- The world pays more attention
to witnesses than it does to teachers.
And if it pays attention to teachers, it's
because they are first witnesses.
So,
- And this is our inaugural episode of the Scent Podcast.
My name is Steve Salkowski, and I am Brad Gray.
We're here today with his Excellency Bishop John t fold
of the Bishop of the Diocese of Fargo.
Thank you, Bishop, for stopping in. Thank you.
- It's good to be with - You. Let's talk a little
bit about why we're doing this.
Why are we doing a scent podcast?
Uh, we talked a little bit about in the Senate,
about evangelization
and those three levels of evangelization,
talking about encounter with Christ formation and mission.
And after that, that, that syn,
we are really talking about now, how do we go on mission?
And so we're talking about being sent.
Talk to us a little bit about, you know,
what's the importance of being sent
and why we're even doing this podcast?
- Well, I think that the senate
of our diocese really highlighted the call to mission
that we all have, and the church has been reminding of this,
reminding us of this, uh, mission imperative
for decades now, um, all the way back
to the second Vatican Council and even before that.
So, this, I think, is one way for us to share the fruits
of our cid, uh, to invite any listeners, any viewers
to, uh, kind of hear and,
and learn a little bit more about this, uh, commission
that we've received from our Lord himself.
It's not something that I invented, it's something
that Jesus gave to the church from the very, very beginning.
And so this podcast, I think, is just one way for us to
communicate that and to,
to have some conversations about it, you know,
to invite people to, uh, to learn a little bit more
and to enter into this, uh, conversation
and maybe even to answer some questions for them as well.
- Absolutely. And I think, uh, thank you Bishop for, uh,
making it possible for us to do this and for joining us.
Uh, as you know, you've, uh, offered to be a regular guest,
so we're looking forward to these
conversations, uh, with you.
Let's, let's talk a little bit about
that word, evangelization.
It's such a huge word and, and, and,
and really in many ways seems like this huge, um,
insurmountable concept, uh, of what do you do with it?
You know, you wanna do evangelization, be like,
uh, God bless you.
You know what? But let's talk a little bit about that.
What does that even mean?
- Oh, it means lots of things.
I, I think you could boil it down to a few key points.
I, I've always felt like evangelization more than anything
else, is just sharing our faith in Christ with others.
The word evangelization comes from the word
good news, evangelian.
That is a Greek word that means good news.
It's the same word as the gospel. Mm-hmm . In our parlance.
And what we're just doing through evangelization is sharing
with others, uh, the good news about Christ.
And, and that happens in lots of different ways.
Um, I think first of all, it happens by way
of witness the way we live our lives.
Um, back in the 1970s, Pope St.
Paul ii um, offered a,
a teaching document on evangelization to the church.
And it really continues to be one
of the most magnificent statements of our mission, our,
our evangelical mission for the church.
And he said something
that I thought was very, very important.
He said, the world pays more attention
to witnesses than it does to teachers.
And so witness is really very important.
And then he goes on, he says, and if it pays attention
to teachers, it's because they are first witnesses.
So, as followers of Jesus, we're just trying to give witness
to what we have received
and what we believe, um, that that can be
by the example of our lives.
That can be by sometimes giving testimony, you know, sharing
with others what, what we believe if they ask questions,
answering their questions.
Um, a lot of it, I think too, eventually comes down
to inviting and welcoming others into this life of faith
that we have into this life in Christ that we have.
So, um, it it, it takes so many different shapes.
I think there is many different forms of evangelization
as there are, uh, followers of Christ mm-hmm .
So, uh, it really is, uh, a very, very, um,
expansive concept.
But it really comes down to, to this mission
that we've all received as followers of Jesus
and how we live that.
- And Bishop, the, uh, the aspect
of being on mission isn't kinda like the cherry on top
of the milkshake, or heated seats
or leather seats in your, your car.
Like a nice add-on that you can get if you'd like to,
if like, if you wanna kind of go there, right?
Like, this is central to the fact of being a disciple
of being a Christian.
Right. This is, this is at the core of, if, if we are going
to consider ourselves, um, united with Christ, then we have
to have the heart and the, the impulse of Christ
that everyone should know him.
Right. That, that we don't, it's, it's not this kind
of atomistic idea of just me and Jesus.
Right. Like that's, that's foreign
to a Catholic understanding of, of relationship with God,
- Right?
It is. Absolutely. Absolutely.
Um, it's, I always say that this mission
to evangelize, it's not an option.
Mm-hmm . It really is a command of Jesus that he gives
to all of his followers.
So you put a so well out Brad, it's not just, you know,
the cherry on top of the, of the bowl of ice cream
that really isn't just an add-on that we do
or don't do if we feel like it, it's part of who we are.
Mm-hmm . And that, that again, is something that
Pope Paul the sixth, and John Paul ii
and Pope Benedict, Pope Francis, they've all reminded us
that, that it's of the essence of the church
that we evangelize mm-hmm .
That we're on mission. That's not just a, um, a, a side
endeavor, but it really is at the heart of who we are.
And so we gotta take it seriously.
We've gotta do it. Yeah. And
- The church is exists - To evangelize, right?
That's exactly right. Yeah, exactly right.
That can't be said often enough. Mm-hmm .
The church exists to evangelize
mm-hmm . Absolutely. Very true.
- So let's, let's go through this difference
that we had mentioned before.
And we talked about during our, our senate,
these different levels of encounter, uh,
formation and mission.
And of course, we know from Vatican II
that universal call to holiness, right?
We're all called to that and
we can't give what we don't have.
Right? So let's start a little bit, if you're,
if you're okay, Bishop, with a starting with encounter.
Um, and what I, we'd like to do with the Scent Podcast is
to really open up scripture,
because, uh, reading an article, uh, recently that really,
the Bible is the most, really,
the most popular book in the world.
People have it on their shelves, but guess what?
They don't know what to do with it. Right.
They don't know how open the, the, the living word of God,
and to really incorporate it into the lives.
And so we really,
in these sent podcasts wanna look at scripture and,
and talk about how that can be incorporated, um,
into the different facets of evangelization
and our own growth in holiness.
Of course. So, so I have here, uh, a,
a scripture verse from John one, um,
John 1 35 through 40.
And so I'm gonna read that and then let's, uh,
let's just discuss a little bit talking about encounter.
How does this, how does this,
what does this have to do with encounter?
So, uh, John Gospel of John, uh, chapter one, verse 35
through 40, the next day, again, John was standing with two
of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked
and said, behold the lamb of God.
The two disciples heard him say this, and they follow Jesus.
Jesus turned and saw them following
and said to them, what do you seek?
And they said to him, rabbi, which means teacher,
where are you staying?
He said to them, come and see.
They came and saw where he was staying,
and they stayed with him that day,
or it was about the 10th hour.
What stands out to you in that passage? Bishop,
- That is one of my favorite passages, to be quite honest,
in, in all the gospels,
because, um, it, it speaks to this
encounter with Christ that
we all at some time in our lives, first experience,
you know, in this case, these were
followers of John the Baptist.
And, and he kind of handed them off, you might say.
He, he didn't hang on to these followers for himself.
He was not interested in creating his own little group
of, of fans.
No. His job was to point people to Jesus. Mm-hmm .
And so with these first two, he directs 'em
to our Lord, and they're following Jesus.
Um, and, and he notices this, you know, I have to think
that, you know, he was kind of, uh,
observing this whole thing, maybe even,
or heard what John said, but he turns to them
and he asks them the question,
what are you, what are you looking for?
Whatcha you seeking? And they then ask a question.
In return, they say, rabbi, where are you staying?
Where are you staying?
And Jesus doesn't just give them information, you know,
he could have said, I'm staying at the best
Western down the street.
And, uh, you know, it's a really nice place.
, you die sometime. No,
he invites them to come with him.
He says, come.
And you will see some translations of that.
Just say, come and see. Come. And you'll see.
He wants them to come along.
He wants them to get to know him.
He wants them to walk the road with him.
He wants them to accompany him.
I think the, the simplest way
of putting it is just he wants them to be with him.
Mm-hmm . He wants them to be with him.
And you notice this isn't just, um, you know,
an exchange of pleasantries.
It's not just a, a passing conversation.
And then they, they both go their own way.
Uhhuh No, this is, this is an invitation to
be in his company, to be with him
and to, to be part of what he is beginning this,
this great enterprise of, of inaugurating God's kingdom.
Jesus wants these two fellows to be part of that,
and there will be others as well.
Mm-hmm . It's not just those two.
Um, you know, we think of the, the call of Simon and James
and John, the fishermen at, uh,
at the Lakeside, at the Sea of Galilee.
But in this particular case, it's just this, this marvelous,
uh, interchange.
Very simple, very few words,
but you can tell that it was life changing.
Mm-hmm . Because what does he say at the end of this?
He says exactly what hour of the day this all happened.
Ah, I can remember clearly now remember the moment.
Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
They, they remembered,
they remembered exactly when their lives were changed.
Mm-hmm . It happened at such
and such hour, they could probably tell you exactly
what curve in the road, uh, this, this happened as well,
because it changed their lives.
Yeah. And it, it, that, that kind of a life changing encount
is what starts it all off.
That's how things begin.
And we're all invited to that same kind of an encounter
with our Lord, not just a, a passing word here and there.
Not just a, an exchange of information,
but a relationship, a friendship.
And that's what he's inviting them to,
and that's what he invites all of us to.
Um, so I, I love this passage.
I just don't think we can spend too much time with it.
I I think there's always more
to be derived from meditating on that, that little
episode at the beginning of the gospels.
- Amen. That is just soul stirring.
Bishop, I I love you sharing that.
I, and as I was, as we're kind of going in that aspect
of encounter, the, the encounter that these,
these two men had with Jesus, that kind of, the thing
that grabbed me in this passage was that
what do you seek Jesus turning
and asking them, what do you seek?
And there were kind of two elements that stood out
that go along very much with what you're saying, Bishop.
The first one is that Jesus actually
cares what it is that we seek.
Mm. What these men seek and what we as his disciples see.
Like he, he cares about the things
that are going on in our hearts, and they're moving,
like this encounter is meaningful
because it's the one who's not only fashioned us
and called us into being, but the one
who set our whole lives on a certain trajectory
and has a care for how it goes about.
Um, you know, the, the culmination of that.
Uh, so he, he cares about what we seek.
And then the second aspect of it that,
that hit me is just like, he wants us to be aware of
what we seek, too.
Like there's a, for a lot of us, we kind of just motor
through life somewhat on autopilot,
and we're not even necessarily aware
of, you know, why it is.
We go, we do the things, the choices that we make,
and what it is that's, that's compelling us.
And, and I think he's, he's kind of inviting us to say,
what is it you seek knowing that the answer is him,
that relationship with him.
But, but a lot of times we're not even conscious of that.
And as we talk about this, uh,
this being sent on mission like that,
as I was just reflecting on it, it's in some ways,
at least in the human realm, the fuel of mission
or evangelization is the fact
that my life is different because I know Jesus.
Right. Right. It's not just, I,
I've learned these great doctrines, um,
and these things that are really fascinating.
They kind of tickle my brain.
Um, but it's like, my life is different because of this man.
Um, and,
and so I just think it's kind of a, it's a movement of,
of Jesus kind of moving internal to us,
but also calling us to an come internal to ourselves
as well, if that makes any sense.
- Oh, it does, it makes perfect sense.
And you know, I think it really,
bo it really comes down to who we are.
We are made by God. We're made for God.
- Yeah. - We were made for him.
He made us with this
desire, this yearning in our hearts for
what only he can give.
And you know, these two men on the road, these two disciples
of John who ended up being disciples of Jesus,
they were obviously searching, they were seeking, you know,
there was a reason they followed John first.
And there was a reason that when John sent them
to Jesus, they went after him.
They wanted to know what the, the, the meaning
of their life really was all about,
and we're all made that way.
Mm-hmm . We're all made with that, that inner yearning
for God himself.
Yeah. And Jesus knows this.
And, and that's why he invites us to, to come and,
and to follow him, to, to be with him.
You know, we, we search for meaning, and oftentimes we do.
We look for it in all the wrong places.
And that's, that's when we get into sin.
But Jesus offers us the right way.
He offers us, first of all, the gift of God's love.
Uh, we're made for love.
And, and he offers us that love, we're made to,
to desire the truth.
Mm-hmm . To seek the truth.
And he offers us this truth that
we can't find any place else.
And it resonates when we experience that. Right.
Oh, exactly. Exactly.
You know, there are so many story, great conversion stories
of people who, who experienced for the first time,
uh, an awareness of this truth that,
that they found in Christ, and it just changed their lives.
Mm-hmm . Um, you, you might have read the story
of saying Edith Stein, this great intellectual woman,
a great scholar and philosopher,
and she read the, uh, the life of St.
Theresa Avila and how she came to know Christ,
and she read the whole thing and one night,
and she said, this is the truth.
This is what I've been looking for. Mm-hmm .
And, you know, we're all on that same kind of journey
of seeking truth, meaning, love, and it's, it's in Christ.
Mm-hmm. It's in Christ.
- Awesome. Absolutely.
Well, you know, so we have the second, uh, level of
evangelization where we're talking about,
we just talked about encounter, um,
and talking about formation, where we move from having
that encounter with Christ, uh,
to understanding our identity in Christ.
We kind of formed in the identity, going back to that, uh,
universal call to holiness.
We, we can't, if we receive that our identity from Christ,
then we can then share what that means with others.
And so, I'd like to read a passage from the gospel of Mark,
uh, chapter six verse, uh, 34 and onward here.
And, and let's, uh, discuss that a little bit.
So this, again from Mark six, uh, chapter,
chapter six, verse 34.
As he landed, he saw a great throng
and had had companion, and he had compassion on them
because they were like sheep without a shepherd,
and began to teach them many things.
And when it grew late, his disciples came to him
and said, this is a lonely place,
and the hour is now late, stem them away
to go into the country and villages roundabout
and buy themselves something to eat.
But he answered them, you give them something to eat.
And they said to him, shall we go
and buy 200 Dari worth of bread and give it to them to eat?
And he said to them, how many loaves have you go and see?
And when they had found out, they said five and two fish.
Then he commanded them all to sit down by
companies upon the green grass.
So they sat down in groups by hundreds and by fifties
and taking the five loaves in the two fish, he looked up
to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves
and gave them to the disciples to set before the people.
And he divided the two fish among them all,
and they all ate and were satisfied.
And they took up 12 baskets full
of broken pieces and of the fish.
And those who ate the loaves were 5,000 men.
Let's talk about this passage,
and in your formation, what stands out
to you in this passage, Bishop?
- Oh, lots of things. . - Let's start with
- Where - Do I begin?
- Well, first of all, um, obviously this is one
of the accounts of the multiplication
of the loaves and fishes.
But what happened first he taught them mm-hmm .
He taught them this great crowd of people came to Jesus,
and he recognized that they wanted to hear
what he had to tell them.
So he teaches them, as I said, this truth, that
whether they knew it or not, they were yearning for.
And that's how it begins.
He, he unfolds for them, uh,
the great mystery of God's truth, God's love, his plan
of salvation for all of us.
And then
after that, he, he not only satisfies their yearning
for truth, but he also satisfies
the other hunger that was in them.
Mm-hmm . And, you know, in this particular case,
he recognized their bodily hunger, their need for material,
food, for, for bodily food.
And so he provides for them in that way as well.
What's underlying all this? He has compassion for them.
Mm-hmm . He has compassion for them.
He's, Matthew says they're, he recognized,
they were like sheep without a shepherd.
They were just kind of wandering. They were kind of lost.
And so he wants to gather them in
and help them to understand
and to know the great truths that God wants them to know,
but then also he wants to provide for them
and their real daily need.
And so he gives them something to eat.
You know, this is, this is the remarkable
thing about this passage.
Um, he says to, you know, the, the apostles come to him and,
and they say, these people are hungry.
What are we gonna do? And,
and Jesus says, kind of offhandedly,
well give 'em something to eat.
And then they're, they're, you know, incredulous.
What are you talking about?
You know, how are we supposed to do that?
You can almost imagine the, the sense of, um,
amazement or, or frustration in their voices.
But then Jesus very simply asks another question.
He says, well, how much do you have?
What, how much food do you have? How many loaves?
How many fishes do you have?
And they give them to 'em, just a handful, you know,
just a few, a few morsels of food.
And then he does the rest he distributes mm-hmm .
The food through their hands. Mm-hmm .
And that always, to me is the amazing thing about this.
Jesus takes the, the little bit of food that they have
and gives it out through their hands.
They give what they've got to Jesus and he blesses it,
and then he makes it enough, and then some for everybody.
Mm-hmm. And that's really the way he works with us too.
He takes the gifts that we have, that we return to him,
and he provides so much more.
He blesses whatever we place in his
hands, whatever we offer to him.
And he works through us.
He continues to work through us, just as he did
through those apostles, uh, to, to provide
for the needs of his people.
Mm-hmm . And this is all, you know, part of this formation
that he's doing all through the gospels.
He's forming his followers
to be his instruments, you might say.
So that, you know, by placing their trust in him,
they can do the things that he himself has done,
and they can, you know, be formed,
but then form others in, in the gospel
and the, the mysteries of salvation to be part
of this kingdom that he himself has started.
So, um, and really, I,
I think we all see in this a foreshadowing
of the Eucharist too, don't we?
Absolutely. Um, Brad,
you were saying earlier in our conversation, um, that this,
this passage from the gospel,
and they're all very similar from one
gospel writer to the next.
It's almost a, a foreshadowing of the mass. Yeah.
'cause first there's the teaching.
First there's the word of God,
but then there's the, the multiplication of loaves,
the feeding that happens next.
Jesus first provides the truths of our faith,
but then he provides bread, you know,
spiritual bread for our souls.
So I think you see really, uh, an anticipation of
what he would do in the Eucharist
and the, the celebration of the mass.
Um, and, and it really is a, a, a beautiful passage.
He has compassion.
- Mm-hmm . - He has compassion, he has concern
for his people, for these multitudes
of people that come to him.
And he doesn't send them away empty. He fills their minds.
He fills their hearts.
He fills their souls, uh, with the, the spiritual food
that he wants to give to us.
Um, and this, uh, story of the multiplication of loaves
and fishes is just a, a foreshadowing
of the even greater miracle
that he would accomplish in the Eucharist.
Hmm.
- I love the point that you're,
that you're laying out there bishop of,
of Jesus forming his apostles.
I mean, there's, there's so many things
here that I just, rich, right?
Mm-hmm . And, uh, that, that dynamic
of the connection with the mass.
And certainly in John's gospel, we have the multiplication
of lows followed up directly
by the teaching on the Eucharist.
Right. Um, and so it's, there, there's a,
there's just a profundity of, of this is something
that we experience, we continue to experience on a weekly
or daily basis, uh, in terms of that having access
to the mass and that ongoing sacrifice.
But as you're talking, I was just kind of struck
by this aspect of Jesus forming, not just in his word,
and not even just in the Eucharist, so to speak,
but also in his being with them.
Mm-hmm . Like all in all of us.
He's, he's forming them
through his teaching, but he's doing that.
He sends them to go, he has bring what you've got now.
You distribute that to the people,
and I'm right here with you, like this formation.
And, and that continues to be true.
He forms us, um, not just kind of, again, by kind of
abstract truths that we, we learn about and we discover,
but by accompanying us with this Holy Spirit and,
and bringing a certain fertility to our souls, that, that,
uh, bears a sort of life, a, a liveliness that, that just
intellectual ideas by themselves can't do mm-hmm .
Right. And so Jesus is here with the apostles
as they're engaged in something remarkable,
but, uh, they're engaged in something remarkable
because first of all, they're willing to, to follow him
and do what he is told them to do.
But also because like, he's, he's enabling that.
He's making that potent, uh,
and I just, I guess I was kind of struck by this fact that
for us, like he we're doing Bible in a year
or something like that, it's not just
that we're learning our faith, it's we're there with Jesus,
and he's bringing this word that he's spoken,
that's resonated down through the ages,
through centuries, millennia.
And he's there actually making it fruitful in our
hearts at that very moment.
And so, I don't know, I just kind of, it, it blew it open
for me in a way that I hadn't really thought about it
before, just as you were talking about how Jesus continues
to accompany us and continues to work these miracles,
- Uh, through his sacraments and also through his presence.
You're absolutely right.
You know, I think I could read all the books in the world
about our faith, but unless it's personal Yeah.
Unless it's relational with Christ. Yeah.
It really becomes just a, an exercise
of the head.
You know, I, any genius can, can learn this stuff. Mm-hmm .
But Jesus is calling forth something deeper.
And, um, you know, as I said, he's forming these people,
he's forming his disciples to be shepherds.
Right. You know, he's, he's forming them to,
uh, to carry on.
Yeah. What he himself has begun,
but he is also forming all those other
people in the crowd as well.
Yeah. Um, to realize that he is
the one and only, um, son of God, the,
the, the, the holy one of God who has come
to change everything for them.
He's forming them to, to trust him. Mm-hmm .
He's forming them to put themselves in his hands.
Uh, and I think I, I, I have to think that the apostles
really learned an important lesson from this experience
that, that they could trust him.
Yeah. That, that they could do what he told them to do,
and he would make it bear fruit.
He would, he would accomplish great things if they
would just trust him.
Hmm. Um, I, I just am always thinking about the amazement
that they must have felt as they saw how this
episode unfolded.
You know, they probably had a little bit of an attitude of,
well, he's , he's crazy,
you know, not sure how this gonna go.
Yeah. Yeah. I don't know what's gonna happen here,
but he's acting a little crazy again.
And yet, you know, they saw how it turned out.
And, you know, as with all of his miracles,
I'm sure it was just one experience
of amazement after another.
But, but he was forming them. Mm-hmm .
He was forming them to, to trust him
and to, to, to just believe
that he was doing the heavy lifting, so to speak.
Yeah. You know? Absolutely.
- Let's, uh, move into the, the third portion
of the interests of time here.
Sure. Because we could talk about these things all day,
which imagine someday we will ,
we have in the beatific vision.
That'll be our conversation.
But, uh, the, the sec the third level of mission,
and of course, I love the timing of this.
'cause we just talked about the breaking of bread.
And Bishop, as you mentioned, it's kind
of very eucharistic right now.
We have the sending, which
what happens at the end of mass, right?
That's the sending Right Go.
And so, uh, this verse that I, uh, drawing from Matthew, uh,
chapter 28, verses 18 through 20, and Jesus came
and said to them, them all authority in heaven
and on earth has been given to me.
Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all
that I have commanded you.
And Lo I am with you always to the close of the age.
Thoughts on that?
- Well, it's, it's kind of the great valedictory, um,
speech you might say that Jesus gives to his, his disciples.
It's what we sometimes call the great commission. Mm-hmm .
Um, go and make disciples.
I mean, that's really the, the key to that whole passage.
Um, first he's addressing the apostles, right.
Uh, these are the ones
that he had been forming over the course of time.
And, um, he's sending them on this mission.
You know, he, he had sent them
before on little forays here and there,
but they always kind of came back.
Well, now the time had come.
Now he was sending them in a big, kind of a definitive way
to, to go and really get this,
this endeavor moving and make disciples of all nations.
That's really key,
because up until that time,
they had remained in the confines of,
you know, Palestine mm-hmm .
The, the what we call the Holy Land.
Um, Jesus had said on more than one occasion, I've been sent
to the, the House of Israel
to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.
But now he was sending his followers more widely mm-hmm .
He was sending them out into the world,
and he's telling them, make disciples, teach them,
teach them, make disciples.
And this, I think is really important.
Um, he's not saying, go and,
and keep this message to yourselves.
He's not saying stay put and don't bother anybody. No.
On the contrary, , he's telling them to go and,
and bother people with this message. ,
uh, make a nuisance of yourself.
Um, go and,
and don't leave people just
to go about their business as they always have.
He's not satisfied with that.
He wants them to, to go out and,
and to share what they themselves have received.
And the other thing about this pastor that I think, Brad,
you, you touched on Steve, I think you did too.
He closes it out and he says, I am with you always mm-hmm .
Even to the end of the age.
So he's sending them,
but he's not like taking leave of them.
Mm-hmm . In one sense, he is,
but in another sense, he's assuring them that he's
with them every step of the way.
He's with them always. And,
and I think that is a message for us as a church as well,
because Jesus wasn't only addressing this commission
to those, those immediate followers,
he was really addressing that message to all of us.
Yes. That's why Matthew puts that at the very end
of the gospel to make sure that this is very, very clear
to all of his readers that this commission is
for everybody who calls themself a follower of Christ.
Jesus is sending us out into the world.
And by the way, that word send is the,
the, the root meaning of mission,
and it's the root meaning of the word apostle and apostolic.
It's all the same thing to be sent, is to be apostolic.
It is to be a missionary. Um, and that's true for all of us.
So it, it's really the great sending
of every follower of Jesus to go and to live this faith
and to, to make disciples of all nations, to,
to help other people to discover
and to receive what we have received.
What we have discovered,
and again, I'll say it, you know,
Jesus did not send them to go and do nothing.
Mm-hmm . He did not send them to leave people as they were,
he did not send them to mind, their own business
and not to, um, get another people's business.
No. On the contrary, he sent them
to get into other people's business
and to, um, to, to change them really
with, with his grace. Absolutely.
- Well, that's a, a great conversation.
And on that note, the sending, I think
that's a great sending of the, to go out and be sent.
Um, and we're again, Bishop full, thank you so much
for this conversation and for, you know, making it possible
for have the Scent Podcast.
Looking forward to having you back every month, um,
and more conversations like this. So
- I'll look forward to it.
- Could you close this - With a blessing? Absolutely.
Absolutely. Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, we ask your blessing on us
and all those who are participating in this scent podcast.
We pray that through the outpouring of the grace
of the Holy Spirit, we will be sent
by Jesus our Lord, to witness
to the great good news that he has shared with us, to
the great unfolding of the mystery
of God's love in our lives.
We pray that many of our brothers
and sisters will be set on fire with this gift of grace, so
that, um, the entire world can be
brought into the sheath fold of the kingdom of God.
May the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit come upon you
and remain with you forever.
- Amen. Amen. Thank you, Bishop Foa. Thank you,
- Bishop.
You're welcome. Thank you guys.
- Absolutely. And, uh, folks, uh, we're gonna head out.
So thanks for being with us. God bless.