates for confirmation. The sharings and the encouragements from Laci, Tomi and myself found open hearts. At the end all of them (twelve boys and girls) came forward for personal prayer ministry. Afterwards, we had the same program with the parents and sponsors in the church. I emphasized that this moment also requires real repentance from them and prayed over many of them. After Mass we continued with worship and the testimony of Tomi and I preached on the meaning of real conversion and repentance. The prayer ministry was fiery and blessed. Many came to us with real decision to change. Our program the following day was very similar to the previous day. We started with a very early school mission in Szaján, and then began another one in Padé. These secular elementary schools were extremely friendly to our mission. We then had an informal meeting with the confirmation candidates, with a prayer ministry at the end. On our last Evening of Witness the church was filled not only with local people but also with a lot of prayer group members. The worship was very blessed and the people received the fire of the Holy Spirit and didn t want to leave! Saturday began with a youth sports and worship morning at the elementary school. We sang and I spoke about the real Champion of the World who triumphed over death! After lunch Bishop Német arrived to celebrate the sacrament of confirmation in four different cities, beginning on Saturday evening and ending the following afternoon. The churches were packed and you could see smiling faces everywhere. It was difficult to say goodbye to our brothers and sisters in faith. We were very happy to serve the local Church here, according to their real needs, building God s kingdom. + Zoli interviews Tomi, the former burglar, in front of the children. Laci and the team lead the music ministry during a school mission. 5

6 Mission to Vietnam By Don Turbitt Don and Fr. Frank with newly ordained Fr. Hoan Nguyen. FR. FRANK SANTILLI and I traveled to the diocese of Phat Diem where Bishop Joseph Nguyen Nang made last minute arrangements for us to teach a week-long bible study to 100 sisters of The Lovers of the Cross. Fr. Frank taught on the Gospel of Luke while I followed with teachings from the Acts of the Apostles. After a few days the superior asked Fr. Frank if he could teach from John s Gospel and the new encyclical by Pope Francis, and I continued to teach from Acts. I believe the sisters were very happy with the week of teaching. There was an older sister who told me her very interesting story through a translator. During the Vietnam War when she was younger, there were three different times when she intended to go to a church or a house and she sensed something in her spirit saying, Don t go today, so she stayed home. Each time, a bomb dropped on the place she was supposed to go. Like a child she asked me, Do you think that was a miracle? Just being able to tell her that she was truly hearing God gave me great joy. We built a solid relationship with Bishop Joseph Nguyen Nang and his director of pastoral activities. Each day we joined the bishop and three other priests for meals. A year ago the bishop visited St. Philip s Parish in Providence and is very interested in building on that relationship. Our home parish has benefited from two seminarians from Phat Diem and the bishop has benefited by our support of 25 seminarians each year for the past four years. Presently, the bishop would like to partner with Renewal Ministries and People of God s Love to have seminarians come to the U.S. for major seminary training. After they graduate two of them would return to Phat Diem and commit to the bishop who sponsored them. A bonus surprise was to find out that the Phat Diem Diocese and others in Vietnam have Men of St. Joseph men s groups in place. We now have nine or ten countries involved in MOSJ! I am excited and praying that God will start sending more men so that we can continue to move forward. While we were there Bishop Joseph Nguyen Chi Linh ordained two priests in his diocese. One of the two was Fr. Hoan Nguyen, the brother of Hiep Nguyen, our Providence seminarian. The Catholic Church in Vietnam may be poor but it definitely knows how to celebrate. Mass was concelebrated by 50 priests with nearly 2,000 people attending. After Mass each family had 20 guests invited to lunch with the bishop along with the 50 priests, Fr. Frank and myself. I am very happy to be part of supporting 60 seminarians each year; I am hoping to expand these numbers. I am not sure how many more years we will be able to support a seminarian for $1 a day! Vietnam has educated some very courageous priests, especially a 95-year old who concelebrates Mass every day in the bishop s chapel. He also spent 16 years in prison for being a Catholic priest. Our last few days in Phat Diem were spent building a relationship with the rector of the seminary whom we are acquainted with from our past visits. He should be coming to the U.S. in a year and will visit St. Philip s Parish. + Each day for a week, Don taught on the Acts of the Apostles to 100 religious sisters from The Lovers of the Cross order. 6

7 Mission to Lithuania By Bohumir Zivcak, PhD IT IS NOT EASY to put deep experiences into a few words, but I will try. The first word that comes to my mind from our last mission trip to Lithuania is privilege. We felt greatly privileged to be part of an historic event for Lithuania. I am not exaggerating. Although Lithuania is experienced in organizing national events, this was the first real City Mission in the country whose focus was meant to be evangelization. Our team of eight lay people and Fr. Patrik Grotkovsky CSsR, all from Slovakia, were invited by the Archdiocese of Kaunas to prepare about 100 lay missionaries and the seminarians there to go into the streets, marketplace, restaurants, public parks and of course the churches and bring the message of the Gospel. We had five short days to prepare our team for this monumental task. The Kaunas City Mission lasted six days and the time was chosen well as the schools had been out since mid-june in Lithuania and the feast of St. John the Baptist is a national holiday there. Speaking frankly, working in the post-communist countries of Europe it is pretty rare to see real evangelization happening in the Church and evangelization that occurs outside the church building is rather sporadic. But from the first moment we met Sigitas Tamkevicius S.J., the Archbishop and Kestutis Kevalas, the auxiliary bishop of Kaunas, it was very clear that the Catholic Church is coming out of its building. Pope Francis has repeatedly called for the Church to go to those at the periphery. I was in tears when Bishop Kestutis stretched out his hands and prayed aloud: I am anointing you by the Holy Spirit and I am sending you. Go and bring Jesus to the streets, marketplace, bars and prisons! We went and the priests and bishops went with us. Not to conduct cultural events, but to bring Jesus. Every night the bars were packed as the priests spoke about Jesus, and the streets of old Kaunas were full of smiling missionaries. It was impossible to avoid us. Every evening we gathered in the big amphitheatre at the bank of river Nemunas to pray, to preach and to worship Jesus in the sunshine as well as in the rain. The whole country of Lithuania was watching Kaunas; even the secular media wanted to see how the Church would express herself outside her secure buildings. And the outcome was surprising - joy and more joy every day. When we sat at supper with the bishop at the end of the mission, talking until late in the night about the joy that came from sharing Good News, I was smiling and shouting in my heart - Yes! Yes! This is the Church of the Risen Lord. And this is only the beginning... Bohus leads a time of worship during the City Mission in Kaunas. Each evening of the City Mission, hundreds gathered in the large amphitheatre near the river to pray, preach and worship Jesus. + 7

8 On the Road We go to Mary only as a way leading to the goal we seek - Jesus, her Son. -- Saint Louis Marie de Montfort October 2013 *Ann Arbor, MI, Country Coordinator Meetings October 3-5 *Mundelein, IL, Seminary Rectors Conference October 4 Mission to Slovakia and Czech Republic October Tom Edwards and Team Toledo, OH, Lift Jesus Higher Adult and Youth Rallies October 12, Sr. Ann Shields, Peter & Debbie Herbeck, Pete Burak and i.d.916 Team Contact: info@ljhrtoledo.com *Ann Arbor, MI, Renewal Ministries U.S. Board Meeting October Ann Arbor, MI, Heart to Heart Women s Apostolate Monthly Meeting October 17 Peter Herbeck Contact: Maria Hoeflein at: mjhoeflein@mi.rr.com Mission to Sudan October Lloyd and Nancy Greenhaw and Team Abbeville, LA, Family Mission Company Conference October Contact: Sunman, IN, St. Nicholas Parish Faith Conference October 19 Peter Herbeck Contact: Liz Lattire at or lizlattire@yahoo.com McKinney, TX, St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish Mango Lecture Series October 21 Peter Herbeck Contact: Tom Patrick at or tpatrick@tx.rr.com *Archdiocese of Detroit, MI Senior Priests October 23 *Diocese of Toledo, OH, Catholic School Teachers and Administrators October 24 Bismarck, ND, Diocesan Eucharistic Conference October Peter & Debbie Herbeck Contact: Michelle Duppong at or mduppong@bismarckdiocese.com *Omaha, NE, Institute for Priestly Formation October *Events not open to the public R e n e w a l M i n i s t r i e s In the United States Episcopal Advisor Archbishop Robert J. Carlson, St. Louis, MO President In Canada Episcopal Advisors Cardinal Thomas Collins, Toronto Bishop M. Pearse Lacey, Ret. Auxillary, Toronto Chairman of the Board Msgr. Gregory Smith, Vancouver Renewal Ministries is a Catholic ministry committed to renewal and evangelization in the Church. It seeks to proclaim Jesus Christ through its TV and radio outreaches, as well as through books, tapes, conferences, retreats and other international evangelistic events. Editor Design Debra Herbeck Cynthia Rutherford 2013 by Renewal Ministries 8 P.O. Box 1426 Ann Arbor, MI phone In Canada P.O. Box 400 Station U Toronto, ON M8Z 5Y8 phone