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On Wednesday night, the Josephinum invited Monsignor James Shea to be our Spring '22 guest lecturer. He is the President of the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota and Catholic Identity Committee Chair for the Board of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS). He spoke to us about the book he and his team put together: From Christendom to Apostolic Mission: Pastoral Strategies for an Apostolic Age.
If I'm being completely honest, I wasn't very excited to attend the lecture. I had a number of papers due, a test coming up, plenty of chores to handle, and sleep to catch up on, but all the seminarians were asked to attend since we opened the lecture up to the public, so I attended. I'm glad I did - Msgr. Shea is an excellent lecturer with a powerful message. Quoting Pope Francis, he said, "we are not living in an era of change but a change of era," and through quotes from Popes and Vatican documents alike, demonstrated that we are living in a time that is post-Christendom. Christianity is no longer part of the cultural mindset, and the Church needs to stop pretending like it is. We need to evangelize the way that the apostles did - to a people who haven't heard (the fullness) of the Gospel. Msgr. Shea said it better than I did... Christendom has its pros and its cons. Principle among its challenges is complacency - the greatest saints of the Middle Ages and Renaissance were those saints who reinvigorated the faith. The apostolic age has a different challenge: cowardice. Now, more than ever, we need to be bold, courageous, and purposeful in our practice of the faith. Seminary can be a bit of a safe Catholic bubble, a remnant of Christendom where the Faith is the culture. As a seminarian, therefore, I need to be living in and praying for the fire of the Holy Spirit, always fighting the temptation to get lost amidst studies and lose the personal connection with Christ that brought me here in the first place. Outside of seminary, during the summers and our pastoral work (interestingly called apostolic assignments), I need to pray for the boldness to proclaim the faith through my words and actions, fighting the temptation to become just another person lost in the zeitgeist. I highly recommend checking out Msgr. Shea and University of Mary's book. It's everything that he said during the lecture and more, and is an important message for Christians in our time. https://www.amazon.com/Christendom-Apostolic-Mission-Pastoral-Strategies/dp/099887289X
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July 2023
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