To be an effective communicator, no matter the situation, you need to know who’s listening. In the work of evangelization, this means getting to know—even coming to love—the world.
Do you Love your Congregation?
As appalling as it sounds, some priests have great resentment for the people they serve. They have expectations for who they should be without loving who they are. This is a central theme in the 1984 movie Mass Appeal, where an idealistic young deacon is forced to work with a older showman of a priest.
A Little Sibling Rivalry
Sometimes, the work of evangelization means going to your “enemy.” In this case, it meant going to the Jesuits! At RECogress last week, I stopped by the Jesuit booth for a friendly game of corn hole. It was a great show for the world to watch (and it did! This video had over 500k views in 3 days!)
Asking the Important Questions
Sometimes, if you want to get to know people, you just have to ask. This means asking the serious, hard-hitting questions, but it also means just getting to know what people know and love. In this “man on the street” style video, I asked participants a variety of questions.
Some People Don’t Want to Be Known
Some people are open books. You ask them a question, they answer truthfully. This makes getting to know them very easy. Others, like Brad Pitt and Paul Newman in Spy Game, are a bit more allusive. What do you do when someone’s entire identity is built on lies and deception?
Nothing, probably, because I don’t run into CIA agents all that often and this is a movie…
From the Vault
One of the things that always baffles me about popular Christianity is how silent it can be on money. For many in the wider Church, being a Christian is about personal morality, focused heavily on things like sexuality, swearing, prayer, devotions, and being family-oriented. These these are obviously not antithetical to the faith, but when we look at the things Jesus said—and how much time he spent on certain subjects—one has to notice that he gave a lot of attention to serving the poor and being poor ourselves. The Catholic Church has an extensive tradition of moral precepts around money and I think it’s important that everyone know what they are.
Tour Update!
Fr. Tito and I are not less than two months away from the first pitch of our tour! It’s very exciting and we can’t wait to get going. At this point, our schedule is pretty much solidified… (we’re still trying to confirm a few events) but there is one change you need to know about.
For Toronto, we originally stated that we would be giving a talk on June 1 and attending the baseball game on June 2. It makes much more sense to switch this. We will be attending the 7:07 Blue Jays game on June 1, and hosting a young adult talk on June 2. The official schedules on this site have been updated to reflect this.
Hope everyone has a wonderful week!
peace and good,
Fr. Casey
Breaking In The Habit 
Enjoyed very much the “person on the hall floor!” Funny, but also some thought provoking moments! Thank you! Pace e Bene!!
As a teacher and preacher (diaconal) for many years, I too have always found it essential to listen to people as they come to Mass or a class. The body language may often speak volumes. And then as the opportunity presents to further listen to parishioners or students the words said (or unsaid) are so important. But about those souls more reticent to open up, I get it. Some of us are just more introverts (for many reasons) and there are those simply afraid to reveal their inner selves. But I also believe sometimes those who are quieter are just the deeper waters that have opened up more to our Lord and are more tuned as listeners. Thank you father for both sharing and listening.
Amazing videos ,🙏🏻🙏🏻
Please let me know how I can join in the possibility of receiving a free copy of the Way of the Beatitude. I tried “shorturl.AT/BIQZC” but internet gave me a “404”
Please let me know. Thanks. Lynne
On Sat, Mar 26, 2022 at 7:51 AM Breaking In The Habit wrote:
> CaseyOFM posted: ” To be an effective communicator, no matter the > situation, you need to know who’s listening. In the work of evangelization, > this means getting to know—even coming to love—the world. Do you Love your > Congregation? As appalling as it sounds, some pri” >