Father Chris Axline Video Chat - Oct. 11, 2024

St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church (Gilbert, AZ) Podcasts

Called and Gifted coming to St. Mary Magdalene!

Hello St. Mary Magdalene,

It is with great joy that I invite you to take part in the Called and Gifted program and its unique discernment of spirits, a means by which we concretely discover how the Holy Spirit works in our life and enables us to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others. Additional information below:

Discerning charisms communally enables a parish to thrive on the gifts of its people. Far from being "just another program," this is a whole new way to look at our parishes. Our communities are filled with organizational and pastoral needs that are usually met by recruiting anyone who shows any interest or who, perhaps, is just unable to say "no." Because we seldom look first at the gifts and call of individuals, our communities too often contain generous and energetic people who have been burned-out or even traumatized trying to fill "vacuums" for which they were ill-equipped. But if we look first at our gifts, our communities will come to be shaped by our loves, because God calls each of us to (and gifts us for) the work that we most love.

The discernment process ensures that individuals cease to be anonymous to the leadership of the community and to each other. In our large Catholic parishes and institutions, it's easy for individuals to come and go without being noticed and to believe that they have nothing to contribute. When people start to discern their gifts, they also start to talk to each other about their gifts. New relationships begin to form among parishioners, and parish leaders often find that new priorities for the parish begin to emerge.

The discernment of their gifts draws people from the periphery of the community to the center. Some of our most gifted people are sitting, unrecognized, in the back of the church. Many lay Catholics emerge from the gifts discernment process with a much stronger sense that they have something important to give to the larger Christian community and to the world. Catholics who used to sit quietly on the sidelines take new risks, and others emerge as leaders of new initiatives.

Recognizing the charisms of all helps the Church answer the call of the Holy Spirit. Pope John Paul II has called the Church to a new evangelization and heralded a "great springtime" for Christianity. Lay Catholics, in particular, are called to be the Church's "front line," the people in whom the majority of our contemporaries meet the risen Christ. They need to discern their charisms in order to meet this call, and the parish is the most accessible setting for discernment. As partners in the mission of Christ, everyone has been "called and gifted" for the sake of the world!

God bless,

Fr. Chris

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