Supreme Chaplain's Monthly Challenge

April 2019

And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?” (Gospel for April 21, Lk. 24:30-32)

A “fire in the belly,” passion, a drive: these are some of the ways we talk about others who can summon a deep, inner motivation and who make a difference. My brothers, can we say the same about our inner drive to go deeper in our Church’s teaching? Do our hearts “burn within us” and cause us to daily familiarize ourselves with the riches of our faith? Do we have a fire in the belly to be the kind of men who don’t stand silent at the water cooler when we hear our Church’s teaching denigrated by colleagues? In order to lead with faith we need to know our faith. We can’t give what we don’t have. By God’s grace, may we each become disciples whose “hearts burn within us.”

Challenge by Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William E. Lori:

This month I challenge you to deepen your desire to have a heart ‘burning within you’ for new knowledge of the Church’s teaching and doctrine. Invest five to ten minutes a day reading the Catechism or other resource, watching a Catholic talk online, or taking advantage of a local formation opportunity. Secondly I challenge you to talk with a brother in Christ about what you’re learning.