Casting Nets. Chris Stewart

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Casting Nets - Chris Stewart

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sixty-five miles, and they are both fed by the same source, the Jordan River. So what is the cause of the difference between life and death in the two bodies of water? It seems to be that the Sea of Galilee has an outlet and the Dead Sea has none. In other words, the Jordan River flows into the Sea of Galilee and then it flows out, but not so with the Dead Sea, the water simply evaporates (about seven million tons a day), thus leaving the high concentration of salt. The lesson for us is that as Christ pours His grace within us so we must give that grace to others, we must produce fruit, or we will be at risk of being “cut down and thrown into the fire” (Mt 7:19).

      The goal is to be a reservoir that takes in water in order to store it, that it may be distributed when needed. A reservoir ceases to be a good reservoir if, like the Dead Sea, it does not give out its life-giving water. But if all a reservoir does is give out its water and keeps nothing of itself, it is called a channel. To be a channel while evangelizing is a dangerous position, because the channel retains no grace for itself and eventually will dry up. What a delicate balance between keeping our reservoirs filled with the grace of God and continually giving ourselves to others.12 It is a difficult balance, but it must be reached for the health of our soul and those who we are trying to reach. We can take the example of the saints and even Our Lord, who continually pulled away from the active work to draw close to the Source of all activity through solitude and prayer.

      In order to effectively evangelize we must be a people of prayer. We must pursue holiness relentlessly so that our heart and mind are one with God. It is in prayer that our heart and mind are conformed to God’s heart and mind. Pope Francis explains how prayer makes us better evangelists:

      One form of prayer moves us particularly to take up the task of evangelization and to seek the good of others: it is the prayer of intercession. Let us peer for a moment into the heart of St. Paul, to see what his prayer was like. It was full of people: “…I constantly pray with you in every one of my prayers for all of you … because I hold you in my heart” (Phil 1:4,7). Here we see that intercessory prayer does not divert us from true contemplation, since authentic contemplation always has a place for others.13

      We must recommit ourselves to a renewal of an effective prayer life. To effectively evangelize we need a prayer life that has Passion, Purpose, and Perseverance.

      We must RE-commit to our prayer life with Passion. Pray for an intense renewal in our own life and our own faith. The first step in the New Evangelization is a requirement on our part to continually be evangelized and renew our commitment to Christ. As Pope Francis exhorted:

      I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord.”14

      If we have not made a firm commitment to daily personal prayer, then today must be that day. If we have a daily prayer life, then, can we take it to the next level? Can we get to daily Mass more often? Can we get to adoration more often? The New Evangelization will not be possible without this reNEWal in us.

      During my (Chris’) senior in high school my mother received the devastating news that she had breast cancer. I still vividly remember my mother on her bed crying while she still held the phone that had delivered the message. Unfortunately, this was at a time in my life in which I did not take my faith seriously; I was not a good Catholic, not a good son, not even a good citizen. But this news shook me to the core. I remember praying for the first time in years. Even though my prayers were shallow and selfish, I believe it began to open my heart a little. Praise God, my mother has been cancer free for twenty years. When we come face to face with the serious crisis of a family member or a close friend, such as a cancer diagnosis or news of a bad car accident, our prayers become intensely serious. We will pray with every fiber of our being and with all our strength begging God to intervene.

      This is a good thing; indeed our heavenly Father desires to hear all the petitions that weigh so heavily on our hearts, but do we pray for conversions with the same intensity and passion? While physical healings may not always be in the will of God, we can be certain that God wants all people to enjoy eternal life with Him. After all, the conversion of sinners is what causes joy in heaven (see Lk 15:7,10). Praying for conversions in others is truly loving them, whether for family, friends, neighbors, strangers, or our enemies. Pope Francis encourages us to pray for everyone: “We all have our likes and dislikes, and perhaps at this very moment we are angry with someone. At least let us say to the Lord: ‘Lord, I am angry with this person. I pray to you for him and for her.’ To pray for a person with whom I am irritated is a beautiful step forward in love, and an act of evangelization. Let us do it today! Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of the ideal of fraternal love!”15 In the Bible, Jesus counsels us with this instruction: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Mt 5:44). The first step to the act of forgiveness is praying for them, which will lead us then to doing acts of charity for them.

      Consider this example from my family’s (Chris’) experience. There was once a person in our neighborhood who didn’t like the barking of any dogs. We have a rat terrier who loves to bark with her high-pitched, annoying bark. Every time Teri would begin to bark, the neighbor would put a foghorn out the window and blare it. It became quite a contentious situation. My wife decided that for the feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux—the Little Flower—she and the kids were going to hand out flowers with “God loves you” written on them throughout several neighborhoods. The kids went hesitantly to the door of this person and gave her a flower of love, and a miracle happened that day! She has never blown that foghorn since and actually called recently to say that our gate door was open and she was afraid Teri might get out. That is the power of prayer and action!

      Pray for a heart like our Savior, a heart full of zeal and love for lost souls. Pray with intensity that Our Lord will open our eyes, ears, and lips to love others into the Kingdom. When this becomes our prayer it will be amazing how often we will begin to see opportunities to share the Good News. When I (Chris) was visiting a friend in San Diego, he was generous enough to take me—a guy raised in Kansas—surfing. (I am sure it was just for his own entertainment). After I had adequately embarrassed myself and we were done with the suffering, we enjoyed watching the sun set over the ocean while sitting around a small campfire on the beach. A young couple came on the beach looking for their own fire pit, but there were none left, so we invited them to join us. As the couple was gathering their wood, my friend, who has a passion for saving souls, led us in a quick prayer: “Father, if we can be an instrument for this couple to come to know You then let us be that instrument. Hail Mary, full of grace…” No exaggeration, within the first five minutes of the conversation we were talking about Christ and His Church with the couple. She was a non-practicing Catholic, and he was someone raised with no religion. I will never forget that prayer or conversation, or the example that my friend showed me for having a passion for saving souls (that friend went on to become a chastity speaker, reaching millions of souls across the world). Pray for passion to pray with passion to be the evangelist that brings souls to Christ to satisfy His passion.

      We must RE-commit to our prayer life with Purpose. A prayer life that has purpose will demonstrate commitment. Faithfulness to a daily prayer time is essential. Do we give at least one percent of our day to the Lord? In a twenty-four-hour day, one percent is only fifteen minutes. Do we give the Lord the best time slots of our day or the leftovers? At our (Chris’) home we have what we call a “prayer chair.” It is well-worn, complete with foam falling out of its arms, but it is the first place that we begin every morning. My wife and I read the Scriptures in that chair every morning. Daily Scripture reading is so essential to our prayer life to allow Our Lord to speak to us through His Word. This kind of committed prayer life will make clear our purpose as evangelists.

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