Creativity/ Catholic Missionaries Needed

In January, my blog-Brooklyn-Born-Believer was a year old. I remember a year ago, when a fellow employee where I worked, helped me get the blog going. When I mentioned to him that I enjoyed reading his blog and I would like to blog, in the future, he said, "It's easy to start a blog, I'll show you how to do it....now." I wasn't too sure that I wanted to start a blog at that moment in life. But I put my concerns aside, after all I would be sharing my deep faith and that's important to me. Before long I was on my way. Well, it was easy enough to get the blog started, it's quite another story keeping it up. It takes effort generating new ideas for topics and work to keep it current and interesting and though I love to write, it's a time commitment and involves effort. 

When Pope Benedict recently suggested that more priests should blog (some already do), I thought to myself, that's a nice idea, but will they have time for it. Interestingly, the blogger who helped me get started recently closed his blog down, just saying he was going on to do other things. The comments that people left on his blog were interesting. People were sad to see his blog end, he obviously had many readers who liked his work. But more importantly they appreciated all the work he had put into his blog. I wish Patrick McNamara the best, in whatever he is going on to. 

On another note, in a recent AOL News article I read on the internet titled, "After Quake Evangelicals Find Opportunity," by Emily Schmall, it mentions a quote by an evangelical Christian pastor, Gersan Valcin, who has a congregation in a middle- class suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, "For a Christian, this is the best time to be alive. Out of tragedy, there is opportunity." So as the evangelicals see an opportunity to bolster faith and congregations in Haiti, while encouraging people to believe in God, God's mercy and the goodness of human beings, the Catholic Church has the opportunity to do the same. I'm sure they are but as mentioned in the article, the Church has been severely damaged (literally) with the "once-majestic Notre Dame Cathedral in ruins and parishioners continue to mourn the loss of the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, Joseph Miot. 

Tim Dale, from Austin, Texas is part of an evangelical congregation in Texas that helps to finance Gersan Valcin's work in Haiti. He is quoted as saying, "Churches are kind of the infrastructure for getting the message out and getting things done....Evangelism underlies the mission of mercy." 

As an evangelizer for Christ, Gersan Valcin is seizing the moment, as he should. Likewise, it is a good opportunity for Catholic missionaries and religious orders to expand their programs and outreach in Haiti. It is my hope, that the Haitian people deepen their faith as they rebuild their small country, and they continue to move forward with hope, courage and a deep belief in God's abiding presence. 

NJA