Mission Matters: Nov. 22, 2016

This week’s “Parish Table Talk”: Church on Mission; Effective Catholic Preaching; The Amazing Parish Conference; plus this Thursday’s blog post.

Watch for this Thursday’s Post:

A Prayer for Thanksgiving   by Ruth Puls, Director of the Division of Catechetical and Pastoral Formation

On this Tuesday before Thanksgiving, we send a warm hello from our annual Catholic Center Retreat at the Shrine of St. Anthony in Ellicott City. This is a special day to count our blessings as employees of the Archdiocese of Baltimore and to recharge our spiritual life.

We want to wish you a happy and festive holiday with your loved ones and, as always, we are thankful for you and all that you do!

•  The Amazing Parish Conference:  If you’re ready to build an effective leadership team and improve the organizational health of your parish, this conference will provide the tools to transform it! The event will take place in Atlanta, on March 13-15, 2017 and will feature speakers like Pat Lencioni, Sr. Regina Marie, Matthew Kelly, among others.

•   Join the Church on Mission: ChristLife is hosting a morning of inspiration in our call to be missionary disciples on Saturday, December 3 from 9:30 A.M. to 11:30 A.M at St. William of York parish.  Guest speaker, Dr. Hana Simcikova, will be sharing about her experience as a missionary to Turkmenistan and other former Soviet Bloc countries. She will also share her inspiring vision to build a house of formation and residence for lay Catholic missionaries in Slovakia. A free will offering will be taken to support Hana’s missionary work.  For more information see this flyer or call 443-388-8910.

•  Effective Catholic Preaching: How can you reach out to your congregation with a more impactful homily? Consider exploring this series of articles with homiletic advice from Father Michael E. Connors, director of the John S. Marten Program in Homiletics at the University of Notre Dame.  Part I focuses on the qualities of effective preaching.  Part II talks about facilitating an encounter with a living God while part III shares the final twenty points for effective preaching.

 Questions? Feedback? Please leave a comment below.