Tiber River Cafe--TRCx2--Sacraments

Hello, and welcome to the Tiber River Café.  My name is Dean Humphreys, and today’s two minute topic is the Sacraments of the Catholic Church.

Basically a Sacrament is “a visible sign, instituted by Christ, to give grace.”  Sacraments represent our tradition as Christians, our past and future, as well as our hope.  The Catholic Church recognizes seven Sacraments: Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders, Anointing of the Sick, and Reconciliation.  We believe that there is a sacred reality to each of the Sacraments and that each Sacrament points us towards Jesus.  Catholics believe that each of the Sacraments was instituted by Jesus himself, pointing to Biblical events in the life and ministry, as well as the stories and teachings, of Jesus of Nazareth, our Lord and Savior. 
 

The Sacraments are our celebration of our Catholic faith, a celebration of our Christian lives, because the Sacraments are those special moments in our lives when we experience God’s presence in our lives.  And to fully understand and appreciate our Sacraments is to fully participate in the life of the Church.

Each of the Sacraments also points to the Christian life, as we participate as a faith community, in the celebration of the Sacraments.   The Sacraments are signs and a means to God’s graces, the graces that are needed to live a truly Christian life.  The Church teaches that we cannot earn grace, for God’s grace is a free gift of Himself as the controlling influence in our lives.  Sacraments are the life of the Church for they help to make us more holy people, they help to build up the Body of Christ, and they point us towards God. 

When the Sacrament is administered in the way Jesus established, and with the proper intention, then the Sacrament gives freely the grace it signifies.  The Sacraments are not dependent upon the worthiness of the person, but are rather completely dependent upon the power of Jesus.  The power of our Lord and Savior lives in the Sacraments. 

Well, thanks again for stopping by the Tiber River Café, where there is always plenty of room at the banquet table.  I hope to see you next time.  Peace be with you.

Tiber River Cafe, TRCx2-- Eucharist

Hello, and welcome to the Tiber River Café.  My name is Dean Humphreys.  Today’s two minute topic is the Eucharist.   Catholics believe that Jesus, our Lord and Savior, the second person in the Holy Trinity—God himself come down from Heaven in human form—that Jesus is truly and 100% present in the consecrated bread and wine we receive each and every time we attend Mass; that the bread and wine, although it still looks, feels, smells, and tastes like regular bread and wine, have actually and truly become his Body and Blood

Besides the ultimate miracle, which we know is the Resurrection of Jesus, the only other miracle that is recorded in all four Gospels is the multiplication of the bread, the feeding of the multitudes.  All four Gospels record how Jesus took the bread, gave thanks, broke the bread, and gave the bread.

In the Gospel of John, chapter 6 verses 53-56, we read, “Jesus said to them, ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”

So this is what Catholic Christians believe, and the Catholic Church has believed this truth for the past 2000 years.  The Eucharist is not only a symbol, but we also believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist, the bread and wine.  Sure it still looks, and it still smells, and it still tastes like simple bread and wine, but the reality is that the bread and wine have become the real body of Jesus and real blood of Jesus our Lord and Savior, the Real Presence . . . just like Jesus promised.

So there you have it, a two minute overview of the Eucharist, the body and blood of Jesus. Thanks for stopping by the Tiber River Café, where there is always plenty of room at the banquet table.  I hope to see you next time. Peace be with you.

Tiber River Cafe--Catholic Evangelization

Hello, and welcome to the Tiber River Café.  My name is Dean Humphreys, and today’s topic is an introduction to Catholic Evangelization.  Catholic evangelization simply means we bring the Good News of Jesus Christ into every aspect of our lives.  We share the Good News of Jesus with our family, our friends, and with our neighbors. 

All our efforts at evangelizing, our attempts at converting individuals, converting our communities and our society; all our efforts must be completely connected and centered on Jesus.  We must put all our effort in the name of Jesus, the teaching of Jesus, the life of Jesus, the promises of Jesus, and the Kingdom of Jesus.  Catholic evangelization is a personal process that will lead to a public proclamation.  First, we discover Jesus through a personal encounter with him.  Next, we follow Jesus and we become his disciple.  And last, we become a witness of Jesus, we share the Good News of Jesus Christ and his Church, we evangelize. 

At the very beginning of the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 4 verse 18-22, we read, “As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two  brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen.  He said to them, ‘Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.”  Jesus asks us to follow him, to become his disciple.

We are to become not only disciples of Jesus, but more importantly we are to become intentional disciples of Jesus.  We are to learn as much as possible about Jesus of Nazareth, his life and ministry, what he said and what he taught.  We are to know Jesus as our best friend, our brother, we are to fall in love with Jesus.  And we are to learn as much as possible about the Body of Christ which is the Catholic Church, we are to learn as much as possible what the Catholic Church teaches and why.  We read in First Peter, chapter 3 verse 15-16, that we are to “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence.” 

How do we become disciples of Jesus?  First, by reading the Bible we learn about Jesus, especially the New Testament, and concentrating on the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, as well as the Book of Acts.  And by reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church we learn about the Catholic Church, what we as Catholics believe and why, we learn about our faith.  By attending Mass every week and attending Mass more frequently if possible, by participating in the Sacraments of the Church—receiving the Eucharist which is the Body and Blood of Jesus, and going to confession on a regular basis.  And attending Church-related activities like youth and young-adult events, ongoing faith formation, lectures and seminars, and Bible study. 

We also grow deeper in our relationship with Jesus with daily prayer.  We talk with God, with Jesus, we share our lives, our hopes and fears, we talk with Jesus like a friend.  We can read Catholic books and magazines, and we can watch Catholic television shows and YouTube videos.  And we also offer service, we seek to help the poor and disadvantaged.  Each and every day we should be learning more and more about Jesus and his Church.  Think of it as a life-long journey, a spiritual path, and each day we put down another cobble stone on our spiritual path, and each day the path gets a little longer and little more solid.

Let’s return to the Gospel of Matthew.  At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry he calls his disciples, “Come, follow me.”  Jesus then spends the next three years teaching his disciples, he teaches them the Good News.  Then at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 28 verse 19-20, right before Jesus ascends to heaven, he gives his disciples one last instruction, one last command, to “Go, therefore, and make disciples.”  Jesus instructs, he commands, his disciples to evangelize.  They are to go to the ends of the world to tell the Good News of Jesus.  We as Catholics have the same command.  We are called by Jesus to first, “Come, follow me.”  Then we are trained and educated in the Faith which is a life-long process.  And then Jesus sends us out into the world, “Go, therefore, and make disciples.”  We are to evangelize.

At the very end of the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 28, right before Jesus ascends into Heaven, he tells his disciples, “Go, therefore, and make disciples.”  These are the last words of Jesus, this is his departing instructions to his closest disciples.  And I think to myself, what will my last words and thoughts be?  What will I say to my wife and son at that moment?  Jesus’ last words are to go forth, spread the Good News, to evangelize, and to baptize all nations, to spread his message to the whole world.  And then he promises one last thing, because his disciples were probably scared, just like you and I are scared, Jesus promises, “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”  We won’t be alone, there is no reason to be afraid.  Jesus will always be with us.  Despite our fears and doubts we are to spread his message, we are to evangelize.

First, ‘Come, follow me’.  Then we learn all we can about Jesus and his Church.  And then ‘Go, therefore and make disciples’.   By learning about Jesus, we become more and more joyful.  We will radiate love and joy in everything do.  And people will become curious.  Others will often ask us why we are so happy and joyful.  And this is a wonderful opportunity to start a conversation, to start sharing the Good News. And as we continue to grow deeper in Christ, becoming his disciple, we yearn to share our excitement with others—our family and friends.  At first this can be very awkward and scary, but there is this strong need to share this ‘secret’ with others, you know the secret to happiness and you want so desperately to share this with others.

So we are all called to share the Faith.  Everyone has the right and the need to hear the Good News of Jesus of Nazareth—some will listen, and unfortunately others will not listen for we all make choices and we all have free will, but for those who do choose to listen, it will be a life-changing event with eternal consequences.  Remember, our job is to be prepared, we are to plant the seed of faith, and then the Holy Spirit will take it from there.  We are to weave our faith into our everyday life.  We are to live our faith every moment of every day, and people will see our joy and they will be curious, and perhaps ask where our joy comes from, and then we can share our story, what it means to be Catholic.  Don’t be afraid.

And you don’t need to have an advanced degree in theology to share your story, you just need to live out what you believe and not be afraid to share it.  Sharing your faith may not always make you popular, you may be laughed at, left out, made to feel like there is something wrong with you simply because of your beliefs.  Don’t be afraid.  We share our faith because we know the truth, and we need desperately to share this truth with others.  The message of God’s love is far too great for us to keep it to ourselves, we must share it with others, we must evangelize. 

The most effective way to evangelize is to show this contagious joy we have for Jesus and his Church.  As we learn more about Jesus we develop a friendship with Jesus.  This friendship continues to grow and will naturally lead to joy.  As our friendship and joy for Jesus continues to grow we will have a strong desire to share that joy with others, we have a strong desire to evangelize.  We can always find limited joy in the things of this world—money, possessions, friends, status; but the ultimate joy is our friendship with Jesus.  Live your friendship with Jesus as radically as you can, at every level of your life.

We are to reach out to Catholics who no longer go to Mass, who may be following a Protestant denomination or no church affiliation at all.  We are to also reach out to those Catholics who may still be going to Mass but perhaps attending infrequently and perhaps they don’t fully understand and appreciate the beauty of our Catholic faith.  Our mandate is to transform nominal Catholics into holy Catholics, Catholics that are seeking an authentic spiritual renewal, one person at a time.

So there you have it, a very brief overview of Catholic evangelization.  We are first called by Jesus, ‘Come, follow me’; we then learn about Jesus and his Church, we develop a friendship with Jesus, we have joy and happiness; and then we are told by Jesus, ‘Go, therefore, and make disciples’, we are instructed by Jesus to share our faith, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ and his Church, to share our joy.  Something to think about next Sunday at Mass.

Well, thanks again for stopping by the Tiber River Café, where there is always plenty of room at the banquet table.  I hope to see you next time.  Peace be with you. 

Tiber River Cafe, TRCx2 Welcome

Hello, and welcome to the Tiber River Café.  My name is Dean Humphreys.  Today’s topic is TRCx2.  TRCx2 stands for Tiber River Café for 2 minutes.  TRCx2 will be a series of shorter videos each 2 minutes in length.  Shorter videos that will very briefly describe the basic teachings and truths of the Catholic faith.

When our son was about 4 or 5 years old we would read one page from a children’s Bible every night as part of our bedtime routine.  It took about two minutes.  Eventually he was able to read a page from the Bible on his own, every night, and we would call it ‘two minutes’.  Two minutes, not an awful lot of time, but the point was to make it a habit, a routine, a way of life that perhaps he will carry on throughout his college years and for the rest of his life.  Two minutes.

So was he reading his two minutes each and every night, probably not.  He has free will, he can choose to read the Word of God or not, he can make his own choice.  My job as a parent is to set a good example, instruct him as best as I can, encourage him often, and pray for him constantly.  But most nights I think he was reading his two minutes, and I hope it was making a difference.

I heard a statistic that a majority of people, like myself, will decide whether a video is worth watching within the first 80 to 90 seconds. My hope is that the two minute video will spark interest and curiosity that will lead to more searching for truth.  So TRCx2 will be short and focused messages on the truths and teachings of the Catholic faith.  In today’s culture the message has to be short and relevant, or the message may not be heard at all.

Two minutes is not a lot of time to share the entire message of Jesus and his Church, but hopefully by simply planting the seed of faith good things will happen.  And thanks for stopping by the Tiber River Café, where there is always plenty of room at the banquet table.  I hope to see you next time.  Peace be with you.