Friday, August 26, 2022
Feast of Our Lady of Czestochowa
"Be vigilant at all times and pray,
that you may have the strength to stand before the Son of Man."
Gospel of Saint Luke, 21:36:
Dear Friend,
Welcome to Week 34 of Disciples Together on the Way! We’ve made it to week 34! Alleluia! Do not grow weary – we are nearing the summit! Anything worthwhile demands hard work and commitment. So, I encourage you to continue with our weekly challenges to grow closer to Jesus and in turn grow as a disciple of Christ.
If you’ve missed a week or two or more of our year long pilgrimage, please do not be discouraged – begin anew and God will complete the good work He has begun.
Saint Augustine and his mother, Saint Monica (1846) by Ary Scheffer, The National Gallery, London
Saint Monica, whose feast day we celebrate tomorrow, is a great model of perseverance. She spent 17 years weeping, sacrificing and praying for her son’s conversion. In her steadfastness, Saint Monica lived to see her son, St. Augustine of Hippo, be baptized by Saint Ambrose as an adult convert to Christianity. And, ultimately, he become a bishop and a Doctor of the Church.
As a disciple of Christ, we are called to learn from and to stay close to our Lord. We can do this in many different ways, however one thing is necessary – to make a commitment to follow Jesus down the path which He sets before us. MARCH ON!
Continue to join me in these weekly challenges to grow closer to our Lord as a disciple – all for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
This week’s challenge will be a little different from previous weeks as we take a pause from beginning a new challenge to refocus on a challenge that we’ve already done.
Think about a challenge that was presented over the past eight weeks. They focused on the virtues and then on intercessory prayer. Here they are again with hyperlinks to a webpage with more details:
Week 27 | The Virtues | Invite a family to your home for a meal or take a meal to a homebound person
Did these challenges come easily? Were there some that seemed more difficult to stick with? Spend some time in meditative prayer examining how the challenges from the areas of virtue and intercession have gone over the past several weeks.
Ask the Lord to show you where you need to spend some more time and effort cultivating the habit of a good disciple. Then, repeat a particular challenge from these past eight weeks.
The more we do something, the better we get at it! When we fall short, we must get up, dust ourselves off and begin again.
As the 20th century Spanish priest, Saint Josemaría Escrivá said: “To begin is for everyone. To persevere is for saints.” So, let’s persevere together!
I’ll be back with a new challenge next week. Until then, may God bless you abundantly throughout this week, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
+ Earl Boyea
Bishop of Lansing
P.S. Here's a video version of this week's challenge. Do share it with family and friends. Thank you.
Watch: Turn the volume on for this! Here's the Diocese of Lansing seminarians in fine voice as they sing a rousing rendition of the anthem, "Rise Up, O Men of God":
Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things.
Give heart and soul and mind and strength
To serve the King of Kings.
The seminarians gathered at Saint Francis Retreat Center in DeWitt 18-21 August for four days of prayer, study and fraternity. At present the Diocese of Lansing has 29 men in formation for the sacred priesthood.
The weekend in DeWitt concluded with a dinner hosted by Bishop Boyea for those currently discerning a call to seminary life and, Deo volente, the priesthood. In total, 50 young men were in attendance. Please keep them, and our beloved seminarians, in your prayers in the months to come. Saint Charles Borromeo, patron of seminarians, pray for them!
Watch: Meanwhile as the new school year begins, meet our new teachers including Sister Anthony Marie Bautista OP. Sister Anthony Marie is the new Middle School Math & Science teachers at Church of the Resurrection in Lansing. Watch this short film as she explains her deep desire to teach faith, reason and science to the next generation.
Invitation: Want to bring the Holy Bible to life with relevant, live teaching from seminary-level instructors? Start your journey through the entire Bible with a Catholic Biblical School of Michigan class, available in-person at St. Patrick in Brighton (Wednesdays 7-9 pm) or in an "anytime" fully-online class.
A Biblical School class brings the culture, history, and roots of our Catholic faith to life with engaging lectures and small group discussions.
Through generous donations, all requests for scholarships are granted. Classes start the week of September 18, register by September 7.
Learn more by clicking here or at an optional Info Night happening Sunday, August 28, online at 8 pm; or Wednesday, August 31, at St. Patrick in Brighton at 7 pm; and Tuesday, September 6, online at 8 pm.
* For more on Info Nights click here or contact info@cbsmich.org or call/text 586-438-3085.
Read: It’s easy to dream of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the faceless, nameless, imaginary person. It’s way harder when the person is your brother, sister, cousin or close friend. So how do we share our love for Christ with those closest to us?
That's the question answered in the latest edition of FAITH Magazine by the popular Catholic speaker and write, Pete Burak. Pete puts forward four P's to guide our apostolate with our nearest and dearest: Prayer, personal, patience and painful. What does that all mean? Find out by clicking here.
Pete Burak is the director of id, the young adult outreach of Renewal Ministries. He is a 2010 graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville, and has a Master's Degree in Theology from Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Michigan.
