As word of our work spreads, we are starting to receive some very poignant requests from all over the world. One such e-mail message just arrived a few days ago from a lay leader in South Africa: It reads in part:
"Greetings from Johannesburg, South Africa.
"We need to develop local leadership within our community in South Africa (at the moment many of us receive instruction from other denominations and then try to implement this within the Catholic community—having regard to Catholic teaching).
"Local structures seem to be oblivious of the Pope’s teachings on the above, despite their proliferation and continuous encouragement. For this reason, it is often simply easier to go to other Church groups which are open to the Spirit, rather than try to renew our own parishes. Some of the largest South African charismatic churches are filled with ex-Catholics.
"For this reason, and having seen your brochures and training programme content, I hope that you could provide some guidance and assistance in this regard."
Similar needs are described in a letter recently received from a lay leader in a poor Philipino Catholic community in a Muslim country where religious freedom, as we know it, does not exist.
"I have been with the community for more than four years now. In my stay here, I have felt the need for leadership development. It’s unfortunate that we don’t have enough resources. As you all know, this is a Muslim country. Though we were allowed to practice our faith, there is a great restraint to practice this openly.
"With the vast resources that you may have we sincerely do hope that you might be able to help us in one way or the other. We’ll be needing lots of literature and handouts to somehow develop people and attain the much needed growth in the Spirit."
We want to enable these spiritually hungry lay Catholics to access the riches of the Church’s teaching and help empower them to live out God’s call in their lives. But I had to chuckle at the phrase "vast resources" as I looked about our one-room office at Blessed Sacrament, three floors up, packed to the rafters with boxes of inventories, tape sets, brochures, mailing supplies, and two cramped workspaces. We would love to give away our tape sets, but without the income generated by sales, we can’t afford to produce more tapes. But although our budget and office may be strictly "early Dominican," we do have other resources. Our "vast resources" are you, our fellow apostles and collaborators who want to answer the Church’s call to nurture and form lay Catholics.
For $79 US, we can ship a Called & Gifted Workshop audio tape set to any parish or Catholic community in the world. A donation of $79 will enable us to send the audio version of the Called & Gifted Workshop for free to poor parishes or communities that contact us looking for resources. The tape set includes six one-hour tapes, a copy of the Catholic Spiritual Gifts Inventory, a sixty-page Resource Guide, detailed participants’ notes and step by step instructions.
help us provide the Called & Gifted Workshop to those who don’t have access to solid Church teaching about the role of the laity or gifts discernment. Please give us a call at (888)878-5789 or mail your gift marked "tape set donation" to our address.