{"id":1259,"date":"2011-04-11T15:13:15","date_gmt":"2011-04-11T20:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=1259"},"modified":"2011-04-11T15:32:52","modified_gmt":"2011-04-11T20:32:52","slug":"finding-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2011\/04\/finding-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"
A Mormon approached me the other day while I was walking through my neighborhood and started talking to me about his beliefs. I always enjoy talking to people of other faiths, especially those that are convicted enough to try and teach others what they believe at random. They are no real threat to my faith, so I feel very comfortable engaging in dialogue because I believe with all my being that the Church has the Truth. <\/p>\n

I know that most of these missionaries feel just as invested in what they believe, so I never let the conversations go too far or for too long. I do take the opportunity to simply appreciate their passion and willingness to work for their cause. It made me think, would I ever be brave enough to approach strangers on the streets to spread the love of God?<\/p>\n

The Truth of salvation is awesomely beautiful, but we often act as if it\u2019s a secret.<\/p>\n

I know a man. A man named Jesus, and He died a horrible death so that I could have life. Growing up, some family members knew Him, and He was around throughout my childhood. Although it wasn\u2019t until I was a teenager that I personally took the time to really get to know Him, and I realized He was God in the flesh. When I really got to know Jesus myself, my life was changed and I knew that the least I could do was live for Him because He died for me. I have a relationship with Him, and that brings me unmeasurable \u00a0joy. I know that those that do no know Jesus could find that same peace and joy if they met Him too.<\/p>\n

Sometimes the concept of The Church can be overwhelming for those outside of it. Often it can be just as daunting to Catholics too. With all the riches of our faith, it makes reasonable sense on how that could happen. I\u2019ve seen many Catholics and other Christians that somehow loose sight of Jesus among reasons, excuses and arguments. The arguments that feed our selfish desires to justify our sins or reasons for dissent from the Church.<\/p>\n

We cannot loose sight of Christ.<\/p>\n

Once you personally meet the living God and realize that Jesus Himself left us the Church, then I believe it will all fall into place. It may take time, but I really do believe this to be true.<\/p>\n

We Catholics are often too comfortable in the fact that we are The Church and that we have Christ with us. We know Our Lord will get guide our Mother Church and that she will stand strong. We know that the Church will still be here if we don\u2019t go out and get more people to come, and that has made many of us lazy. We become so comfortable that we often write off evangelizing because of fears of offending people or simply being rejected.<\/p>\n

ACNM often speaks of the new evangelization, but I believe that reaching people individually could be one of the most powerful parts of our mission. New media is a wonderful asset to what we are called to do as Catholics, but it should only supplement what we do outside of the digital world. These last weeks before Easter give us a great opportunity to reflect on what Christ\u2019s life, death and resurrection have done for us, and how we can share God\u2019s magnificent glory with the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Mormon approached me the other day while I was walking through my neighborhood and started talking to me about his beliefs. I always enjoy talking to people of other faiths, especially those that are convicted enough to try and teach others what they believe at random. They are no real threat to my faith,… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1259","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog","7":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41715,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/09\/read-lumen-fidei-yet-third-installment\/","url_meta":{"origin":1259,"position":0},"title":"Have you read Lumen Fidei yet? 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I always enjoy talking to people of other faiths, especially the ones convicted enough to try and teach others what they believe at random. They are no real threat to my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Crucifixion By Velazquez","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Diego-Velazquez-The-Crucifixion-Christ-on-the-Cross-196x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20922,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/08\/why-should-i-believe\/","url_meta":{"origin":1259,"position":3},"title":"Why Should I Believe?","author":"Matt Sullivan","date":"August 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Bewildered truth seeker: Don't you think it's time for the Catholic Church to give up and get with the times? 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