Dear Friends,
It’s been a while since I’ve pointed you all in the direction of an important section on our church’s website, www.olmc.church, that outlines some of the pillars of growth in our relationship with Jesus – that allow us to be apprenticed by him.
Go to the website and click on the heading for GROW.
Our plan of life is so important that we will print portions of the GROW website page in the bulletin over the next three weeks. Following, is the first section.
Remember that you are not alone. Here at the parish we are well equipped to help you journey with Jesus – to help you apprentice under him. Come talk to me about how we walk this way together.
Christ’s peace,
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ
GROW
God has called us to light up the world with his love. Our growth is always related to meeting the challenges of this great mission.
“Stir into flame the gift of God.” - 2 Timothy 1:6
God has called you to be part of his light-bearing mission to the world. OLMC exists to bring that mission to life, and we’re here to help you grow into God’s plan.
Why is personal growth centrally important to the execution of his mission? It’s because the light we bring to the world is nothing other than our lives lit up by the love of God. As the maxim goes, we can’t give what we don’t have.
Jesus drives this point home by getting to the heart of the matter:
[Jesus] said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
~ Matthew 22:37-39
Is this hard? No. It’s impossible for us. But Jesus can make it happen.
Owning our weakness and relying on Jesus’ strength, drawing breath - drawing life - from his Spirit, and making God the very center of our hearts and lives, we can live up to this great call.
We cannot make ourselves grow - we grow only as God gives the increase - but we can prepare ourselves to have it happen. There are ways we can become more receptive to God’s love, and we can learn how to better bring his love to life.
We tackle these things together at OLMC. For more on how to grow keep reading or reach out to our team of Spiritual Mentors.