Podcasts about fr charles

In this week's podcast from Downside Abbey, Fr Charles discusses what the role of the abbot is in a Benedictine Monastery. For more podcasts from the Downside Monks, please visit www.downsideabbey.co.uk/benedictine-monastery/the-homily-and-podcasts

Ten Values of a Healthy Parish Culture We have all seen stagnant, moribund parishes. We also know parishes whose beautiful mission statements profess 'values' that never make it off the paper they are written on. A healthy parish culture forms disciples and reaches the lost. This is our God-given goal. Fr Mallon describes ten values that will be evident in such a parish. In this episode, Fr Charles and Fr Anthony begin with a discussion on how to deal with the frequent gap between the values of Jesus and a parish. Then, they discuss each value with reflections on their own experience in ministry.

Have you ever been in discussions about the church where it feels as if God is presumed absent? That it's all up to us? Have you ever seen the Christian faith reduced to law, morality, or dogma - as if "try harder" or "be a nice person" or "just be more orthodox!" were all it really comes down to? This is the Pelagian influence - among the 'junk' that Fr Mallon insists has to go if we are to move forward as the Church on mission that Jesus founded. Have you ever perceived an unhealthy emphasis on the ordained ministry, as if the clergy and/or religious professionals were the only ones with any real calling or responsibility to evangelize and advance the Kingdom in meaningful and impactful ways? This is the clericalist influence - again: junk that has to go. In this episode, Fr Anthony and Fr Charles go in depth discussing the twin scourges of Pelagian moralism and clericalism, and - more importantly - how to neutralize these with authentic Gospel responses stemming from the Encounter with Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Wherever needed reform begins pushing back against entrenched mediocrity, leaders face the question: "By what authority?" Chapter Two of 'Divine Renovation' shows that the movement of parishes from maintenance to mission is NOT the personal agenda or ideological preference of one person or a group; it's a gospel and magisterial mandate. Fr Mallon presents the case from the past fifty years of Catholic teaching that the church is "missionary by her very nature' and cannot BUT evangelize if she is to be true to her Christ-appointed mission. In this episode, Fr Anthony and Fr Charles discuss styles of authority that can and cannot get the job done, and the long journey required to win trust and move hearts capable of creating disciple-making cultures at the parish level.

The identity crisis facing the church has left us confused and weak. The church is a movement, meant to go forth and bring the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ to all peoples. But instead, the church is often a tribe - closed in on itself, self-referential, even to the point of becoming "sick," according to Pope Francis. Are we fostering church cultures that maintain a status quo of complacent exclusivity, keeping Jesus all to ourselves? Or are we forming disciples and reaching the lost through clear and effective disciple-making processes? What is the path forward? Fr Anthony and Fr Charles dive deep into Chapter One of Fr Mallon's "Divine Renovation" to discuss these matters, using the text as a starting point for the conversations we need to be having if our local churches are to be faithful to the great commission and the gospel mandate to go forth and make disciples.

A few years ago, Canadian priest James Mallon wrote a book called "Divine Renovation: Bringing Your Parish From Maintenance to Mission." Fr Mallon is seeing good fruit at his parish as the principles of "The Joy of the Gospel" are actually being realized. In his book, he tells the story of what has worked at his parish and why. He shares what he has learned in a way that can be helpful for others who are trying help parishes form disciples and reach the lost. In this new series, Fr Anthony Co and Fr Charles summarize the content and then riff on the themes, as they try and figure out how for themselves how to bring their parishes from "maintenance to mission." First in a series.