September 2001
Index
- Why Don't Catholics Talk About Jesus? by Fr. Bob Camuso
- I Can't Wait to Evangelize! By Marion Slawiatynsky
- Is Jennifer Knapp a SacraMentor? By Marion Slawiatynsky
- Book Review: Let Your Live Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation Review by Steve Egge
- More Men and Women SacraMentors Become Trainers
Why Don’t Catholics Talk About Jesus?
By Fr. Bob Camuso
As I stood outside a friend’s house recently trimming a hedge, two middle-aged women approached me. The younger of the two asked me if I knew Jesus. My immediate thought was that these were Jehovah’s witnesses, so I asked them if they were. “Yes, we are,” the woman replied. I then told her I knew Jesus very well and was strong in my faith. She then asked me what religion I was and I told her, adding that I was a priest as well. We then talked about priests she knew and the conversation ended. I received a card a few days later from her recommending some psalms to read.
As Catholics, we tend not to try to convert others. We tend not to wear our faith on our sleeve. For many of us, faith is a private matter we keep to ourselves and might think it rude to approach people to ask if they “know Jesus.” I wonder why this is so? Is it because we believe we don’t know enough about the Bible or our tradition to speak to others about our faith? Is it because, like those from the Jewish tradition, we stand on the shoulders of a great tradition, are secure in our faith and thus don’t feel a need to strengthen our numbers so we don’t fade away? Our Catholic tradition has a rich history of evangelism, but since the time of the Reformation, evangelism has almost exclusively been associated with the Protestant church.
If, as Catholics, we say our purpose in life is to know, love and serve God, then it follows that we should want to do what God calls us to do. In the gospels of Matthew and Mark, the last thing Jesus tells his followers to do is to go to all the nations of the world, proclaim the Gospel, make disciples and baptize them (Mk 16:15; Mt 28:19). This is called the “Great Commission, or “The Apostolic Mandate.” And it is not just for priests—it is for all the faithful.
Now, does this mean we should start asking people, “Do you know Jesus?” Well, I’m not sure I would approach someone in that way. But I do ask people if they were raised in a faith tradition. I ask them if they still follow that tradition and, if not, have they thought about including God in their lives. My belief is that God wants me to do my part and then God will do the rest. And, while I am talking to someone about faith, I don’t believe that I have anything to do with converting or saving the person. If anyone is converted, that is the work of Jesus. As Mother Teresa said, “I am a little pencil in God’s hand… God does the writing. The pencil has nothing to do with it. The pencil has only to be allowed to be used…” God will use you to bring people to Jesus. And God will use God at the same time, for, as the prophet Isaiah said, “The hand of the Lord is not too short to save” (59:1).
As SacraMentors, we not only meet with our groups and reach out to serve our local parish, but we are called to be holy mentors in our every day lives. To be a mentor in Christ means to help others find Christ. Thus, when the opportunity arises to speak to someone about Jesus, we are not fearful or timid about doing so. In giving witness to others about Jesus, we are not necessarily wearing our faith on our sleeve. We are wearing God on our hearts so that others may see “the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Ps 27:13).
I Can't Wait to Evangelize!
By Marion Slawiatynsky
Co-Chair, Spirituality Council
How many of you SacraMentors out there have had your lives changed through your experience with SacraMentors? How many have experienced a deep love for all of God's children? How many feel a need to share your joy with those who aren't yet SacraMentors? How many of you have had someone ask about joining SacraMentors? Did the conversation sound something like this, "Well how do I join?" "All you have to do is attend a SacraMentors series". "So, when's the next series?" "Uh, it's uh, er, well I think there's one at, no, no, that was last month, uh, but there's another one at, er, now which parish was that..."
Well, God has been doing new things by His Spirit speaking through his people and now you'll have the opportunity to put the Mentor into SacraMentors! Hot off the press is the new edition of the Parish Coordinators Manual, which incorporates the concept of Mentoring as a means of bringing in new members without having to wait for a series! The new manual will be available at the next Parish coordinator's breakfast in October (see calendar on the back cover of this newsletter and urge your parish to be represented). The program will be explained fully at the meeting and your Parish Coordinator will be able to explain it to you at your next meeting after the breakfast and you too can invite new members into your Apostle’s Group to start sharing this life changing process of personal sanctification.
Here is the basic outline of the new process:
- For groups that have met for more than 3 months, determine whether your group is ready to be open to new members. Pray about it and ask them if they are willing to trust and continue sharing on a deep level in the presence of a new member?
- If so, start casting the nets and baiting the hooks! Tell prospective members about what we do in our Apostle's groups and go over the ground rules: confidentiality, don't discuss your occupation, and don't comment on the sharing of others.
- Inform your parish coordinator, and have them inform the Parish office the group is open to new members, and also the Spirituality council so that a Book of Kindness and a Book of Blessings can be issued to the new member.
- Have the Parish Coordinator help you to determine who might be a good Mentor- one who has a good understanding of the process, meets regularly, shares regularly, has an ongoing relationship with Jesus, feels called to evangelism, is open to being a prayer partner to the new member.
- Invite the new member to the next meeting, introduce their Mentor, who will become their prayer partner, issue a Book of Kindness and Book of Blessings. Encourage them to share as they feel comfortable.
- The Mentor as prayer partner should be in regular contact with the new member and explain how to use the Book of Kindness, how the process works and key SacraMentor concepts.
- The new member agrees to attend a series as soon as is convenient, but for the time being is permitted to join all SacraMentors meetings as a SacraMentor candidate.
These ideas are the formalization of the suggestions brought up in the last Parish Coordinator's and Trainer's breakfast, and have been approved by the Council.
Yes God is indeed speaking through His people at a grass roots level! So, Parish Coordinator, be sure to be present at the next Parish Coordinator's breakfast on Saturday, October 13th at 9:30 at St. Andrew Parish Hall, 602 Kincaid, Sumner (get map from www.sacramentors.org) if you can't make it, be sure to find a substitute. God bless you all!
Is Jennifer Knapp a SacraMentor?
Jennifer Knapp has made quite a name for herself in the popular Christian music scene. Her fans even call themselves "Knappsters"
Do you like listening to soft rock with a folk touch to it? As a worship leader, I have a great passion for music and I know it is key to opening the heart. But after going through the SacraMentors process, I realized I could no longer listen to the music I loved so much because the lyrics opened my heart to the wrong things. What was I to do? Fortunately, we now have a few Christian radio stations in the area, like KBLE 1050 AM, a Catholic station and Christian music stations like Spirit 105.3 FM (www.spirit1053.com).
As SacraMentors we learn to live in habitual grace. We no longer let our egos boss us around (or at least not as much as we used to) but become sensitive to God's boundless grace. Jennifer's amazement with grace is all over her second album "Lay it Down". It is the central part of her message. If I didn't know any better, I would say Jennifer must be a SacraMentor. The title song starts out with "seeming as I found a rock in my pocket" (Could it be a blessing stone?) "seeing as I found a glitch in my soul, make-believe won't hide the truth, when judgement falls and it falls on you, say I believe, I believe, bend a knee, my friend". Jennifer appears to be struggling with her ego, as we SacraMentors have, wanting to lay it down and take up grace in its place.
In the opening song, "A little More", she sings"...show me grace, a little more than i can give, a little more than i deserve" and quotes the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:15 (in italics) "for all the sin that lives in me, it took a nail to set me free, still, what i do i don't want to do and so goes the story". And in "Diamond in the Rough", again she talks about her (SacraMentor's?) stone: "as a little girl i came down to the water, with a little stone in my hand...". Hmmm...
Jennifer wrote all of the songs on this album, and has command of the guitar. And all her songs are from personal experience. If you ever have the pleasure of seeing her live, perhaps she'll explain the lyrics to "Usher Me Down". When she was a little girl she knew that the only place nobody else in the family sits is Daddy's Lazy-boy chair. When he wasn't home she would sit in it and imagine being like Daddy, but out of fear, she would always get out of the chair before Daddy got home. When she turned 9, she had mustered up enough guts to remain in Daddy's chair when he came home, and Daddy would pretend not to see her and feign sitting on her. Then, out of love, he gently snatched her up in his arms and gently ushered her down. This reminded her of the times that she still lives with her ego leading her, but her Daddy in heaven always gently reminds her who should be on the throne of her life. She is definitely not a "holier-than-thou" person. She is very real and ready to admit her constant struggling and failings as we do every week in SacraMentors. Someday I'll have to visit her website at www.jenniferknapp.com and ask her whether her stone could really be a blessing stone. Could it be?
Marion Slawiatynsky is a SacraMentor who worships at St. Brendan Parish in Bothell.†
Book Review
Have you read a good book lately? Would you like to share it with your brothers and sisters? Here’s your chance. Write a review not to exceed 300 words and send it to SacraMentors c/o Fr. Bob Camuso 1411 1st Avenue W., Seattle, WA 98119
Let Your Live Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation
by: Parker J. Palmer
Jossey-Bass Publishers
REVIEW by : Steve Egge
This book was on a recommended reading list at a Richard Rohr conference on Contemplation and Action. While there, I picked it up and my son told me that my wife had stated that "the first chapter in this book is about her". So I had to read it and am glad I did.
As SacraMentors, we come to realize that we are instruments that God can use on this earth to do the work He would have us do. Getting the right message about this is the hard part. Our egos tend to block us from receiving our spiritual vocation by keeping us distracted and disillusioned, unable to even ask the question. This book is a blessing in calling us to raise the question of vocation in our lives. It recounts the personal journey of the author in finding what was God's calling for him. The book does not give any "answers" or "formulas" on how to discern your vocation, but by following the author on his journey, you gain insight into your own.
I was initially discouraged by reading the introduction titled "Gratitudes" as the author mentioned that five of the six chapters were previously published as separate articles. However, he goes on to say that he rewrote them all and hoped they would form a real book, not a collection of essays. They do. They do. The book allows you to raise the question, against your ego's objections, of what your spiritual vocation in life might be. As you read the book, this question slowly churns at your deepest self in awakening your vocation and assists you in opening yourself to the action of God in your life. The answer may take a while, perhaps a long while; that is the journey. However long it might take, I am sure you will have the same experience as my wife. One of the chapters in this book will speak directly to you, and that may make all the difference.
Steve Egge is a SacraMentor who worships at St. Andrew Parish in Sumner.†
More Men and Women SacraMentors Become Trainers
The SacraMentor Training Council has just completed its first training program for the 2001-2002 training season. The trainers who have completed the training will be integrated into the existing women’s training team.
Jim Ferris, and Dan Staab the co- chairs of the Training Council both said, “the women in this training class will bring professionalism and passion to their roles as trainers. We have learned a lot from them already”.
The women who have completed the training are as follows:
- Mary Anne Reynolds, St. Charles in Tacoma
- Fran Jones, St. Andrew in Sumner
- Eileen Dupras, St. Andrew in Sumner
- Dawn Moore, Our Lady Queen of Heaven Parish in Spanaway
- Marion Sodden, Holy Spirit Parish in Kent.
We are honored to have these new members of our training teams on board and look forward to having them actively participating in the program.†
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