Practicing Missionary Discipleship

“…there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’” – Abraham Kuyper

My Dear People,

Our Winged Lion this month includes our annual report for Fiscal Year 20-21. It demonstrates how we, as a faith community, have acted a missionary disciples and stewards of the gifts God has bestowed upon us. You will also find articles attesting to how our volunteers and staff have dedicated themselves to provide discipleship to our faith community.

We, as a St. Mark parish community, are hoping to revive our commitment to whole-life missionary discipleship. Millions of Catholics are “Christians” for only an hour a week—Christianity is something they do on Saturday afternoon or Sunday rather than a way of life. This withering of discipleship is one of the gravest threats facing the Catholic Church today.

Stewardship is an expression of this discipleship, with the power to change how we understand and live out our lives with others. Christian stewardship, therefore, applies to everything—all personal talents, abilities, and wealth; the local, national, and worldwide environment; all human and natural resources wherever they are; the economic order; governmental affairs; and even outer space. The biblical model of stewardship encompasses how we evangelize our neighbor. Whatever you do, Paul says in Colossians 3:23-24, work heartily, because whatever you do you are serving the Lord Christ! Our individual discipleship, our St. Mark Community, and evangelization to society at large should reflect the theology of stewardship and discipleship. We must reintegrate our model of discipleship with the call to cultivate all we touch.

Our year ahead is going to be a year of returning to our mission and returning to an attitude of missionary discipleship. I invite you, as people transformed by the Eucharist, to carry the Gospel into the world in your daily lives through word and action.