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S1E7: The Franciscan Approach to Evangelization · Mentoring In Ministry

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  Welcome to the Mentoring in Ministry podcast. In each
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  episode we approach various catechetical
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  topics from different perspectives.
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  Welcome, I'm Petroc Willey and I'm
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  involved in catechetical conversations with Father
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  Dan Pattee. So Father Dan, I wanted to ask
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  you, would you say there's something quite
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  distinctive about the Franciscan approach
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  to evangelization and catechesis that you
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  could share with us?
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  Yes, this is something that of course with
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  the catechetics being so much a part of our
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  theology department has become part of our conversation
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  even within the department. And
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  it has led me to wonder and think about it
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  a little bit more. And I'd really like to
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  bring up three things. I'm sure there's
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  many others, but three things in particular
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  that were very dear to the heart of Francis, which was the
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  crib, the cross, and the Eucharist.
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  These three mysteries in the life of
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  Christ and that he of course left us as memorial
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  in the Eucharist are very central to Francis. And I think
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  we can gain a lot by just taking
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  each one of those briefly to look at what their
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  contribution is to evangelization and
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  catechesis.
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  The first one, the crib, the scripture
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  text comes to mind that unless you become like
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  little children, cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven. And
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  that really speaks to the need
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  for total conversion in our lives. In a way, we are reborn
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  so that any of the old habits
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  we gleaned when we were younger perhaps,
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  or maybe we still are developing, we need to
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  undergo a complete conversion in our own lives because we
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  really can't give what we do not
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  have. And of course, becoming like little children is to
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  almost rethink growing up again
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  in Christ and becoming like that little child and then
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  regrowing and converting totally
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  to the Lord so that we grow in our love of God first and
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  foremost and then love of neighbors.
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  So that's a very important part of the catechetical and
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  evangelistic mandate, I think, of our
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  Lord.
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  It's the ongoing conversion to
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  become more and more dependent on Christ.
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  And then, of course, the second one is we
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  have the crib, then we have the cross. And
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  of course, this would be one of the hallmarks of a good
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  catechist, I think, and also evangelization
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  is to be given. And we struggle with that, I think,
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  especially when you consider how
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  Jesus became given upon the cross. Jesus
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  was given on the cross by the expressed will
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  and intention of our Father in heaven so that when I come
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  into an evangelistic setting or
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  I come into a catechetical setting, I need
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  to be willing to be handed over to the men
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  and women I am serving instead of holding back or
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  withholding myself. And this is by
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  the expressed will and intention of our Father that we be
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  handed over to them and be given
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  to them so that they can meet Jesus in and through us. And
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  that, of course, is dependent
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  upon our conversion in the first step. We
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  need to really continuously be converted to
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  Jesus so they don't just meet us, but they meet and
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  encounter Christ and who he is within
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  our life as well. And we can share from that experience.
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  So the cross is where Jesus, by the expressed will and
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  intention of our Father in heaven,
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  has been given to the world. And I do believe that our
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  mandate as evangelists and as catechists
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  begins with the fathers sending us into the
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  world. As the Father has sent me, so now I
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  send you. And we become given. And I think that really
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  means that we need to maybe slow
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  down the virtual reality a little more and get into the
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  real presence and the value of
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  that as we are attempting to evangelize. Because, of
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  course, Francis evangelized by way of his
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  example as much as by way of his word in preaching and the
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  two were in tandem. Would we, for
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  example, dare to say with St. Paul to someone that we're
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  seeking to evangelize and catechize,
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  imitate me. That's a bold statement. And that isn't Paul
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  trying to draw them to himself as
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  much as his witness to Christ. So the crib, the cross. And
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  then, of course, the Eucharist. There
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  is something about the evangelist, the catechist that is
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  present, really present to others when
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  they're in Christ. And that's something
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  that is intangible. It's not something that you
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  necessarily control. It's the gift of Christ. It's the gift
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  of the Holy Spirit within you as you seek
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  to convert to him and as you seek to be given in your
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  mandate to evangelize. We also become present
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  to others. As distinct from maybe scattered or a lack of
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  focus or distracted by all kinds of things,
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  there needs to be an attentiveness and a listening that
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  allows you to understand where are your
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  people at that point as that you're attempting to
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  catechize. And that when they come and talk to you
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  that they do feel heard, that you are listening, you're not
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  distracted. And I think that's a big
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  part of catechetics as well. And that it also was a part of
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  Francis's life, that whole idea that we
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  really do evangelize and catechize one person at a time.
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  And so I think those three things very much
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  are part of the Franciscan
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  contribution to evangelization and catechesis.
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  Thank you, Father DanPattee. So I've been speaking with
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  Father Dan Pattee about the way in which that
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  childlike approach, that self-gift, that presence to the
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  other is really distinctive about the
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  Franciscan spirituality and its contribution to catechesis.
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  Thank you for listening to this episode of Mentoring in
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  Ministry. You can also find us on
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  Instagram, Facebook and YouTube at the Catechetical
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  Institute or join our online community of catechists
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  at franciscanathome.com/guild. Link to all of
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  those in the show notes. This
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  podcast is an outreach of Franciscan University of
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  Steubenville's Catechetical Institute.