Ready, Set….GO! Available NOW: Weekly Message for 03-22-16

Dear Fellow Digital Pilgrims, pax Christi:

As we approach the holiest days of the year, liturgically speaking, I am continuing to pray for all of you, every day.  

When I started down the path of the priesthood, I had no idea that one of my ministries would take place “online.” At that point (1993), the digital continent didn’t even exist. In fact, the world wide web emerged while I was in the novitiate – a monastic period of our formation without much contact with the world. When I entered the novitiate, “www” only conjured up images of professional wrestling in my mind. When I made my first vows two years later, an entirely “new world” had appeared.  

It is a true joy to serve Christ’s Kingdom by bringing his presence to this continent. And yet, we have found that although digital products are growing in popularity, traditional products are still hanging around. And so, I am happy to announce a new book that, I hope will not only help you prepare for Easter, but will help you live the entire Easter Season the way the Church wants us to live – meaningfully and joyfully.

Go! 30 Meditations on How Best to Love Your Neighbor as Yourself, is a sequel to Seeking First the Kingdom: 30 Meditations on How to Love God with All Your Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength. And, at least in my mind, both of those books are sequels to The Better Part. Together they form a kind of trilogy: Encounter Christ by meditating on the Gospels (The Better Part); become his disciple by aligning all the dimensions of your life with his will (Seeking First); then put your unique personality and creativity at his service by living your baptismal commitment to become his missionary and witness in this world (Go!).

As I try to do with all my books, I made this one substantive – you really can use it for meditation, or for spiritual reading – but also practical. At the end of each short chapter you have questions for personal reflection or group discussion, and suggestions about how to translate theological principles into day-to-day decisions.  

The Easter Season is longer than 30 days, but Go! can help give you a head start on living it deeply and enjoyably. At least, that’s my hope and my prayer. You can find out more at Ministry23.

And count on my daily prayers for all of you during the Holy Triduum.

Peace in Him, Fr. John Bartunek, LC