Dear Friends,
I have been on vacation for the past two weeks. At 70 plus years of age, it does not take much to say that I had an adventure. While snorkeling was the biggest planned adventure on this trip, life can always throw a few extra challenges on our way.
What are some big planned or unplanned adventures have you taken lately? What big adventures are you planning? May I suggest one? What if you could have a conversation with the most powerful being in the universe? What if you could talk to the one who understands all things and creates all things? What if you could come face to face with the one who knows you better than anyone else? What kind of adventure would that be?
That really is what we are all about here at Cabrini, introducing you to the living God and helping you grow closer to God. The ultimate end of our work at the parish is not to give you a state of bliss but to help you journey into the very heart of God. A heart that is cross-shaped in nature.
If you desire a life filled with an ever-deepening relationship with God, a life marked by freedom from interior and cultural idols, a journey heading toward wholeness, peace, and joy, it is not found in the wide path of the world’s conventional wisdom, but on the narrow path of Jesus. Jesus often reminded his followers that they would be in the world but not of the world. That his disciples, like him, would be seen as a bit crazy because they are following his teaching, not the world’s teaching.
Jesus knew that following him and obtaining all that he would offer would not be easy. For this reason, he formed a community, a group of disciples that came to be called Church. Walking the path of Jesus together and learning from each other helps us to avoid the things that would cause us to stumble or to get on the wrong path.
We will soon be launching a new season for our Cabrini and Magdalene Communities. This year, the theme for the videos offered each month will be “Practicing the Way of Jesus – Living in the World but not of the World.” The first few months we will be looking at Jesus’ teachings about the ways of his enemy so that we can learn to easily discern the temptations and stumblings that the enemy throws our way. Following that, we will look at what the Christian Tradition teaches us about transforming our mind, our will, our body, our social life, and our hearts so that we can truly be children of the light.
I am hoping that you will find this new season to be very practical and that it will help you in profound ways to live as followers of Jesus who are in the world but not of the world. If you are not in a Community now but would like a new adventure, please contact either Deacon Doug Lenz or Ann Lenz at the Parish Office.
Peace,
Fr. Damian