The EquipCast

We talk a lot on this podcast about evangelization and mission. I can cast vision all day long, but the reality is…actually going on mission is scary.

How do I recognize the people in my life that are ready to hear the Good News of Jesus?

How do I get over the fear of stepping outside of my comfort zone to share my faith?

There’s no one answer that will work for every person. But today, I want to hold up for you the story a parishioner in this Archdiocese. Michael Doerneman is unassuming, and so is his story. But I think there are powerful lessons to be learned.

Tune in to hear the simple story of a man on mission.

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When you imagine yourself Living Mercy, what comes to mind first? Do you think of the saints who gave up everything for a life of poverty or service to the sick? Does that seem impossible or very far from reach?

Today, I talk to Dcn. Omar Gutierrez about Catholic Social Teaching and the lay person’s role to live ordinary mercy. He tells us, “All teachings of the Church [on this subject] start and end in the same spot: Jesus. Know him so that you can love him and so that you can be with him now and forever.”

The daily care for those in need starts with caring for those whom the Lord puts in our pathway.

But what does this look like practically, and how do we get started?

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On a scale of 1-10, how missional would you say your parish is?

In October 2020, the Archbishop launched the Big Goal that “Each parish in the Archdiocese of Omaha would become missional by the end of 6 years”. Implicit in that goal is the recognition that none of us are there yet.

So, I invite each of you to ask, “Is my community dying, declining, swelling, or growing?”

While these categories sound depressing, an honest conversation about where we are at is designed to help us receive the grace of pastoral conversion and to be invited deeper into the mission of the Church.

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Special Guest: Calvin Mueller.

We are back with our monthly Skill Demo! This time, Chris Sommers, Director of Human Resources, gives us practical advice on how to handle performance issues. I know many of you are not managers, but much of her advice is still applicable to those situations where we have to give feedback to a volunteer, friend, or family member.

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Have you ever struggled to pass on your faith to your children?

I know I'm not alone when I say that talking about the faith in an age appropriate way to my children is hard. When they are young, just getting the threenages to sit still at mass is difficult. And when they are older...well...nothing I do impresses the teenagers.

While I'm not an expert in religious education, I am a father. So I invited other passionate fathers to join me in a conversation about evangelizing our own children.

Here's some of what we discussed:

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Special Guests: Andy Dejka and Calvin Mueller.

Sometimes the idea of discerning God’s will can daunting. Sifting through the emotions, desires, and the high and low points of each day, and then listening for God’s voice in the midst of it all, can at times be an intimidating task. Now add to this task of discernment, the dynamics of a team. When you have multiple people who bring their thoughts and feelings to the table, discernment can get messy. Today, Fr. Paul Hoesing gives some tips and tricks on how to discern as a team.

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Preparation for the sacrament of marriage used to happen at the dinner table. The best preparation came from the family that you grew up in. Unfortunately, with the changes in our culture, including the very high divorce rate, couples often receive this sacrament without ever seeing a healthy marriage relationship. Today's marriage prep process, while trying to provide what couples are lacking, has regrettably become a check-list, hoops to jump through in order to get to the altar. Rachael Tvrdy walks us through the gaps and offers a vision for marriage prep that drops the divorce rate of couples who go through it to 5% and increases the parish's rate of retaining their couples after marriage to 70-90%.

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A very real obstacle to changing culture and building a missional church is my own ability to stay organized. I can set all of the lofty goals that I want, but if I never revisit them, I am very likely to never achieve them.

In this month's Skill Demo, I outline my favorite method of staying organized, the Weekly Review. It's a time where you can gather all of your thoughts and processes, review the past week, and get ready for the next one.

A Production of the Archdiocese of Omaha

Have you noticed? Talking to your neighbor about faith has gotten harder over the past few decades. For our grandparents, it was enough that they taught daily devotions to their children by example. And our experience of education, the law, government, and art supported our beliefs. Now, the culture is in direct opposition to our faith.

We find ourselves, to quote Pope Francis, in a "change of age".

So how do we "mind the gap". How do we transition well into this new age?

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“And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Eph 4:11-12) Today, I invited an old friend and biblical scholar to unpack the meaning or this verse. Here are just a few of his gems of wisdom:

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