An interview With an Evangelizing Catholic School Principal

Posted on November 19, 2021 by the Bouchers

Allan F. Wright recently offered an online workshop for the Diocese of Worcester and beyond entitled, “Help ‘Missing’ Catholics Come Home to Jesus & the Mass.” His spoke from his experiences as a father, as an Adjunct Professor at Seton Hall University (Orange, NJ) a Catholic academy principal, an author of 17 books, a TV commentator, and a radio host. Among his many works are: Jesus the Evangelist: A Gospel Guide to the New Evangelization, and The Bible’s Best Love Stories (Franciscan Media).

How did you become interested in Catholic evangelization? 

When I first made a commitment to Christ during my senior year of high school, and quickly developed a hunger and thirst for scripture. Some years later, I was involved in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal which put even more flesh on the word “evangelization.” As an adult I also became involved in “Young Life,” an interdenominational youth outreach to the unchurched. That work was the best training for ministry that I’ve experience.

   How do you evangelize in your day-to-day life?

I am a principal of a Catholic School where we pray the rosary as a school each Monday, and sing praise and worship songs on Tuesdays. Then there’s Witness Wednesday where people share their encounters with Christ. Also, Eucharistic Adoration on Thursday and Mass on Friday, are rooted in our Catholic Traditions. I see myself as a witness first and foremost and then as a catalyst for the Holy Spirit to operate within the students.

 How have pandemic restrictions affected Catholic parishes and schools? 

Anytime people are restricted from receiving the eucharist the faith will suffer. However, parishes have done remarkably well in my opinion, by switching to virtual masses and drive-through confessionals. But, even with these adjustments, some nominal Catholics have been further marginalized by lack of personal contact with other Catholics and the sacraments. So now we have an even greater opportunity to share the gospel in new and innovative ways.

  What will bring Catholics back to parishes and Masses?

Short answer, prayer. Longer answer, prayer to notice opportunities to share faith in God. Prayer to become more available and to strength our capacity for personal invitations to come back. Think of the years that Jesus spent with his disciples. Being willing to accompany people on their journey is important. If people “blow off” our invitation we do not dismiss them but continue to love them and witness to them through our care.

What is your next book about daily missionary evangelizing?

I’m finishing up a Catholic Youth Bible. It’s a regular Bible but there are 25 or so inserts dealing with the basics of the faith and issues that teens face, such as dealing with anger, depression, family relationships, and sharing the faith. Insert have headings like, “What does the Scripture say? Why does it matter to me? How can I live this ‘theme’ and be a better disciple? How can I encounter God in the midst of these issues?” My hope is that this approach will answer questions young people have as they connect the faith with daily life. I also hope they see that the Church’s approach to real life issues is reasonable.

 Who are the greatest influencers in your approach to evangelizing? 

The Young Life leader who reached out to me 40 years ago. His kindness, patience and acceptance of me and his willingness to share, “not only the Gospel, but his very life as well,” continues to impact me. That verbal witness is needed today, in an age where we are told to witness without words. Yes. Service is important, but there comes a time when words are very necessary!

(Find out more about Allan F. Wright at http://www.allanwright.org.)

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Are You Ready to Be a Daily Missionary Disciple?

Posted on October 12, 2021 by the Bouchers

“Jesus asks us all, and you as well, to be missionary disciples. Are you ready?” asked Pope Francis during the church’s annual celebration of October as Mission Month. “We pray that every baptized person may be engaged in evangelization, available to the mission, by being witnesses of a life that has the flavor of the Gospel… It’s enough to be available to answer his call and to live united to the Lord in the most common daily things — work, meeting other people, our daily duties, the chance events of each day — allowing ourselves to be guided always by the Holy Spirit.”

Do you know that World Mission Sunday is Oct. 24, 2021? Are you ready? Not necessarily to embrace the foreign missions, or become a priest, deacon or religious. For most of us, Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist is all we need to get started. Then we must add a comprehensive, ever-evolving understanding of ourselves as missionaries. Bishop Robert Barron, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, puts it this way, “The minute you walk outside of your church on Sunday you’re in mission territory.” So, for many of us, even getting up out of bed, willing to serve our families, co-workers is a starting point. Next comes an awareness that the more than 80% of baptized Catholics are not regular Mass-goers, not to mention, others who are disconnected from any religious support or community.  This majority of people can be called, “religious wanderers.” Bishop Robert J. McManus, of the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, writes, “The ministry of a missionary disciple is to search out these wanderers, and, once found, introduce them to the person of Jesus, the message of his Gospel, and the teachings of his Church.” (Catechist magazine, April-May, 2018)

Here are eight practices for growing as daily missionary disciples:

  • Praise and thank God frequently throughout the day for the many gifts you have (and that others also experience—health, possessions, education, friends, jobs, homes, loved ones, etc.
  • Watch for the Holy Spirit’s prompting to speak to others. You might start each day with this simple prayer, “Come, Holy Spirit, grant me the courage to listen to others, to hear what they are going through and to help lift the burdens that they bear. If it be your will, use me to help them.”
  • Embrace the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus as doorways that give meaning to daily sorrows and joys, losses and gains, emptiness and abundance.
  • Strive to become a humble disciple of Jesus Christ. Neither boast of successes, drown in failures, or blame others for their problems. When you see someone who has lost his or her way, recall these words, “There but for the grace of God go I.” (Saint Philip Neri)
  • Learn to practice detachment from material possessions. These are gifts from God our Father, given to be shared with the needy. We do not have absolute ownership of anything.
  • Serve in the face of every kind of poverty; physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. This includes the struggles of the aged, homeless, despairing, and the food insecure, especially among your acquaintances, friends, and relatives.
  • Be prepared to speak about God when the opportunity arises. You might briefly share how (your faith in) Jesus Christ has helped you with a similar struggle. “I felt that way when…. And I became hopeful as I realized that God……”
  • Accept disappointment with patience and courage. Do not dwell in the darkness of a friend’s negative response. “If disappointed, don’t say hard things. Only think a little, and try to remember that God will bring about what is best in God’s own time.” (St. Mary MacKillop)
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Evangelizing Wisdoms Born of the Tragedy on 9/11

Posted on September 10, 2021 by the Bouchers

[John writes] On the morning of September 11, 2001, I stood at an office window in Plainfield, NJ, with tears in my eyes and fear in my heart.  From there, I could see the World Trade Center Towers burning, exploding, collapsing. Eight members of our office staff were on planes departing from NYC. Were any of them on the plane that struck the Twin Towers? We did not know.  Was this a single terrorist attack or an act of war? How would this horror touch our families and loved ones? It was a terrible, overwhelming day for us, for our whole country, and a shock to the world. For weeks, the air around the NYC area had a smoldering heaviness. It stank of a caustic mix of jet fuel, vaporized buildings, and even incinerated human flesh.

This tragedy had a massive effect on the hearts and souls of many. Some people turned to God in prayer. Crowds appeared in parks and intersections, praying the “Our Father,” and singing songs like “Amazing Grace.” Catholic Churches in the North East corridor of the USA were packed with people, alone and in groups.  My wife, Therese, was drawn into intercessory prayer: during the attack, for the people trying to escape and for our son-in-law who was in the area: later, for those suffering from PTSD.

As a speaker, I received a staggering number of requests for a workshop entitled, “Walking with Jesus in Great Suffering.”  As someone in ministry, I met with dozens of people drowning in grief. By the Holy Spirit’s power was I able to share ways that the Gospel message brings meaning, especially as we join ourselves to the grief, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Seven lessons about Catholic evangelization emerged:

  • Suffering brings us face-to-face with the truth that our lives are ultimately not under our control. It is an illusion for us to imagine that we are the masters of our own reality. God is God, and we are not.
  • When we suffer, we have the opportunity to grow in compassion and in empathy those who are weighed down by excruciating pain. Our hard hearts can be pried open by the Holy Spirit. Jesus can heal us, giving us hearts of flesh and gentleness, to replace our hearts of stone.
  • Suffering is an opportunity to turn to God for help, a prompting to deeper intercessory prayer for those who are suffering. A kind of prayer that goes beyond words and into tears, groans, music, or charismatic tongues.
  • Our prayerful response can be an inspiration to others in agony. A study called, “Faith Development in the Adult Life Cycle,” concludes that if someone who is suffering is supported by friends who believe in God, they move closer to God. If their friends are unbelievers, they tend to move away from God.
  • Suffering can open our ears to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who from the Cross joins us in our suffering, as the Great Evangelizer.
  • Offering to pray aloud with someone who is suffering is an act of evangelization. the Holy Spirit can help us put his or her needs and emotions into God’s presence.
  • Jesus invites us to offer our presence and love to those who are suffering. It is an act of evangelizing mercy. Jesus can empower us to embrace what Pope Francis calls the “art of accompaniment.” “Someone good at such accompaniment does not give in to frustrations or fears. He or she invites others to let them­selves be healed, to take up their mat, embrace the cross, leave all behind and go forth ever anew to proclaim the Gospel” (The Joy of the Gospel, 172).

The tragedy of 9/11 rocked the world, but in many ways, it was a dress rehearsal for future, worldwide tragedies like the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions have suffered and died from this illness. Millions have been traumatized by the more than 650,000 deaths in the USA alone. This disease touches all of us, offering another opportunity to reach out to, walk with, and evangelize those around us who need Jesus Christ, the healer of all suffering hearts, the Savior sent by our Father-God.

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