Christmas Music — too early or too much?

Posted on November 24, 2014 by the Bouchers

Ever experience the jolt of shopping for Halloween items, then moving on to the next aisle, only to be assaulted by Christmas merchandise? Ever been consulted by a retailer about when Christmas decorations should go on sale? Ever been asked by a store or a radio station about the best starting date for airing Christmas music? We haven’t.

But wait a minute! Can’t we turn the November – December hype into an opportunity to share what Christmas and the birth of Jesus means in our lives? Join us for an internet session about sharing faith during the Advent-Christmas season.

Explore ways to reach out to others through images like the empty manger and the Three Kings, through Christmas Carols and St. Nicholas events, through parish Nativity scenes and compassion for overflow crowds at Christmas liturgies.

For more about planning a Christmas Carol Festival visit here

 

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A Question of Semantics or a Spiritual Breakthrough?

Posted on October 13, 2014 by the Bouchers

“It’s four o’clock. Time to call Robert,” Therese reminder herself in the middle of offering a parish workshop on faith. She knew from their weekly conversations that he would be in bed before the workshop ended, because of his struggle with the side effects of chemotherapy and stage four cancer. So Therese would have to skip out for a few minutes while John took over,  in order to share about her day and her brother’s day.

At one point during their conversation, Therese said, “I’m teaching about faith today. It’s an interesting topic for me. Do you have anything I should add to the next talk?” She did not know what to expect in response since he was not a regular churchgoer.

“You’re talking to the wrong person. I don’t believe in that crap,” he responded.

“Well. Do you believe in hard work?” she asked. The answer was ‘Yes!’

“Do you believe in your doctor?”

“You bet. He’s taking good care of me!”

“Do you believe in marriage?” “Of course!” was his reply.

Then she gave her brother a minute to think. Robert got the message and broke the silence with, “Wow! When you put it that way, I guess I do have faith.”

This is one of a just a handful of conversations, in which Therese tried to open the door to a little faith sharing. “You never know what to expect from the Holy Spirit“, she had thought.  And her confidence in the Holy Spirit created a peace with her, a peace that freed Robert to respond and to rethink his apparent disconnect between faith in God and daily life.

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What about a missionary journey?

Posted on July 24, 2014 by the Bouchers

june23 127Suddenly, St. Paul’s missionary journeys have become an intriguing subject for us. According to Loyola Press, “Paul traveled over 10,000 miles proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. His journeys on land and sea took him primarily through present day Israel, Syria, Turkey, and Greece. .. [By road] there was constant danger of bandits.” And by sea, Paul experienced the devastation of shipwrecks.

We are interested in St. Paul because, we are undertaking a ‘missionary journey’ to NEW JERSEY in September. The trip will involve about 500 miles back and forth from our home in Massachusetts; five presentations or workshops in three cities and a little time with some New Jersey friends. Now, there is no way we can begin to compare ourselves to St. Paul on mileage.  But we can truly set out with the same fervor, born of confidence in the Holy Spirit.

What journeys will you take to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Do you hope to share faith with someone before or after a Sunday Mass? Do you ever visit a sick friend, hoping to say a little prayer? Do you ever turn on your computer hoping to tell others about God’s presence in your day? Do you ask Jesus to send you in his footsteps, on his mission of love and redemption each morning? “We as his disciples are also sent, with no less of a calling than that of a foreign missionary who leaves his country and family for the sake of the gospel. And even though you might only leave your front door, when you step out of that door, you are sent out in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. That is why the last thing we hear at a Sunday liturgy is to ‘go in peace to love and serve the Lord’.” (excerpt from Sharing the Faith That You Love)

For a listing of offerings in New Jersey and beyond visit our CURRENT SCHEDULE page. And please pray for our journeys, as we pray for you in your response to God’s call.

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