Amid all the excitement going on today with the March For Life, a new Catholic site has been launched, and I’m honored to be a part of it. It’s called Catholic Stand, and here’s a portion of its Mission Statement:
The New Evangelization is the same evangelization as ever, except that it is the evangelization of our times. We are called to an ever-new communication of the revealed truths of an eternal God, the truths of faith and the truths of reason. Why take a stand? Why not sit live quietly with our faith? Well, certainly some are called to a life of prayer and solitude, but most are called to a life that requires daily interaction with people, some who are not believers and some who are not Catholic. In his 1975 encyclical, Evangelii Nuntiandi, Pope Paul VI lays the charge before us, echoing the words of St. Paul the convert:
And He has commanded us to transmit this revelation to others with His own authority. It would be useful if every Christian and every evangelizer were to pray about the following thought: men can gain salvation also in other ways, by God’s mercy, even though we do not preach the Gospel to them; but as for us, can we gain salvation if through negligence or fear or shame- what St. Paul called “blushing for the Gospel” – or as a result of false ideas we fail to preach it? For that would be to betray the call of God, who wishes the seed to bear fruit through the voice of the ministers of the Gospel; and it will depend on us whether this grows into trees and produces its full fruit.
Can we gain salvation if we neglect to preach the Gospel because of negligence, fear, or shame? That would be to betray the call of God.
Here at Catholic Stand, we know that is not always easy. We recognize that we live in a time when most nations are not nations that turn to God. We recognize that many of us may experience persecution in some form right now for living the truths the Church teaches. We are here to offer our stories, our encouragement, when we can, our instruction, our love, and our communion.
Right now there are 40 contributors to this new endeavor, spearheaded by Tito Edwards (BigPulpit guru), Stacy Trasancos (Ignitum Today, Accepting Abundance) and Chelsea Zimmerman (Reflections of a Paralytic). Many of the contributors are people you might be familiar with, others perhaps not. And then there’s me, at the back of the train. My contributions to the project will be different than the stuff you see here and occasionally at The American Catholic – a bit more reflective, a bit more serious, a lot more meaningful (hopefully!).
I encourage you to check it out, and make it a regular stop in your internet travels – first posts are scheduled to hit on Monday January 28, and mine will be published a week from this Saturday.
That’s great news! Looking forward to it.
You, me… Ah well, I guess everyone is entitled to a few mistakes, eh? *grin*
Not that I’m excited or anything. For some reason, my mom finally takes one of the places I write seriously!
“And then there’s me, at the back of the train.”
Okay, you win the self-effacement round. :^)=) We’ll sit in the back of the train and let Stacy, Don and the other powerhouses stoke the boiler fires. Meanwhile, I’m pleased to be in the same e-zine with both you and Foxfier.
You are so not the back of the train. I barely comment on your box because your posts often leave me speechless (especially the moustache edition). THIS back of the train blogger is thrilled to be rubbing columns with you and the bigwigs.
Thanks, Anabelle. You are much too kind.
Now there are three of us clamoring for the last seat on the last car of the train….lol