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Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Spreading The Gospel

After Easter, the NCW communities would form the Great Mission by speaking in the public squares.  Some of them go on two by twos, knocking on the doors of neighbors spreading the Good News: Christ is risen.  Although some people may find that routine, there is always something new in it because the neighbors we see as we go door to door are not the same.  The places where we spread the Gospel is also not the same. 
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ON a windy Sunday afternoon along the foreshore of Brisbane’s bayside suburb of Wynnum, a procession of the faithful walking behind a crossbearer, playing guitars, beating drums and singing songs of thanks to the Lord.
It is quite a spectacle for onlookers – the families of picnickers on their blankets and those out stretching their legs along the esplanade walking track.
The procession stops and the group from the Wynnum parish gather on a spare patch of grass to begin giving their experiences of conversion.
Some of the experiences are brief, some are full of life’s detail, others highly charged and passionate. 
Every Christian experience is different.
As the stories are told, passersby stop to listen, drawn in perhaps by the way the stories resonate – the familiarity of personal struggles of faith, of family and community. 
It’s exactly what Pope Francis described in Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love) as the “messiness” of our lives.
Then the microphone is passed to anyone who might wish to speak – and they do – welcoming the chance to have listened to others, and then give their own experience.
By this time, a large crowd has gathered. 
It’s an inclusive community event, which concludes with more singing, Latin-step dancing and an open invitation to come to church – in this case, Wynnum’s Guardian Angels’, which stands on the hill overlooking the esplanade.
Each year, on the Sundays of the Eastertide (this year in April and May), parishioners belonging to the Church’s Neocatechumenal Way take part in the “Mission in the Squares”, taking the Good News out into the community, to people who may not regularly attend church, and probably don’t read the Bible.
On April 9,  Archbishop Mark Coleridge celebrated Mass in St Stephen’s Cathedral with Brisbane’s Neocatechumenal communities – within the parishes at Wynnum, Newmarket and Loganholme – offering a blessing and officially dispatching  them on their Eastertide missions. 
Fr Tony Trafford, a catechist of the Neocatechumenal Way, said more than 20,000 communities in 120 countries take part in the “Mission in the Squares” announcing the risen Christ.
“All around Australia some 70 communities are doing this, because it is important to ensure that mankind everywhere (Luke 14.23) can hear the Good News: that Christ is risen from the dead, which means our sins are forgiven and there is the possibility of a new life if we convert,” Fr Trafford said. 
“This is done in obedience to the command at the end of the Gospels (Mark 16.15-18) to go out and preach to all nations … St Paul speaks of salvation coming from ‘the foolishness of the kerygma’: it seems something unbelievable, that a poor person with no special education, gifts or merits, but with a real experience of Christ, can bear witness to him by preaching this Good News – and people convert.”
By Mark Bowling

27 comments:

  1. I grew up going to Sunday Mass with my parents. And over time, I began to appreciate the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. But I hungered for more which attracted me to El Shaddai, Cursillo, Knights of Columbus, Couples for Christ, and then the Neocatechumenal Way.

    For me, I really found what I was looking for in the Way. God speaks to me in the scripture readings and sharings in the Catechesis and during our preparations, celebrations, and convivences. And also during the times of the Great Mission and at the World Youth Day.

    When you experience the love of God, how can you not want to dance like King David in the Old Testament? Or joyously sing and play instruments like in Psalm 150?

    For me, I am grateful for the Lord speaking to me with the help of the Neocatechumenal Way. This works for me.

    Psalm 150
    1
    Hallelujah!
    Praise God in his holy sanctuary;
    give praise in the mighty dome of heaven.
    2
    Give praise for his mighty deeds,
    praise him for his great majesty.
    3
    Give praise with blasts upon the horn,
    praise him with harp and lyre.
    4
    Give praise with tambourines and dance,
    praise him with strings and pipes.
    5
    Give praise with crashing cymbals,
    praise him with sounding cymbals.
    6
    Let everything that has breath
    give praise to the LORD!

    Hallelujah!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ánimo brothers and sisters from Guam! The devil can not defeat the true. I pray for you and the Catholic Church in Guam. The true always will win over the lies. If there are attacks even more will grow up the Way. Greetings from Norway

    ReplyDelete
  3. I came from a family that was violent. I watched my dad beat my mother. There were times where my mother was trying to commit suicide, in front of us, crying because she felt like her life was doomed being with a violent and abusive man.

    To make a long story short, my parents are now married in Church. I am not afraid to talk to my stepfather anymore. In fact, I can now joke around with him. He now never puts his hand on my mother. WE NOW, PRAY AS A FAMILY.

    All of this was started to happen when we discovered a gift from the Church. That gift is the Neocatechumenal Way. It isn't a group we just found comfort in because it was different from our daily routine. It is the gift that allowed my family to be what it is today: a family grateful for the love of Christ.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Glad to hear of these good things.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Why do you feel you are a better Catholic? Like your way is the holier way guaranteed into heaven. Why do you believe that? Do youvfeel your brothers are without or incapable to
    sin?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Anonymous at 11:38 pm,

      Where under this thread did anyone say that we are better than you?

      Delete
    2. Dear Anonymous at 11:38 PM, you are a victim of inferiority complex. It seems to be self imposed.

      Delete

  6. Diana NCW and you often saying the NCW members are Superior Catholics above non NCW members. Please explain. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Anonymous at 9:11 am,

      Show me where in my post or comment did I say that.

      Delete

  7. Where does Diana say NCW catholics are " superior"? I can't see where!

    ReplyDelete

  8. What about the victims?
    Justice for victims of sexual abuse on Guam.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Anonymous at 2:15 pm,

      A man is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. And the victim is an alleged victim until it is resolved in court.

      Delete
  9. Diana I saw this in the jungle is this true?

    Mary Lou Garcia-Pereda May 28, 2016 at 2:19 PM
    Is Apuron back from the Philippines or will he be returning in time for Corpus Christi?

    According to Can. 395 §3 a diocesan bishop "is not to be absent from the diocese on Christmas, during Holy Week, and on Easter, Pentecost, and the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, except for a grave and urgent cause."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Anonymous at 12:00 am,

      Yes, the canon law is correct.

      Delete
    2. Is the Archbishop's absence due to a grave and urgent cause?

      Delete
    3. Dear Anonymous at 9:36 am,

      I am certain that it is.

      Delete
    4. Nice to see that Mary Lou can quote canon law. Maybe she should read the part about owing respect to the bishop. Which canon was that?

      Delete
  10. What possibly could be the " grave urgent Cause" Mae?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Anonymous at 10:49 am,

      Whatever it is....I am certain we will find out soon. And no, I am not Mae.

      Delete
    2. No, you are not Mae, you are May

      Delete
    3. Dear Anonymous at 6:26 pm,

      It does not matter to me how you spell her name. You are still incorrect.

      Delete

  11. Diana or May i don,t know who you are.
    But what i do know is Archbishop is an abuser of children.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Anonymous at 4:22 pm,

      Where I am from, a man is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

      Delete
    2. One man made one complaint against Archbishop. In our country a man is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Archbishop Apuron is not guilty. Thankyou.

      Delete
    3. It's obvious - when the archbishop is under an allegation, then he is guilty before being proven innocent. Period.

      BUT, when it comes to the likes of Benavente and Gofigan, no matter how clear the offenses are, no matter how the facts speak for themselves, they are "innocent" DESPITE the facts. Duh......

      The folks at the JW and CCOG and LFM should take a lesson on the basic rights of law. Oh! Maybe they took the class already from Professor-Attorney-Former Senator-Now Former Attorney B. Klitzke. Now that explains a lot!

      Delete
    4. The Archbishop should stand aside while the allegations are investigated

      Delete

  12. What are you talking about Diana.
    You know there is no court of law.

    ReplyDelete