PastoralQuotient

Wherever needed reform begins pushing back against entrenched mediocrity, leaders face the question: "By what authority?" Chapter Two of 'Divine Renovation' shows that the movement of parishes from maintenance to mission is NOT the personal agenda or ideological preference of one person or a group; it's a gospel and magisterial mandate. Fr Mallon presents the case from the past fifty years of Catholic teaching that the church is "missionary by her very nature' and cannot BUT evangelize if she is to be true to her Christ-appointed mission.

In this episode, Fr Anthony and Fr Charles discuss styles of authority that can and cannot get the job done, and the long journey required to win trust and move hearts capable of creating disciple-making cultures at the parish level.

The identity crisis facing the church has left us confused and weak. The church is a movement, meant to go forth and bring the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ to all peoples. But instead, the church is often a tribe - closed in on itself, self-referential, even to the point of becoming "sick," according to Pope Francis. Are we fostering church cultures that maintain a status quo of complacent exclusivity, keeping Jesus all to ourselves? Or are we forming disciples and reaching the lost through clear and effective disciple-making processes? What is the path forward?

Fr Anthony and Fr Charles dive deep into Chapter One of Fr Mallon's "Divine Renovation" to discuss these matters, using the text as a starting point for the conversations we need to be having if our local churches are to be faithful to the great commission and the gospel mandate to go forth and make disciples.

A few years ago, Canadian priest James Mallon wrote a book called "Divine Renovation: Bringing Your Parish From Maintenance to Mission." Fr Mallon is seeing good fruit at his parish as the principles of "The Joy of the Gospel" are actually being realized. In his book, he tells the story of what has worked at his parish and why. He shares what he has learned in a way that can be helpful for others who are trying help parishes form disciples and reach the lost. In this new series, Fr Anthony Co and Fr Charles summarize the content and then riff on the themes, as they try and figure out how for themselves how to bring their parishes from "maintenance to mission." First in a series.

Roy Petitfils is a Catholic psychotherapist specializing in work with teens. After a fatherless childhood of poverty, obesity and bullying (described poignantly in his TED talk), Roy experienced a hope-awakening college conversion which ultimately led to five years in seminary, almost a decade of teaching and youth ministry, and finally to professional counseling specializing in teens.

Roy is a sought-after Catholic speaker well-known nationally in youth ministry circles. His podcast ‘Today’s Teenager’ is a must-listen, go-to resource for adults seeking to better understand, reach, and positively influence the teens in their lives. In this conversation, Roy takes us through his story from alienated teenager to one of the most insightful and wise voices of advocacy for youth in today’s church. Roy employs ’Empathic evangelization’ to describe his experience as both recipient and giver of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

ENDOW - Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women - is a potent formation resource inspired by the vision that each woman encounters her infinite God-given value and dignity, untold talents and beauty, deserving of respect and of love. When I reached out to Katherine Meeks, West Coast director of ENDOW, I was looking for an articulate Catholic female voice to discuss the fruits of the program, Catholic feminism, and the contributions of “the feminine genius” that so enrich the world.

Well, I got that, for sure. But as usual, my conversation took unexpected turns as Katherine opened up about her story. The tragic loss of her brother during high school provoked deep existential questions and gave the Christian proposal new significance. Her journey took her from the Chicago suburbs to college in Indiana to Los Angeles, with extended stops along the way doing non-profit public health work in Peru, South Africa, Cameroon, and an Indian reservation in New Mexico. She came to LA after landing a coveted job with humanitarian innovators TOMS shoes, and was eventually offered a dream job in public health development at UCLA - only to turn it down to work for ENDOW. People of all backgrounds - but perhaps especially Catholic women - will find inspiration and encouragement in this extraordinary conversation.

What is it like to be a full time doctor at a Nashville medical Clinic serving mostly a poor and immigrant population...while also living the life of a fully professed religious Sister? How does a young High school teacher from New York find her way into religious life in Nashville, then through medical school and residency and now ten years into the healing vocation of a physician? I thought this would make for a great interview, and I was not mistaken.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Sr Mary Diana talks about the joys and challenges of her medical work, how she found her religious calling, what it was like being in med school as a religious sister, belonging fully to God within a community of Dominican sisters, and how the answer to just about every question can somehow turn out to be..."God."

In this, part two, we dig in to Sarah’s story. She talks about losing a friend to suicide in high school; a mission trip that gave rise to her first powerful God encounter; and the prayer in the Spirit that several friends prayed over her during grad school which triggered a major spiritual upgrade. She talks about about the benefits - and limitations - of clinical psychology in her ministry; her experience of intense apostolic communal living in urban Detroit; her ministry experience; TPM prayer ministry; Millennials; being a spiritual daughter of Bill Johnson; and much more.

I was in a good, happy, hopeful mood for a week after chatting with this godly, Spirit-filled woman. You will be, too.

Sarah Kaczmarek is the national director for Alpha’s youth division. If you do not know about Alpha, it’s a series of sessions exploring the Christian faith centered on food, a talk, and meaningful conversation. It’s also one of the fastest growing and most effective evangelization tools out there today.

Sarah served as a youth minister for eleven years before joining the Alpha team, first as their Catholic liaison and then as their youth director. She has an MA in counseling which has served her both in clinical and pastoral settings. She is working on another advanced degree in evangelization from Sacred Heart seminary in Detroit.

In this, part one, Sarah goes in depth into the what, how and why of Alpha. It may be the best explanation and most compelling commercial for Alpha out there.

Brian Pusateri's "Broken Door Ministries" began in the wake of a troubling medical diagnosis and a disruptive divine prompting on a silent retreat. Throw in an inspirational email to some Cursillo friends that grew into the 25,000+ global weekly readership "4th Day Letters" - and a traveling retreat that is facilitating major personal breakthroughs and inner healings - and there you have it... Brian's current life. Oh yeah...he also has MS and is a survivor of clerical sexual abuse. This wide-ranging conversation could perhaps be summed up as an extended unpacking of Pope Francis' "field hospital" metaphor for church. A profound, personal, provocative conversation on brokenness and belonging - and of course, Jesus.

This is my second interview with JR Woodward. JR is an author, church planter, and disciple-making disciple who has been laboring to advance the Kingdom of God on both coasts for over two decades. He is one of the founders the V3 church planting movement, author of "Creating a Missional Culture" and now "The Church as Movement." He is a positively disrupting force in the missional church world and brings a gregarious, curious, and hungry spirit into every missional space he enters. In this wide-ranging conversation we talk about my beard, the Trump election, the recent Praxis Gathering, spaces of belonging, the clerical captivity of the church...and much much more.