“I have found this prayer to always bear fruit:
‘Holy Spirit, please make me an evangelist.
Jesus, please send me people.’”
disciples. With the apostles as our God-
given example of “a band of joyful mis-
sionary disciples,” the pope advises us to
cultivate our relationship with, and depen-
dence upon, the Holy Spirit as missionary
disciples:
“At Pentecost, the Spirit made the apos-
tles go forth from themselves and turned
them into heralds of God’s wondrous
deeds . . . the Holy Spirit also grants the
courage to proclaim the newness of the
Gospel with boldness in every time and
place. Let us call upon him today, firmly
rooted in prayer, for without prayer all our
activity risks being fruitless and our mes-
sages empty” (EG, no. 259).
As with the first disciples of Jesus, de-
pendence upon the Holy Spirit and seek-
ing to live under his influence is critical to
remaining in Jesus—on the vine and bear-
ing fruit.
In addition to cultivating our relation-
ship with the Holy Spirit, it’s a given that
solid times of prayer (along with feeding
on the divine life of God poured into us
through the Sacraments) must be the heart
of discipleship. As the pope notes, “With-
out prolonged moments of adoration, of
prayerful encounter with the word, of sin-
cere conversation with the Lord, our work
easily becomes meaningless, we lose our en-
ergy as a result of weariness and difficulties
and our fervor dies out” (EG, no. 262).
The Band: No Lone Rangers
As this reflection on becoming joyful mis-
sionary disciples closes, I’d like to echo the
words of Archbishop Vigneron from Ash
Wednesday 2017: “We don’t do this alone.”
As joyful missionary disciples, we must have
brothers and sisters in Christ with whom
we can grow, converse, and share the move-
ments of the Spirit in our life.
God gave us the Church, a familial real-
ity—not the lot of “lone rangers.”
Practically speaking, I can’t think of a
more fruitful practice (outside of reception
of the Sacraments, Eucharistic adoration,
and delving into the Word of God) than
getting together with another disciple (or
several) to talk about what the Lord is do-
ing in my life, to pray and grow together,
to sing and praise together, to talk Scrip-
ture together, to study the faith together,
to go evangelize together.
As the famous passage goes, “As iron
sharpens iron, so man sharpens his fellow
man” (Prv 27:17). Families, God willing,
are built-in bands of joyful missionary disci-
ples! And still, finding good faith-building
relationships that help disciples at all stages
of life, from moms and dads to children, to
grow together as disciples, is a great idea.
Some readers may even remember the
Christian Family Movement from not
long ago. Currently, many parishes are be-
ginning to offer discipleship groups. Ad-
ditionally, many parishes that offer Alpha,
ChristLife, and other faith studies (from
Bible studies to the studies of the saints),
offer these studies in formats designed to
promote small group dynamics that allow
disciples to grow together through the gift
of authentic interpersonal sharing.
The “iron sharpens iron” quote above
is so true; I’ve learned so much from my
brothers and sisters in the Lord in small
groups and faith-centered friendships over
the years. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help
us find practical ways to ensure we’re not
lone rangers but growing together as a
band of joyful missionary disciples.
Blooming in Our Midst
I hope this reflection has inspired you,
and that maybe you’ve underlined a few
things to help you on the journey. I ad-
mit to experiencing waves of exhilaration
when writing this reflection; it started,
and will end, with prayer.
Sometimes the language might have
seemed too much, too optimistic, maybe
describing more than what appears to be
seen. Ultimately, I think my language falls
far too short of sufficiently describing the
beauty of the springtime of the Church
that is blooming in our midst—if we have
eyes to see it, ears to hear it, hearts to feel
it, and the rocket fuel to get in on it!
Fr. Patrick Gonyeau (2013) is associate pastor
of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament,
St. Moses the Black, and Our Lady of the Rosary
Parishes, and is a regional evangelization coor-
dinator for the Archdiocese of Detroit.
shms.edu
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