Year of Faith in Baltimore

Last Sunday, I went to St. Mark's in Catonsville (21228) to participate in the mass with Abp. Lori of Baltimore. I saw him before at the HHS Fortnight for Freedom mass, too, but this time my family was with me.

Abp. Lori Pointing Towards Heaven

His homily (found here) was very inspiring. It was especially inspiring since I'm trying to start an New Evangelization committee/ministry at my particular Church (plan to call it "Boot Camp of Beautiful Feet"; Romans 10: 15). It's also in the works to show Saint movies (Song of Bernadette etc.) and perhaps the Catholicism series by Fr. Barron (Jesus of Nazareth for Lent?).

The other thing I'm ecstatic about is that he included the following in the homily,

The second task for this Year of Faith and indeed for our lives together as Catholics is to become utterly convinced of the coherence, truth, beauty, and goodness of all that the Church teaches with respect to faith and morals, including those moral and social teachings that are often counter-cultural, such as the Church’s teaching on marriage and sexual morality and the sacredness of human life from the moment of conception until natural death. We are called to assent to what the Church teaches, not merely with an intellectual nod, a knowing smile, or a passing glance—but rather to become utterly convinced that these are the words of everlasting life. Our faith must not occupy merely a compartment in our minds and hearts but rather must shape the way we think, the decisions we make, the words we say, and the quality of our relationships at home, in the parish, at work, and with friends.

I've never heard anyone say this in a homily before. Wow! The rest of it was pretty terrific, too.

I hope the Lord will bless Abp. Lori and our Archdiocese of Baltimore with an increase in living faith. I wonder what else He will have in store for us.

(Here's Pope Benedict XVI's homily.)