Make disciples and we’ll evangelise the world, speaker tells Launceston conference
Catholics are increasingly becoming confident and excited about sharing their faith, said Hobart Archbishop Julian Porteous following the annual Evangelium Conference in Launceston.
Daniel Ang, the Director of the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation, was the keynote speaker at the event on 13 August aimed at firing up parishioners in the country’s southernmost state to love, live and share their faith.
“Daniel did a great job and this, our third conference, was very well received. It was paused for a couple of years due to COVID but is growing bigger each time,” Archbishop Porteous said.
“We are encouraging our parishes to be more mission-oriented and many people are becoming willing to share their faith and realise that it’s something they can do, that it’s not overwhelming or something you need to be trained in.
“Each of us is called to missionary discipleship, which is a phrase Pope Francis used [in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium].
“It’s simply sharing the joy of living our faith, which is something that can be very naturally and easily shared with others.”
We have to create a ‘burning platform’, showing to others the ability of a community to make disciples will determine all other things …” – Daniel Ang, SCE Director
Mr Ang said that the call to discipleship is fundamental to Christian life and that it takes two things to energise and inspire Catholics to mission, a firm grasp of the urgency of the situation and a clear vision of the breadth and depth of Christ’s call to make disciples.
“One of the things we have to do is create a ‘burning platform’, showing to others that the ability of a community to make disciples will determine all other things that it would like to see, from volunteers, to the financial health of their community, the morale of their priests and lay leaders, the take-up of formation opportunities, the health of families, and even the ability of their community to sustain its outreach to the poor and most vulnerable,” he said.
“Their commitment to evangelise others will be a graced result of their own deepening relationship to Jesus, and this means knowing who he is, what he has done for us and how he remains with us to this day in the mystery of the Church.
“Once we grasp that Jesus is risen and with us in his Holy Spirit, we want to share this good news with others.”
Archbishop Porteous said that the conference compliments the archdiocese’s popular Evangelium Project, which is a faith formation program to help Catholics become missionary disciples, held over three sets of five weekly sessions.
Around 200-250 people have been attending the talks and faith sharing opportunities this year aimed at building discipleship and personal relationship with Christ.
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