Mission Matters

Udział wiernych świeckich w Apostolskiej Misji Kościoła Czas Adwentu

Prawdą jest, że od Soboru Watykańskiego II rola wiernych świeckich w Apostolskiej Misji Kościoła została mocno podkreślona.  Akcentował to nie tylko sam Sobór, ale również powszechne nauczanie kolejnych następców Stolicy Piotrowej. To nowe spojrzenia na posługę świeckich, ujawniło potrzebę głębszej formacji do pełnienia misji w codziennym życiu i pracy.

Staff Spotlight

There have been a number of additions to our staff this year, including our  new Social Media Coordinator, Ashley Collins.  Ashley grew up in Milledgeville, GA and moved to Chicago upon graduation from college with a degree in Philosophy.  After spending a year at St. Joseph college seminary as a  seminarian for Atlanta, Ashley  felt called to work in lay ministry.  He started creating websites and assisting his parish with their internet presence which led to his position with OMEA, where he has created our new website, www.WeAreMissionary.org.

Christ Has No Body

CHRIST HAS NO BODY… BUT YOURS! Whether we are seven or seventy our mission in life is to be the hands and feet of Christ on earth. Our recent Mission: Possible Art Contest brought that message to life as 54 classes from the Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools, Grades 3-8, sent their depiction of their mission through art projects and videos. Though our judges chose 4 winning entries, (Gr.4 St. Agnes-Chicago Heights, Gr.6 Bridgeport Catholic Academy-Chicago, Gr.7 Prince of Peace-Lake Villa, Gr.5 St. Zachary-Des Plaines, Honorable Mention Gr.8 St. Edward-Chicago) we found that overall, we, who saw the efforts and read or heard the words of children “on mission”, were truly the winners. What a marvelous experience for us to hear from the children who worked as a class and used their talents to show what being the hands and feet of Christ meant to them. Our CONGRATULATIONS go out to all who entered the contest! It is our hope and belief that these children will continue to stay strong in their mission well into the future.

NAVIDAD MISIONERA

La Navidad es una fiesta universal y misionera en la que celebramos un Gran Misterio de nuestra fe: Dios se hace humanidad, Dios se hace uno de nosotros en Jesús de Nazaret. La misión continua siendo el motor que mueve nuestras vidas; por eso soñamos con que esta Navidad continúe naciendo el Amor de Dios en el corazón de cada hombre y mujer, de cada joven, de cada niño y niña. Que entre todos volvamos a los origines de la Navidad y entendamos que la Navidad es sencillez, cercanía, servicio, compartir en estos momentos de crisis y es abrir nuestros corazones a todos los que nos rodean, pero especialmente a los más pobres.

From the Director Dec. 2011

A Blessed Advent and Christmas Season to all of you!  We pray that as we celebrate the birth of Christ you experience the deep peace that the Lord came among us to bring! Christ’s birth changed the world and how we relate to God so it is a time of deep gratitude for his transforming love.

Mission is very much related to the Incarnation because in mission we seek to make Christ incarnate in every culture and among every people through proclamation and witness. Pope Benedict has written that:The newness of Christian proclamation is that we can tell all peoples: God has revealed himself…And now the way to him is open.  The novelty of Christian proclamation does not consist in an idea, but in a fact: God has revealed himself...The Word of God reaches men and women through an encounter with witnesses who make it present and alive.

Discipulos Misioneros

Nuestra Oficina de Animación y Educación Misionera está trabajando el programa de formación “Llegar a ser un Discípulo Misionero.” Este programa de formación nos pondrá en contacto con nuestra vocación de discípulos(as) y misioneros(as) de Jesucristo, un llamado que corresponde a todos los bautizados sin excepción y que no podemos ignorar o dejar de vivir. También el programa nos llevará a que estemos en un estado permanente de misión.

Mission : Possible

“The witness of a Christian life is the first and irreplaceable form of mission” (RM 42). The call to mission does not come with adulthood. It begins the day we are baptized. Yet many Christians who were baptized as infants have never realized this important vocation to which they are called. Since taking on the role of Holy Childhood Coordinator in the Archdiocese I have come to a much deeper understanding of being called to mission and the importance of children seriously knowing and accepting their mission.

Stając się Uczniami-Misjonarzami

Kim jest uczeń, od kogo i czego się uczy, w końcu - co czyni ze zdodobytą wiedzą? Te i inne tym podobne pytania są podstawowymi dla każdego procesu edukacyjnego i o ileż bardziej ważne będą, kiedy zadamy je w kontekście wiary. „ Stając się Uczniami - Misjonarzami” jest archidiecezjalnym programem formacyjnym dla dorosłych katolików, którzy wzrastając duchowo w swoich parafiach pragną jeszcze bardziej pogłębić swoją wiedzę o ich tożsamości katolickiej; a także o przywilejach i zobowiązaniach z niej wynikających.

Evangelical Catholics

The Pope’s words call young people to be very public about sharing their faith in Christ. We adults need to encourage them not only with words, but by the example of our lives. We live in a society that more and more is relegating faith and religious practice to the periphery of life. Just recently I heard a discussion about immigration on the radio and one of the participants in the discussion mentioned the need to act on our faith. The host of the show responded by saying, “Let’s not bring religion into our discussion. This is a political problem.” This kind of thinking belies a deeper attitude which does not value the transcendent dimension of life. This is the message that much of secular media conveys and would have us believe, but this is not an attitude shared by many younger Catholics.

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