EC Mission Night on Feb. 24

      St. Bernard's mission night will be held from 6:30-8 p.m., Feb. 24 in the church. A member of the Evangelical Catholic staff will join us and encourage us in our journey of discipleship and prayer.

     After His Baptism in the Jordan and time of testing in the desert, Jesus began His public ministry by praying to His Father about whom to invite to spread His mission.
     He called a small group of 12 Apostles to spend time with Him and be formed and trained. Their hearts were formed by watching Him perform miracles, teach in parables, spend the night in prayer and reach out to those suffering around Him.
     Eventually, the 12 would be sent out to do the same and to call others to join them in Jesus’ mission. As they went, Jesus promised that He would be with them always.
     “The Evangelical Catholic (EC),” a local organization that works with parishes around the country to help form lay people in evangelization, has signed on to help St. Bernard parishioners to follow the example of evangelization that we see Jesus use in the Gospels.   
     They aim to help lay people develop a strong relationship with Christ and skills that empower them to reach out to others.
     Our aim at St. Bernard is to follow the mission process of Jesus in a parish movement into discipleship and prayer through small groups.
     Based on the time commitment and nature of the training process, a small group of people will be invited to be part of this first training group that will meet this year to grow together and learn to lead their own small group during Lent.
     This group will help us to “chew on the Word,” according to the EC website.
     Small groups of disciples who have spiritfilled discussions on the scriptures become the vehicle for growth in discipleship and encouragement for one another in the Christian life.
     These groups will begin with parishioners of St. Bernard, and our hope is that they will reach out to their friends and neighbors in the larger community.
     These groups in no way replace parish ministries that are already in place, such as the Small Faith Groups, but are a way to reignite the life of Christ for all of us. You will hear more about this process as we get closer to Lent.
     Evangelization isn’t so much standing on the corner and preaching as it is introducing our friends to Jesus.
     We reach out in evangelization, because we want to love them the way Jesus does. 
     Our need to evangelize isn’t just for our hurting world, but also that we can experience more of the joy Jesus wants for us!