What the Church needs most right now

October 7, 2020 by Andy Lesnefsky 3 Comments

This one statement has bothered me, and I couldn’t explain why until recently.

That statement was, “the Church needs a new Pentecost.”

While I understand the sentiment, we would never say:

The Church needs another Crucifixion.
The Church needs another Resurrection.

Why a new Pentecost?

The reality is the Holy Spirit has been definitely given to the world, to the Church, and to you at Baptism and Confirmation.

The church needs to wake up to the presence of the Holy Spirit. I feel like saying we need a new Pentecost is like the person who is looking for their glasses when they are on top of their head.

The Holy Spirit was given authoritatively to the Church and has not been removed.

What we desperately require is not a new Pentecost, but the regular opening of the eyes of our heart to the movement the Holy Spirit is challenging us to.

The Holy Spirit often sounds mysterious, but he is the one who teaches us to pray, moves us into mission and convicts us to act. We don’t need to wait for a retreat-like moment to experience his presence or calling.

This ministry/movement is a simple example of how the Holy Spirit can work in big way. When I first started this, I felt the nudging of the Holy Spirit that he was going to use this in a big way. Along the process, there has been a lot of prayer, discernment, and action.

It’s also fundamentally been an invitation to others into action as well. Our mission has always been to help people experience Jesus in tangible ways and to help them share the Gospel.

I don’t share that example to say look we are holy or we are perfect, but to say the Holy Spirit is here for each of us right now and inviting us to be a part of what the Church needs now: a new recognition of the Holy Spirit’s presence and movement to bold action in response to him.

I am confident the Holy Spirit is present in your life and inviting you to mission somehow, whether that is big or small. Let’s be in the stream and the movement of where the Holy Spirit is calling us.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

Lastly, as you probably know, we are in the final days of our Kickstarter campaign http://kck.st/2Hc74c3 to raise funding for our daily video campaigns for Advent and Lent. I feel so excited about what God has been putting on our heart for this campaign, and I’d love for you to be a part of bringing this to life.

The goal is not to come off as we need money to do this, please help, but rather, God has laid this on hearts to do again, and we believe he is inviting people to partner with us on this project. Is God inviting you to invest in this? I pray you’ll ask him that today!

Time is running out (so don’t delay.)

There are only five days left, and we’ve got some distance to go to reach our funding goal. As of writing this email, we are at $11,214 of our $16,700 goal for Advent (and to do the Lent program, we need to hit a stretch goal of $28,500 total.)

Donate now at http://kck.st/2Hc74c3

3 Important Life Lessons from St. Thérèse

September 30, 2020 by Andy Lesnefsky 12 Comments

By worldly measures, Thérèse didn’t accomplish much before she died at the age of 24. However, her love, her wisdom, and her passion for life have much to teach us, especially in these tumultuous times.

There is only one thing to do here below: to love Jesus, to win souls for Him so that He may be loved. Let us seize with jealous care every least opportunity of self-sacrifice. Let us refuse Him nothing — He does so want our love.”

Today I wanted to share three profound life lessons I have learned from her that I think are great reminders for us!

1. You can impact more people than you imagine. It starts with the small things.

Two saints are known as the patron of missions. Saint Francis Xavier traveled extensively including to Africa and Asia. He was one of the first missionaries to India and Japan. He helped convert thousands and thousands of people through his preaching of the Gospel.

Saint Thérèse, on the other hand, spent her whole life in an obscure corner of France. She didn’t travel. In fact, another nun was reported to have said of her after her death, “I cannot understand why people speak of Sister Thérèse as if she were a saint. She never does anything notable.”

Thérèse is recognized as the Patroness of Missions because of her fervent love of Jesus, her intercession for missionaries both while on earth and now in heaven, and her missionary heart for those who don’t know the love of Jesus.

“I have the vocation of the Apostles. I would like to travel over the whole earth to preach your Name and to plant your glorious cross on infidel soil. But…one mission alone would not be sufficient for me, I would want to preach the Gospel on all the five continents simultaneously and even to the most remote isles. I would be a missionary, not for a few years only, but from the beginning of creation until the consummation of the ages.” – St. Thérèse

In my years in ministry, I have had the pleasure of working with people both young and old, rich and poor. One thing that I have found across the variety of ages and socio-economic backgrounds is that people underestimate the impact they can have on the world and the people around them.

Don’t underestimate how valued and loved you are. You can change the world. Like St. Thérèse, love God and others through the little things.

2. We are never satisfied because God created us that way. He created us with a longing for him.

O my God, you have surpassed all my expectations.”- St. Thérèse

Often times in life we can feel like we need more. “It” is not enough.

It can be:
• Money
• Friendships
• Social Media
• Or just about anything.

“It” is not always a sinful thing. It can even be something good like friendship or being with others. We want more. We feel empty when others aren’t around.

Sometimes the hunger for something leads us down a dark path. We get addicted to chasing “it.”

No “it” will ever satisfy us. I used to think this was primarily due to my selfish nature, but I’ve come to understand from St. Thérèse it’s more because Jesus is the only thing that truly satisfies.

Things and people can point us towards him, but the minute we try to replace the creator with a created thing or someone else we are sure to be left feeling empty.

Taste and see how good God is, and you find like St. Thérèse, he will surpass all your expectations.

3. God is calling you, today, to be a great saint.

“You cannot be half a saint; you must be a whole saint or no saint at all.”

and

“Holiness consists simply in doing God’s will, and being just what God wants us to be.” – St. Thérèse

Holiness seems like a distant, impossible task, but if that were the reality, God would be cruel. If he is loving, he would not tell us to be something we could not attain.

You need to believe that God is calling you to be a saint. Not a saint tomorrow or when death is imminently knocking on your door. He is calling you to be a saint today.

Look around at our church. The world doesn’t need a bunch of saints in 50 years from now. It requires the witness of holy men and women today. We need to recommit ourselves to prayer, to the Holy Spirit, and the spreading of the Gospel.

St. Thérèse wasn’t content with being half a saint and I pray that you won’t be either.

Any of these life lessons encourage or challenge you? Have another favorite quote of St. Thérèse? Share in the comments below!

Help Us Reach Millions

Through your generosity, we are confident God will do some amazing things through our Advent and Lent video series, but only with your help. With 11 days to go, we are at over $7,000 of our $16,700 for Advent and to do the Lent program we need to hit a stretch goal of $28,500 total. Click here or go to http://kck.st/2Hc74c3 to learn more and donate today!

5 ways to fight for the Church

October 15, 2019 by Andy Lesnefsky 2 Comments

Last week’s article set off a flurry of passionate responses and I loved hearing from you!

I think I have always feared being in a fight and not knowing what to do or how to react. In my last blog, my thesis, if you will, was that Christ is calling us to fight for his church because that is exactly what he did.

The article last week wasn’t meant to be a deep expose on the problems in the church. It was meant to be a personal rallying cry.

The looming question is, how do we fight?

All of my top five tips can be boiled down to one concept:

Holiness.

This might seem like the churchy answer and maybe you want something more. There was a time when I wanted some new initiative, a book to read, or a quick solution, but I’m more convinced every day that fighting starts with holiness. To be holy means to be who God created us to be, set apart for a specific reason or purpose.

The spiritual battle is about claiming Christ’s victory in the world today. My friend who helps with exorcism ministry always says the worst exorcists are those relying on their own power. We need to stop trying to fix the church with a novel idea before praying (please note I am speaking to myself first and foremost.)

I think the concept of holiness and conversion tells us we are made for this fight and in Christ we have everything we need in him.

With holiness as the overall concept here are my top 5 tips for fighting:

Daily surrender. If you want to be a good fighter, recommit to the love of Jesus Christ in your life. Give him your whole self each and every day. Pray in front of a crucifix each morning.
Daily prayer. Without time in prayer, we can’t enter into the battle. It would be like being a starving baker. How is your prayer life? Is it alive? Is it growing in time and intensity?
Monthly confession. Most people don’t wake up and decide to do terrible things. They let sin creep in slowly over time. They cross boundaries. They let their guard down. They justify things that they used to detest. Christ calls us deeper, invites us to turn away from sin, and offers us a chance to start again. Monthly confession is a beautiful opportunity to start over on a regular basis.
Consider and pray about your gifting. How God has made you unique. You are unrepeatable and in a particular way you were created to unique reflect who God is to the world and for the church. Too often people aren’t given the opportunity to use their gifts in the Church. Find a way to use what God has put inside of you for the betterment of the Church.
Discern your calling. What is God calling you to do with the gifts he has given you? Start small, but ask big things of God.

These five things are a start. I know we also need fighting that includes repentance, accountability, transparency, and faithfulness to the gospel. I am convinced though on a personal level that God wants each of us fighting for personal holiness and our individual vocation.

What would you like to add to this list? Please comment below or shoot me an email.

But does it make a difference?

I don’t know if you have ever asked the question, does it make a difference?

Everywhere we look there is a need, new project, a gofundme, a neighbor knocking on our door.

To me the question of do I give or do I get involved comes down to three questions:

Is this going to make a difference?
Does it matter if I give or not? In other words, can I make a difference?
Lastly, is the Lord calling me to get involved?

I wanted to hopefully help you answer these questions with our KICKSTARTER. Our Advent and Lent programs have touched numerous lives and anticipate reaching millions more in the coming seasons. Secondly, the heart of what we do in our funding comes from a broad base of people. It typically takes us about 300-400 people in our crowdfunding campaign to hit our goal. Will you be one of those today? Lastly I’d ask you to ask the Lord if this is something you should be financially committed to. We’re excited about all that God is going to do and invite you to be a part of it.

Donate today at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/redeemedonline/faith-made-simple

Is the Church Worth Fighting For?

October 7, 2019 by Andy Lesnefsky 25 Comments

It is a question that sadly needs to be asked, is the Church worth fighting for? Why? And what does this mean for me?

At some point, you’ve either been this guy or this girl in this situation or witnessed a good friend in this situation: A romantic relationship came to a crashing a halt, and you must decide do I hold out hope that this relationship can be restored? Is this relationship worth fighting for? Or is it over?

Many Catholics over the last few years have sadly felt like their relationship with the church has gone up in smoke or that they church the fell in love with looks so very bruised and broken. Some feel disillusioned with the Church on a broader level. Even more people have experienced the brokenness of the church on the local parish.

So, do we fight for the church? Why? And what does this look like?

Many of you know that my full-time job is the President of Vagabond Missions, a Catholic ministry to inner-city kids. Our amazing missionaries work alongside our mission partners to reach out to unchurched kids. In the cities we serve, we partner with the diocese and a local area parish church. The partnerships are a big part of how we operate and we are blessed that several of our youth centers are in buildings owned by a parish partner.

About a month ago, I was feeling frustrated. I don’t even remember what the specifics were, but I began to think maybe it would be easier to operate a non-profit that didn’t have to deal with the politics of church life.

I realized I was grappling with the question. Is the Church worth fighting for?

It may seem like an oxymoron, but I felt like the Lord spoke to me in a way that was both subtle and loud. His answer in my prayer was also both direct and indirect.

“I died for the church.”

I contemplate Jesus dying for me sometimes in prayer. Sometimes I may even spend some time praying about how Jesus died for the Church. He was not only fighting for the big “C” Church, meaning the Church he wanted to establish, but I felt like he was saying so much more to me.

He fought for his bride radically. He laid down his life that his bride might live. I felt like he was saying to me that he didn’t do this for a theological concept, but for the local church as well, “the parish.”

To the world, it looked like he gave up, but we know that isn’t the storyline. We can be tempted to give up on the broader idea of the church or on its expression in our local community, but we need to remember the love of the cross is his love of the church.

We can’t give up. The world needs the church. You need the church. I need the church.

She’s beautiful. She’s broken. She seems to be a mess, but we can’t stop fighting for her.

“In her voyage across the ocean of this world, the Church is like a great ship being pounded by the waves of life’s different stresses. Our duty is not to abandon ship but to keep her on her course.” – Saint Boniface

The church needs you.

Let’s fight. Let’s recommit to following Christ, knowing that means taking up the cross day after day. Don’t give up on the church because Jesus didn’t. Don’t give up because Jesus didn’t give up on you.

Christ didn’t merely forfeit his life. He suffered. He endured excruciating pain.

The fight isn’t going to be easy. The fight means tough conversations. It involves exposing the darkness to the light. It means accountability and a new transparency.

The new ardor, new method, and new expression of the new evangelization are needed desperately today.

But let’s be perfectly clear. What the Church needs most of each of us, is simply what Christ asks of us: our entire lives. Our response to his love must be holiness. We need a generation of people striving to be saints who love the bride of Christ as he did who are willing to die to ourselves each day and pick up their cross.

Let’s pray. Let’s fast. We need the church, and the church needs us.

I’d love to know what you think. Please comment below or shoot me an email.

We need your help. We’ve got big plans for our Advent and Lent video series, but can only do it with your help. We are more than 1/3 of the way to the Advent series minimum of $12,500 and 1/5 of the way to our total goal of $24,100 for Advent and Lent. These series will reach millions of people with the good news through video and social media. Only your support brings this project to life. Donate today at kickstarter.com/projects/redeemedonline/faith-made-simple

Two Marks of Prayer

June 6, 2019 by Andy Lesnefsky 1 Comment

“St. Jane Frances de Chantal used to say, ‘The best method of prayer is not to have one, because prayer is not obtained by artifice’—by technique, we would say today—’but by grace.’ There is no ‘method’ of praying, in the sense of a set of instructions or procedures that we merely have to apply in order to pray well. Though true contemplative prayer is a gift that God gives freely, we do need to understand how to receive it.” -Fr. Jacques Philippe