What does this mean that by dying with Christ we are reborn with a new identity? This new identity is inherintly linked to the life of the Holy Spirit in us. What does this teach us about conversion not being a one-time-event but an on-going event in our lives? As beautiful as the teaching on baptism is, we are immediately presented with the reality that it comes with a responsibility to bear witness to the faith in our personal holiness and by evangelization. How can we more effectively bear witness to this identity? In public we sometimes become shy about expressing our faith (especially, for example, doing the Sign of the Cross). we too should not be ashamed to publicly express our identity. How can we become more comfortable with this identity as God’s children? –
SrSusan (guest): Conversion like St Paul had is not a one time event is it?
Jun 14 2015, 7:57 PM
Carol Ann: I think that conversion is ongoing, day by day, moment by moment
Jun 14 2015, 7:57 PM
Jun 14 2015, 7:59 PM
SrSusan (guest): I agree Carol Every day there is something new to grow into
Together with the offering of the Lord’s body, they are most fittingly offered in the celebration of the Eucharist. Thus, as those everywhere who adore in holy activity, the laity consecrate the world itself to God…..
Jun 14 2015, 7:51 PM
Lisa C: so that the power of the Gospel might shine forth in their daily social and family life. They conduct themselves as children of the promise, and thus strong in faith and in hope they make the most of the present,(201) and with patience await the glory that is to come.(202) Let them not, then, hide this hope in the depths of their hearts, but even in the program of their secular life let them express it by a continual conversion and by wrestling “against the world-rulers of this darkness,
Jun 14 2015, 7:51 PM
Guest1386 (guest): God has removed us from the Devils junkyard and placed us in His garage . We are His forever and some areas of our life are changed instantly but other areas God gradually works with us to repair overtime in community with other Christians
Jun 14 2015, 7:51 PM
Lisa C: against the spiritual forces of wickedness.(203)
Jun 14 2015, 7:51 PM
Lisa C: There is so much more….I suggest reading it
Guest1386 (guest): Thank God for Sisters life of devotion to Jesus ! She is cheering us on from Heaven !
Jun 14 2015, 7:58 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Hello!
Jun 14 2015, 8:00 PM
Judy K: Absolutely! The Spirit within us always leads to newer and deeper life in Christ-to be converted at every moment from one sin or fault to a virtue. We sometimes fall back and so we need reconversion and will until the end of life. And so conversion is the work of a lifetime.
Jun 14 2015, 8:00 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Yes, we are counting on Sister’s intercession for all of us from her nearer presence now to Our Lord.
Jun 14 2015, 8:01 PM
Judy K: Hi Sister Mary Roberta!
01 PM
SrSusan (guest): I like to think of falling away as simple ups and downs. Is that over simplifying?
Jun 14 2015, 8:02 PM
Ruth (guest): Carol, Sr.Susan, certainly. I think that is one important difference between Catholic Christians and many Protestants. They think once you are “saved” it’s done. Hello Sr. Mary Roberta.
Jun 14 2015, 8:02 PM
Guest1386 (guest): I have seen similar conversions like Paul in Prison ministry last 8 years ! With God All Things Are Possible ! Don’t give up on anyone !
Jun 14 2015, 8:02 PM
Judy K: I don’t think so, Mother.
2015, 8:03 PM
Lisa C: Why does St. Paul tell us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling? 2015, 8:03 PM
Lisa C: I think God is more gentle than that
Jun 14 2015, 8:03 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Of the 6 prisoners I write to, four of them are committed Christians and live their faith behind bars – courageous!
PM
Mary Roberta Viano: The FEAR OF GOD is the beginning of wisdom, Scripture says.
Jun 14 2015, 8:04 PM
Ruth (guest): Most of the time, it probably is just ups and downs, or closer, more intense and somehow seemingly distant or less focused.
Jun 14 2015, 8:04 PM
SrSusan (guest): St Paul might have had a tremendous sense of persoanl sin as he had been persecuting people
2015, 8:04 PM
Guest1386 (guest): God gives us opportunity to learn freely ! A setback can lead to growth if we trust God ! PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Fear really means deep reverence and awe, though.
Jun 14 2015, 8:05 PM
Lisa C: I think anyone who does not have a sense of personal sin is kidding themself
Right, Lisa. All the saints felt themselves to be the worst sinners, from what they wrote and said.
Jun 14 2015, 8:05 PM
Judy K: Lord, be merciful to me a sinner. How I thank God for His mercy.
Welcome to our Living Jesus Chat Room. Just sign in, using any of the methods below.
Jun 14 2015, 8:06 PM
Ruth (guest): Lisa, I think that “fear and trembling” has a different meaning in the Bible than the harshness you seem to associate with it. Something like : in awe and focused effort.\
Jun 14 2015, 8:06 PM
Carol Ann: Did those saints not know how other people saw them? If they did, did they not believe it?
PM
Mary Roberta Viano: That’s what I’m always most grateful for – God’s mercy!
Jun 14 2015, 8:06 PM
Lisa C: If it were just awe why would he say trembling?
2015, 8:07 PM
Lisa C: I think maybe because we are unworthy8:08 PM
Guest1386 (guest): Paul was blinded by religion and He had left God behind before His conversion . Can happen to any of us ! Love God and Love Everybody ! When we stop Loving we are not with God !
Jun 14 2015, 8:08 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Awe usually causes a kind of trembling – the Grand Canyon takes your breath away, for instance.
09 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: or a beautiful piece of music or a splendid poem
Jun 14 2015, 8:09 PM
Ruth (guest): Yes, unworthy, but also straining. I used to go to Mass before public school, then RUN carrying books; for the first ten minutes in Homeroom, I was trembling from the exertion.
:09 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: good example, too, Ruth: Striving for holiness before God leaves us trembling from the exertion!
Jun 14 2015, 8:10 PM
Ruth (guest): I think it say, “Don’t get complacent.”
PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Right, don’t get too comfortable with yourself…
Jun 14 2015, 8:10 PM
Ruth (guest): says
Jun 14 2015, 8:10 PM
SrSusan (guest): If we are trying to witness to others we will have less tendency to be complacent
Jun 14 2015, 8:10 PM
Ruth (guest): Indeed!
Jun 14 2015, 8:10 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: As St. Paul says, All have sinned and fallen short…
Jun 14 2015, 8:10 PM
SrSusan (guest): That’s how we can share Christ’s identity and ours with others by witnessing
Jun 14 2015, 8:11 PM
Ruth (guest): Especially if under persecution.
8:11 PM
SrSusan (guest): I think there is a natural level fear or trembling that happens with nervousness too, the human level of our existence, 8:11 PM
SrSusan (guest): and when one witnesses to something or someone very important to oneself there can be a trembling
:13 PM
Guest1386 (guest): God wants us to be totally committed ! I believe that’s what Paul was teaching us here13 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: so witnessing to God (THE MOST IMPORTANT) has to cause trembling13 PM
Lisa C: Yes, maybe the HS working though us can scare us
Jun 14 2015, 8:13 PM
Ruth (guest): SrSusan; one difficulty I have is clarifying the difference between witnessing (perfectly acceptable in this country) and “proseletizing” — considered unacceptable even from a military chaplain and certainly from a psychiatrist when in the role of a psychiatrist, e.g. in a VA hospital.
Jun 14 2015, 8:13 PM
Lisa C: We are not in control
14 PM
Carol Ann: It can be scary when He is working in us because we can’t see what He’s doing or where it’s going. PM
Judy K: For each person witness will be different- for one, wearing a crucifix or other sign. For another being an Extraordinary Minister or Lector, for another becoming a priest or religious, for another, being a catechils or RCIA team member or choir member, joining a Third Order, or Opus Dei, being committed to meeting the needs of the poor, praying for priests, sinners, the sick and the dying–all flowing from an ever deepening love for and union with the Lord.
Jun 14 2015, 8:15 PM
SrSusan (guest): Proselytizing crosses a barrier in trying to convince someone
8:15 PM
Judy K: UH, that’s “catechist”
Jun 14 2015, 8:16 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Yes, SFdS wanted his daughters to witness by the way they lived their lives.
Jun 14 2015, 8:16 PM
Guest8586 (guest): Ahem, It might be something as simple as saying hello and welcoming a newcomer to the group. Does not always have to be huge undertakings.
Jun 14 2015, 8:17 PM
SrSusan (guest): Proslytizing is trying to persuade someone to change more than focusing on what Christ has done for you
Ruth (guest): I understand the general idea, but in training I was reprimanded for wearing a tiny silver cross — without corpus — at work on a psych ward.
Jun 14 2015, 8:17 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: That’s where Salesian GENTLENESS comes into play…witnessing in the small, everyday things
Jun 14 2015, 8:17 PM
SrSusan (guest): Yes you are welcome guest 8586
Jun 14 2015, 8:17 PM
Lisa C: Ruth that is not right
Jun 14 2015, 8:17 PM
Judy K: The bottom line is living up to the commitment which we made, or was made for us at Baptism. Yes, 8586, you are right. Just by living as we should, we are witnesses
2015, 8:18 PM
Lisa C: Ruth you should be allowed to wear it even with Jesus on it18 PM
Guest1386 (guest): Serving others and standing by them an encouraging them with Love to express their gifts that God has given them through our relationship with God and the power of the Holy Spirit ! Christian Action18 PM
Ruth (guest): And they called it proseletizing when I brought in a Bible for a patient who complained that there was only one Bible for thirty patients, so he never got to see it. He WANTED a Bible; it was a need I could meet2015, 8:19 PM
Judy K: Oh my gosh, Ruth, I used to work in a Jewish agency and the vice president once suggested that I leave off my crucifix because someone might try to snatch. I rather suspected that she did not like it, and I ignored her.
Jun 14 2015, 8:19 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: That does seem strange, Ruth.
PM
Mary Roberta Viano: but you can do whatever other loving thing you can to witness to Christ’s love for each patient2015, 8:21 PM
SrSusan (guest): It does not seem that anyone here is uncomfortable sharing their Christian identity in public21 PM
Lisa C: People should be allowed to express their faith
Jun 14 2015, 8:21 PM
Guest1386 (guest): Bold witnessing for Christ ! Rejoice and be glad when they persecute you !!you are making a difference for Christ
, 8:22 PM
Ruth (guest): Judy, on another ward we were warned not to wear jewery — any kind — because a patient use it to choke us. Pop beads — remember them? — were allowed, 8:22 PM
Ruth (guest): I think the funniest complaint I got was from an assistant director of family practice residency. 23 PM
Lisa C: When I was in Afghanistan at the Aid Station we had a white board and I drew a picture of a stable in Bethlehem with a tiny JMJ in it and someone kept erasing Baby JesusPM
Judy K: Regarding being comfortable with our identity as God’s children, I would venture that first reflecting on our identity and seeing it as it is, a precious gift. Then pray for a gift of expression. Then, do it once,then again. the more comfortable we become with it. 24 PM
Lisa C: I kept putting Him back and finally found out who was doing it…..and he said that it might offend someone….I said it is Christmas and we have a right to celebrate and you are offending us8:24 PM
Judy K: The more often we do an act, the more comfortable we become with it.
Jun 14 2015, 8:24 PM
Guest1386 (guest): Goes along with fear and trembling that Paul was referring to its not easy to express our total commitment too Christ but we do it anyway !!! Praise God !!!
2015, 8:24 PM
Lisa C: He stopped erasing Him
Jun 14 2015, 8:24 PM
Ruth (guest): He said, irritated, “Why are you always quoting the Bible?” I asked, “Why does that bother you; you do it all the time.”
PM
Ruth (guest): He replied, “No I don’t!” I gave several examples. He said, “I was quoting my grandmother, not the Bible!”
Jun 14 2015, 8:25 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: SFdS in a Conference talks about the importance of “abnegation” in witnessing: for example, “when we would like to preach and are sent to wait on the sick.” I hope we can do both, though.
Jun 14 2015, 8:25 PM
Judy K: Isn’t it “funny” that people will tell us to stop something because someone else might find it offensive, but fail to realize that they might be offending us.
26 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: That’s true, Judy!
Jun 14 2015, 8:26 PM
Guest1386 (guest): Those who attack us are those who are beginning their journey toward God ! Pray for them !!!
Jun 14 2015, 8:26 PM
Lisa C: Judy people seem to think it is ok to offend Christians don’t know why
Jun 14 2015, 8:28 PM
Judy K: That old saying “What’s good for the goose, is good for the gander” does not seem to hold tru any more.
Jun 14 2015, 8:28 PM
Carol Ann: Who was it who said: Always preach the Gospel. If necessary, use words.
Jun 14 2015, 8:28 PM
Ruth (guest): I think a lot of people do not realize that FREEDOM is freedom to do the Will of God, not necessarily to do what we feel like.
Jun 14 2015, 8:28 PM
Lisa C: Didn’t Obama say people in PA cling to guns and bibles….and Hillary said Christians are stopping abortion rights
8 online
2015, 8:28 PM
Guest1386 (guest): Jesus teaces us that He did not come to bring Peace ! His presence causes the opposition to react !
Jun 14 2015, 8:28 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: because Christians talk about objective TRUTH (Christ), whereas most people think there is no one TRUTH, but whatever each person considers true – relativism.
2015, 8:30 PM
Judy K: Hillary and others like her fail to realize that abortion is not, or should not be, a right. Since when do we have the right to take the life of another other than in self defense30 PM
Ruth (guest): Sr. Mary Roberta, that is true even within the Church; what do they call it “Cafeteria Catholics.”
Jun 14 2015, 8:30 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: In C.S.Lewis book “The Great Divorce,” he talks about the “hardness” of truth, represented as grass that is glass shivers on his fictional planet where truth lives.
Jun 14 2015, 8:30 PM
Lisa C: Yes, how can truth be different for different people? Descartes would laugh
2015, 8:30 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Truth “hurts,” Lewis would say. Jun 14 2015, 8:30 PM
Lisa C: Truth is what God knows
Jun 14 2015, 8:31 PM
Judy K: That really is ludicrous, isn’t it, Lisa
31 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: because TRUTH doesn’t allow for compromise – compassion, yes, but compromise with the truth, no.
Jun 14 2015, 8:31 PM
Guest1386 (guest): Jesus is the way,the truth and the Life !
Jun 14 2015, 8:32 PM
Judy K: And God is truth, so what He says must be truth also. And so we must follow Him, for His way is the right way (and He Himself is the way.)
Jun 14 2015, 8:32 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Yes, so if we simply point someone to Christ, then we can leave it in His hands.
2015, 8:33 PM
Lisa C: Sister maybe we can also pray2015, 8:33 PM
Judy K: We should be John the Baptist who called out “Look, there is the Lamb of God.”
Jun 14 2015, 8:33 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: definitely, Lisa!
33 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Yes, and “Look, there’s Christ’s Church, where the Lamb appears at each Eucharist!”
Jun 14 2015, 8:34 PM
Ruth (guest): There is a famous painting with that finger of John the Baptist, point.
Jun 14 2015, 8:34 PM
SrSusan (guest): Or like St peter Julian Eymard in pointing to the Blessed Sacrament- “He is there Go to Him!” he would shout
shout
Jun 14 2015, 8:35 PM
Guest1386 (guest): We must stand for Jesus Christ no matter what ! Remember St Perpetua ! Her prison diary is inspirational !
35 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: I’m off to prepare the music for tomorrow’s Morning Prayer. Let’s continue holding one another in prayer – esp., for us, on Friday – Sister’s funeral8:35 PM
Judy K: We should have signs outside our churches that invite others to come in. Jesus will be present. “Please come in. Jesus will be in our midst today, and every day.”