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On Following Jesus


I began my book noting the ignorance of Catholics about what the Second Vatican Council really teaches, and concluded with one final such teaching:

…a monumental struggle against the powers of darkness pervades the whole history of man. The battle was joined from the very origins of the world and will continue until the last day, as the Lord has attested. Caught in this conflict, man is obliged to wrestle constantly if he is to cling to what is good, nor can he achieve his own integrity without great efforts and the help of God's grace.

Our Lord commands us to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." The slothful Catholic risks a terrible consequence for failure here: “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.” With so many in the world waiting to hear of Jesus, let us go with urgency, unafraid even of death to deliver glad tidings, running the race hard, fighting the good fight to win, looking forward to the finish line, meeting and spending eternity with the Church Triumphant, made perfect by the Lamb’s blood. Marana tha!


 In our day Jesus’ command to “go and make disciples” echoes in the changing scenarios and ever new challenges to the Church’s mission of evangelization, and all of us are called to take part in this new missionary “going forth”. Each Christian and every community must discern the path that the Lord points out, but Pope Francis asks us to obey his call to go forth from our own comfort zone in order to reach all the “peripheries” in need of the light of the Gospel. On this note, here is a great new book!

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