Adventures in Imperfect Living Catholic Podcast with Rosary Army founders Greg and Jennifer Willits

New Evangelizers in Action: Fr. Kyle Sanders

Book Cover NEY T36515One of the most popular aspects of my book The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid were the many sidebars about New Evangelizers in Action, stories of everyday Catholics doing their best to know, live, and share their faith. The original plan was for an entire bonus chapter of New Evangelizers, but unfortunately the page count exceeded the plan for the printers.

So for the next few weeks, I’m going to share this great bonus content from The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid. Enjoy!

New Evangelizers in Action: Fr. Kyle Sanders

FrKyleSanders“The biggest challenge I find in knowing my faith is in being able to clearly articulate that which I believe to be true, even after a master’s degree in theology,” says Fr. Kyle Sanders, a 27-year-old priest in Archdiocese of New Orleans. “Clarity aids in communication. When I can speak clearly on what the faith is, then there is less obfuscation within conversations about the faith.”

As a young priest active in his parish as well as online, the need to speak clearly is pivotal.

“Currently I write a blog about books and reading in an attempt to connect the Word of Truth with the words people read in books,” says Fr. Kyle. “Books have such a wealth of knowledge and hidden revelation of the action of God that they are great source to allude to the eternal Truth, Jesus Christ.”

That proclamation of Jesus Christ, Father understands, is the first part of New Evangelization.  “One of my personal goals as associate pastor is to initiate a ministry of the new evangelization,” he says.  “I plan on starting this by getting our parish website fully redesigned.”

While a website is but one way to engage others in the New Evangelization, Father Kyle knows there are many opportunities awaiting those who long for a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.

“There is a stirring in the hearts of many young adults with the fire of the Holy Spirit and a zealous drive to proclaim the gospel to their peers and to their parents,” Father says.  “This needs to be tapped more and directed. They want to go out and just don’t know how or where to go.”

You can read Fr. Kyle’s blog at reverencedreading.com.

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Adventures in Imperfect Living Catholic Podcast with Rosary Army founders Greg and Jennifer Willits

New Evangelizers in Action: Chad Torgerson and Waking Up Catholic

Book Cover NEY T36515One of the most popular aspects of my book The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid were the many sidebars about New Evangelizers in Action, stories of everyday Catholics doing their best to know, live, and share their faith. The original plan was for an entire bonus chapter of New Evangelizers, but unfortunately the page count exceeded the plan for the printers.

So for the next few weeks, I’m going to share this great bonus content from The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid. Enjoy!

New Evangelizers in Action: Chad Torgerson 

ChadTorgerson“I am neither Bill Gates nor William Shakespeare, but I can use what talent God has given me to good use,” says Chad Torgerson, who converted to Catholicism three years ago at the age of thirty.  “God grants us each certain gifts; He gave me talents with technology and a passion for writing. I maintain my own server, website, and social media outlets, design my own graphics, do all of the writing, and began guest-blogging recently (including on the New Evangelizers blog).”

When it comes to moving forward in knowledge of the faith, Chad minces no words.

“Knowing your faith is almost an oxymoron,” he says.  “Faith and reason, to many people, seem opposed to each other. Learning how faith and reason can coexist, and, in fact, must coexist, is the secret to a deeper faith. We cannot abandon reason for faith, or faith for reason. Reason has limits and needs faith to be expanded. Faith can be limitless but must be grounded through reason. Together, they help to foster growth and build spiritual maturity.”

Despite growing in spiritual maturity, Chad still identifies some of the key areas where his sharing of the faith could improve.

“It can be much easier to share our faith openly when hiding behind our computer keyboards, but the greatest evangelistic work is done face-to-face,” he says.  “A computer screen can’t convey the love and emotion behind real faith sharing. Behind a keyboard, we can use a thesaurus, spell-check, and fancy graphics to dress up a message. In person, we are left with only our voices. In any given moment, we may struggle to find the right words, but if we rely on the Holy Spirit for guidance, He will tell us what to say.”

You can follow Chad online at www.WakingUpCatholic.com.

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Adventures in Imperfect Living Catholic Podcast with Rosary Army founders Greg and Jennifer Willits

New Evangelizers in Action: Allison Riley

Book Cover NEY T36515One of the most popular aspects of my book The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid were the many sidebars about New Evangelizers in Action, stories of everyday Catholics doing their best to know, live, and share their faith. The original plan was for an entire bonus chapter of New Evangelizers, but unfortunately the page count exceeded the plan for the printers.

So for the next few weeks, I’m going to share this great bonus content from The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid. Enjoy!

New Evangelizers in Action: Allison Riley

“After becoming Catholic, and RCIA ended, I had a hunger to learn more about my new faith,” says Allison Riley, who converted to Catholicism ten years ago, while in her mid-twenties.  “I loved being involved in my parish and began teaching CCD classes.”

For Allison, the mother of five children, one of the most common struggles in her own continued understanding of Catholicism in finding ways to learn more about the faith in a way that would also help care for her children.  “This is something that other churches do VERY well. I am not talking about childcare at Mass, but for other events in my parish. I know moms and families that would love to learn more but we are at home being open to life. Our Catholic churches need to figure out how to better embrace large families, which are the very core of our faith.”

When looking at the New Evangelization, Allison says, “I see more people getting involved, but sometimes I think the message gets watered down as people try to make faith fun.”

By volunteering in other ways, Allison began to see the hunger she experienced for her faith was not her own.

“My hope is that parishes get back to the core truths of our Church,” Allison says.  “Teach people about their Catholic faith and stop worrying about offending people.”

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Adventures in Imperfect Living Catholic Podcast with Rosary Army founders Greg and Jennifer Willits

8 Recent Paintings

I’ve been on a mad painting spree these last few months, and we’ve actually started framing and hanging some of them in the house.

What simultaneously amuses and befuddles me is that I never know which of my paintings my wife will deem “hang-worthy.”  Having made some horrible design choices in the past, we’re both pretty picky about what goes on the walls.  So I’m always pleased when I accidentally crank out a hang-worthy painting.

Like this one:

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And this one:

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See a trend as to where my paintings end up?

But then these others are sort of homeless right now.  This one was tucked on a bookshelf:IMG_1570

And this one started a series of landscapes (which I feel like is one of my weaker suites, so I’m doing  a lot of these lately trying to improve).  This one might get hung:

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This might get a frame, too:

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Jennifer has made it clear this one WON’T get hung.  So it’s in my closet right now:

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Did this one on Good Friday.  Not the best photograph, but I call this “Behold your Mother.”  Pay attention to the right-side edge of the painting.

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And I did this one yesterday on Easter Sunday.  These last two I did on my front porch, and very much enjoyed being outside doing these instead of being in the basement, but it’s not the most convenient thing to haul all my gear upstairs and outside.  But it’s worth it.  More to come!

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Adventures in Imperfect Living Catholic Podcast with Rosary Army founders Greg and Jennifer Willits

New Evangelizers in Action: Helping Others Online – John Clem

Book Cover NEY T36515One of the most popular aspects of my book The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid were the many sidebars about New Evangelizers in Action, stories of everyday Catholics doing their best to know, live, and share their faith. The original plan was for an entire bonus chapter of New Evangelizers, but unfortunately the page count exceeded the plan for the printers.

So for the next few weeks, I’m going to share this great bonus content from The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid. Enjoy!

New Evangelizers in Action: John Clem

JohnClem“I first heard the call to the New Evangelization through Blessed John Paul II and the universal call to holiness,” says John Clem, a life-long Catholic from the Diocese of Richmond.  “I was inspired to do more and to start Catholic Web Services to help rebuild the digital Church.”

Through John’s efforts, Catholic Web Services has developed into an online community of Catholic webmasters, developers, social network gurus, and content creators who share knowledge in service to the Church, as well as free websites and other internet services to parishes.

“We hope for our ministry to help all Catholic websites be better in content, presence, and inspiration,” John says.

Despite efforts online, John still experiences many of the same challenges in knowing, living, and sharing the faith as others do offline.  “Taking the time to read and pray, secular skepticism, and remembering to carry faith with love, goodness, beauty, and truth,” are the biggest obstacles John faces.

Yet through these challenges, John is hopeful for the Catholic Church and the New Evangelization.  “I pray for the entire Catholic faith to have many years of growth in the love of Christ,” he says.

You can learn more about John’s efforts as a new evangelizer at www.CatholicWS.com.

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Adventures in Imperfect Living Catholic Podcast with Rosary Army founders Greg and Jennifer Willits

New Evangelizers in Action: John Proffitt

Book Cover NEY T36515One of the most popular aspects of my book The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid were the many sidebars about New Evangelizers in Action, stories of everyday Catholics doing their best to know, live, and share their faith. The original plan was for an entire bonus chapter of New Evangelizers, but unfortunately the page count exceeded the plan for the printers.

So for the next few weeks, I’m going to share this great bonus content from The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid. Enjoy!

New Evangelizers in Action: John Proffitt

John Proffitt believes he has a desire to share his faith journey, and to do it in the most creative way possible.

“I am in the process of trying to write my own book, based on a prayer that I felt I was given a dozen years ago,” John says.  “If I finish that one and it is deemed publishable, I have an idea for a second book that I would also like to write.”

His writing stems, in part, from his desire to read more.

“I have actually spent a considerable amount of time building up a library of Catholic authors and books on apologetics and other topics to learn my faith better,” John says.  “I feel like I am getting a lot more comfortable with the basic knowledge of the faith.”

Even still, reading and remembering are two different things.

“What I wish I could do more of (should do more of) is memorizing some of the scripture references to support the various aspects of the Catholic faith that are the least understood by non-Catholics so I can change their perspective of what Catholics believe and why.”

Like many, John’s past is often a hindrance to having confidence as a New Evangelizer, and sometimes makes it difficult to live his faith.

“I was such a dog for so many years, overcoming the bad habits is certainly a challenge,” John says.  “The older I get, the less patient I seem to be with the process, which just angers me.”

Nevertheless, John holds to great hope for the future of the Church and his own faith development.

“My hopes are that more of those who call themselves Catholic will actually begin to understand and embrace their faith more faithfully,” John says about the New Evangelization.  “I think there are plenty of things that are making us actually decide for or against the Church – the HHS mandate for example. The differences between black and white, right and wrong, good and evil are becoming more apparent, with less opportunity to sit on the fence.”

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Adventures in Imperfect Living Catholic Podcast with Rosary Army founders Greg and Jennifer Willits

New Evangelizers in Action: Cheryl Dickow

Book Cover NEY T36515One of the most popular aspects of my book The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid were the many sidebars about New Evangelizers in Action, stories of everyday Catholics doing their best to know, live, and share their faith. The original plan was for an entire bonus chapter of New Evangelizers, but unfortunately the page count exceeded the plan for the printers.

So for the next few weeks, I’m going to share this great bonus content from The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid. Enjoy!

New Evangelizers in Action: Cheryl Dickow

dickow_cherylCheryl Dickow has a passion for sharing the faith through the written word, not only as an author in her own right, but as a publisher of others, as well.

“I began Bezalel Books to provide a forum for authors who did not have “names” or “connections” but who were, themselves, trying to respond to the new evangelization,” says Cheryl.  “It has been a real blessing to meet these men and women who simply want to be part of the body of Christ with their talents and gifts.”

In addition to trying to make inroads on a global scale, Cheryl also maintains focus on a local level through a number of volunteer positions including leading Bible study and teaching adult faith formation.

Though she’s engaged in education and writing, Cheryl still encounters several challenges in knowing her faith.

“I participated in a program titled ‘Called and Gifted’ and found out that my gifts were in areas of knowledge, teaching, writing and evangelization,” she says. “While that confirmed for me that I am where God wants me and can use me, I have found the biggest challenge to knowing my faith to be the limited time I have to take it all in. The older I get (I am currently 54) the more challenged I am to prioritize what I need to read, do and accomplish so that I can live fully for Christ.”

For the New Evangelization, Cheryl has high hopes, especially “that Catholics who have platforms will be more willing to open doors for Catholics who don’t but who are still the body of Christ. There are so many people who have been given a passion and the gifts to accomplish something for Christ but need the help of their Catholic brothers and sisters whose own apostolates have been blessed by God–and maybe who have forgotten where their blessings come from and for what purpose they are to serve.”

You can visit Cheryl’s website at www.bezalelbooks.com.

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Adventures in Imperfect Living Catholic Podcast with Rosary Army founders Greg and Jennifer Willits

New Evangelizers in Action: Fr. Darryl Millette

Book Cover NEY T36515One of the most popular aspects of my book The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid were the many sidebars about New Evangelizers in Action, stories of everyday Catholics doing their best to know, live, and share their faith. The original plan was for an entire bonus chapter of New Evangelizers, but unfortunately the page count exceeded the plan for the printers.

So for the next few weeks, I’m going to share this great bonus content from The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid. Enjoy!

New Evangelizers in Action: Fr. Daryl Millette

FrDarrylWhen Fr. Darryl Millette, a priest is the diocese of Saskatoon, decided to get involved in Catholic New Media, he went all in and created both a personal and parish website, along with a podcast and YouTube channel.

Even though he is an ordained priest, the downside of being so busy with these various projects is taking the time to read and study in order to better know his faith.

When asked about the biggest challenge in living his faith, it may be surprising that the answer is reminiscent of what is commonly heard from laity.  “Taking the time to nurture my personal relationship with Jesus Christ [is the biggest challenge], particularly through prayer,” says Fr. Darryl.

But Father understands the need to find other resources to help himself and his parish to be more active in the New Evangelization.

“One of the most recent things we did was a 10 week showing of Fr. Robert Barron’s Catholicism,” says Father Darryl.  “It went over very well and I plan to show it again in the fall, while using is as part of an RCIA process.”

You can find links to Fr. Millette’s initiatives at www.saskapriest.com.

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Wedding Feast of Cana 2-Part Painting

The above video was shot from February 11, 2014 through tonight, March 30, 2014, but the process began way back in December when I first had the idea of doing a painting based on a stained glass image of the Wedding Feast of Cana, which is one of my favorite stories from the Bible.

As I searched around for stained glass images, I came across one from the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul in Providence, Rhode Island. Talking to my friend, Fr. Jay Finelli, a priest of that diocese, he believes the windows are as old as the Church, which is about to celebrate it’s 125th anniversary. Thus far, I have not been able to discover who created the original stained glass design.

Nevertheless, while the layout of the paintings I did is similar, there are so many things that are different, and areas I took liberty with the paintings to make them more in my style.

The new view when you first walk into our house
The new view when you first walk into our house

But more importantly, these two paintings did so much to help revitalize my desire to use my creativity in a more prayerful way. I wrote about my growing in this area in a previous post.

Just after finishing the second painting
Just after finishing the second painting

I definitely felt God’s peace and guidance through this work. There are a few aspects of the paintings that I have no idea how I pulled off, and I attribute those areas in particular to the Holy Spirit. I also attribute the spin-off Mysteries of the Rosary series (still in progress) to the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, as well.

I’ve been very blessed to rediscover this hobby after so many years. It’s hard to adequately give words to how it has changed me in such a short period of time. I feel a tremendous peace when painting that transcends just a relaxing hobby. I feel a connection with God and an appreciation for the gifts – big and small – that he gives us.

I suppose it’s appropriate that his first public miracle – his first gift to the world – would be the my first big project upon returning to these creative endeavors.
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Adventures in Imperfect Living Catholic Podcast with Rosary Army founders Greg and Jennifer Willits

New Evangelizers in Action: Fr. Timothy Gallagher

Book Cover NEY T36515One of the most popular aspects of my book The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid were the many sidebars about New Evangelizers in Action, stories of everyday Catholics doing their best to know, live, and share their faith. The original plan was for an entire bonus chapter of New Evangelizers, but unfortunately the page count exceeded the plan for the printers.

So for the next few weeks, I’m going to share this great bonus content from The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid. Enjoy!

New Evangelizers in Action: Fr. Timothy Gallagher

FrGallagherFr. Timothy Gallagher is a priest of the Archdiocese of Atlanta currently serving his first year as a pastor of his own parish.  To him, the need for the New Evangelization is not just important, but critical.  Even still, the implementation of the New Evangelization requires a gentle hand.

“At the parish level, it is important to help people connect to the Universal Church so to be able to enter into Her perspective and appreciate what the Holy Spirit is guiding Her through in our time,” says Fr. Gallagher.  “So for me simply introducing the language of ‘New Evangelization’ is a major step, explaining its origins and meaning in its development, and trying to help parishioners to understand, accept, embrace, and own it, not just as a concept or a trendy campaign, but as a movement of the Holy Spirit to bring new life to the Church.”

So how does a busy pastor working as the only priest in his parish approach this?  Start with the basics.

“In the area of reaching my own active parishioners, I cannot assume that they even know the basic Precepts of the Church anymore,” explains Fr. Gallagher.  “You cannot tell someone to go and do corporal works of mercy if they have no idea what you’re talking about.  You cannot challenge someone to preach the Gospel if they think that is something that only televangelists do.  I have to use clear catechesis in the pulpit and in the classroom to, in a sense, re-evangelize them.”

Fr. Gallagher also understands that the use of catechesis sometimes requires identifying misunderstandings people may have about Catholicism.  “I find that a big part of Knowing the Faith in my own parish is first helping people come to an awakening that they do not know it,” he says.  “Many live a hybrid sort of faith, a mix of protestant beliefs and popular culture along with personal opinion.  So it has to re-presented but in a way that our culture has made them accustomed to taking in information.  It will be like new to them.  So as a pastor, I have know how to do this.”

Is he himself challenged by the need to Evangelize anew?

“The New Evangelization is a charism born from the Second Vatican Council that is coming into maturity, a charism that is made for our time, our culture, and, yes, our technology,” explains Fr. Gallagher.  “And so I as a pastor have to pray that I may have this spirit, that I may share this charism given to our Church, and then share it with my flock.  The spirit of the New Evangelizing is the age-old message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that brings light to the world, that opens our mind to a new vision of what our life is all about and a gives a new perspective on how would should live our life.  But it is the presentation I think that is key.”

When asked about ways to best present the faith, Fr. Gallagher points to successful examples of evangelizers from history.

“St. Paul was one man who made a big difference in Evangelizing,” says Fr. Gallagher.  “As he sailed on the waves of the sea by ship in the spirit of Psalm 19:4, I hope to help my little parish to realize that we can reach many on the waves of the internet.  Perhaps it will be the spark that ignites the New Evangelization that sets the Earth on Fire.  My work as a pastor has to get parishioners to see themselves as a part of this Living Flame and to understand that they play a crucial role in its spreading throughout the world, starting with their families, through social network of friends, and those they meet along the electronic highways and byways.  If they can embrace the idea of using virtual reality virtuously, then I think Pslam 19:4 can be realized more and more in our time.”

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Rosary Painting Project

First, A Progress Report
A few weeks back I wrote about a new painting project I had started. I’m about 75% finished with that one. Here’s the progress so far:

Wedding Feast of Cana Paintings

Those are actually two separate paintings (thus, my wife Jennifer holding one of them) that tell the story of the Wedding Feast of Cana, which is one of my favorite stories from Scripture. It is based off of a stained glass image from the Cathedral in Providence, Rhode Island. Never seen it in person, but liked some of the photos I’ve seen enough to do my own version. When it’s done, these two will be framed separately and hung on the living room wall that has been completely blank for far too long. Like this:

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The project has been a great challenge (in a good way) to re-awaken a lot of dormant understanding of painting.

Unexpected Surprise
One of the things that was driving me nuts is that sometimes I end up having to mix a lot of paint just to get a little bit of color on the canvas leaving me at the end of a painting session with a pile of unused and unneeded paint. And since I’m now painting with acrylics instead of oils, the paint dries super fast.

One night, further inspired by Pope John Paul II’s Letter to Artists, I had the idea of grabbing a spare, smaller canvas and just seeing what comes out of the brush by using the spare paint from that night’s painting session.

This was the result:

Third Luminous Mystery - The Nativity
Third Luminous Mystery – The Nativity

Surprised by the result, I’ve since continued doing these #SparePaintPaintings whenever I have leftover paint at the end of the night. I’ve now completed 16 of the 20 mysteries of the Rosary.

We’ve talked about the possibility of having prints made of these either individually or as one large collage, like this:
Rosary Mysteries Painting

So here’s the question – Would you be interested in prints like this? It would require a bit of investment to have HD professional photos taken so that the prints would actually look like the original. And do any other artists out there have an idea how much things like this run for?

Here are some others I’ve done so far. Can you figure out which mystery each represents?

Copyright (C) 2014 Greg Willits
Copyright (C) 2014 Greg Willits

Copyright (C) 2014 Greg Willits
Copyright (C) 2014 Greg Willits
Copyright (C) 2014 Greg Willits
Copyright (C) 2014 Greg Willits
copyright (C) 2014 Greg Willits
copyright (C) 2014 Greg Willits
Copyright (C) 2014 Greg Willits
Copyright (C) 2014 Greg Willits
copyright (C) 2014 Greg Willits
copyright (C) 2014 Greg Willits
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