In his new book, "Seek First the Kingdom," Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl calls on Catholics to seek God's kingdom and then reflect it in their everyday lives. When Catholics deepen their own faith, their hearts are transformed, and when they share it with others, they can change their community, their nation and their world, the cardinal wrote in his book, which is subtitled "Challenging the Culture by Living Our Faith. To be in the kingdom is to be with Christ always, and to be for Christ always, in season and out of season, in private and in public, on the job and on our days off," he wrote in the book, which was published in November by Our Sunday Visitor. At a time when many people only know kingdoms from history, fairy tales and royal weddings, Cardinal Wuerl points out how God's kingdom "forms the heart of the Gospel," and as Pope Benedict XVI has noted, the phrase "the kingdom of God" appears 122 times in the New Testament, including in 90 quotes from Jesus in the Gospels. Cardinal Wuerl's new book emphasizes the importance of Catholics taking up Pope Benedict's call for the new evangelization, to learn their faith, to live it and share it with others, especially family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers who may have drifted away from the faith or never heard the good news of Jesus. The book also encourages Catholics to reflect their faith at home, in the workplace, in their community and in the public square. "You could make a very strong case that 'Seek First the Kingdom' is a response to the question, 'How do we do the new evangelization?'" the cardinal said in an interview with the Catholic Standard, Washington archdiocesan newspaper. In his book, Cardinal Wuerl noted that, in the face of the world's secularism, materialism and individualism that distract people from Christ and from true happiness, Pope Benedict has called on Catholics to be engaged in the work of the new evangelization, "to re-propose the perennial truth of Christ's Gospel."
Kurt Hilgefort, is a Catholic father of six who publishes his thoughts on his blog Shadows of Augustine . He responded to my seven question survey with the following answers. Kurt is the first layperson to respond to the seven question survey and I think that his experience is extremely relevant to me personally and I hope that you are inspired by his thoughts as well. If you would like to respond, please send an email to fellmananthony@gmail.com with your thoughts and I will be happy to publish them as well. 1. What is the biggest challenge to your faith that you have faced so far? The biggest challenge for me has been the whole dying to self thing. On an intellectual level, there are no barriers. It comes down to a matter of accepting the authority of the Church that Christ founded upon Peter. My challenge is not in the intellect, but rather in the will. The challenge for me has always been to continually seek conversion. I want to be transformed, but I want it to be over all ...
Comments
Post a Comment