FINALE: Family Road Trip PODCAST
TODAY 12:15-12:37 PM | GO SEASON FINALE
As we enter into the holiest days of the year, the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, an important question should move us:
What difference has it made? What difference will it make?
The Enemy is cunning. Relentless. While abundant grace is being outpoured, our Savior's Precious Blood and Water flowing from His Side... Satan would have us reduce it all to another ceremony.
And if he succeeds, our spiritually emaciated world will be become all the more so with the broken testimony of what Pope Benedict XVI called "practical atheism." What's that? Practical atheism is proclaimed when people exhibit even the highest degree of piety, devotion and religious observance, but with little evidence of all-in, life-transforming relevance.
The authenticity of faith encounter outside our homes is measured by what regularly, intentionally takes place within our homes. There is no faith program, place or person more formidable than what God has appointed and anointed under our roofs.
What does that look like? God has appointed and anointed us to see the world as "God-bathed" (Frank Sheed). To recognize our ordinary world as His custom-designed retreat given for ever-deepening encounter.
If we're doing this, family members candidly share their lives, their successes, struggles and challenges. The depths of their souls. They're encountering God. They're discovering who they fundamentally are and being forged with the virtue to truly live it.
If we're doing this, family members are evidently growing in empathy, compassion, selflessness, mercy, kindness, and a ready will to apologize and forgive. They're earnestly and regularly engaged in prayer with, for and over one another. They're far more into people than in pixels.
If we're doing this, family members are passionately pursuing all things in light of Him. Together. United. Holy Communion. Yes, precisely in the midst of our messes (without which we wouldn't need a Messiah), but all the time.
Our Homes are where the Kingdom is being forged.
So back to the Enemy. Is he not active? Relentless? Cunning? How do we defeat him? We defeat him by "the blood of the Lamb and the word of [our] testimony." (Rev. 12:11)
We believe that our world needs this Enemy-conquering testimony more than ever. The witness of a people whose courage is precisely proclaimed by their Godly pursuit in spite of awkwardness, inexperience, messiness, sin.
Seven weeks ago we invited four married couples to get on the road. All would be regarded as prominent leaders in their respective parishes. All sacrificially participate in and lead faith events.
But we were asking them to do the most awkward. The most challenging. The urgent. Yes, the most courageous:
To put a "flag in the sand" of their homes for Jesus Christ. To commit to a substantial, weekly time of talking and praying using the Live IT (LIT) Gathering Guide. All committed.
We captured this amazing journey with our Family Road Trip PODCAST-- releasing a new (no more than 23 minute) episode every week.
This PODCAST is an integral part of "Mission One." If you go to LoveMyFamily.us you'll learn more of this "most important mission." Essentially, we are families engaging families in seeking to make our homes cultures of ever-deepening encounter with Jesus Christ. At that site you get on the road. And access all the PODCAST episodes.
Listen to the inspiring Finalé from 12:15- 12:37 PM today. |
