The Great Spiritual Reset
Here is a summary of the Great Spiritual Reset at Saint Daniel Church in Wheaton:
- Recommit your life personally to Jesus Christ. Acknowledge him as your God, and thank Him for saving your eternal life.
- Practice your faith in Jesus Christ religiously each day, through personal prayer, learning, and service in the Church.
- Reach out to others by word and example, so that they may encounter Jesus Christ as their God and Savior as well.
Getting Ready. Before we reopen our Church fully, we need to spiritually prepare our hearts, our minds, and our wills for this great opportunity. Here are some ways for us to successfully push the Great Spiritual Reset button before we emerge from the catacombs of the current pandemic. With hearts, minds, and wills renewed in Christ, we are committed to make the Church more United, more Holy, more Catholic, and more Apostolic. Here are some of the ways in which we intend to accomplish this spiritual goal.
- One: We are united as a faith-based community of believers who identify ourselves as Intentional Disciples of Jesus Christ.
- Holy: We are committed to lead lives of repentance as forgiven sinners who are destined for eternal life in Jesus Christ.
- Catholic: We are dedicated to faithfully promote the Sacred Tradition of Catholic Christianity, as taught in the Catechism.
- Apostolic: We are inspired by the Scriptures to organize ourselves as an Acts 2:42 community of born-again Catholics.
We are a faith community of PRAYER, learning, and service. The first step is always to know Jesus personally – that is, “who” He is, and “why” He matters. Only then are we truly capable of understanding the “what” and the “how” of our faith in Christ. Here are some ways that we can discover and embrace Jesus as our God, and grow in a personal relationship with Him through prayer:
- Magnificat Magazine: check out www.magnificat.org for this monthly prayer magazine.
- Rosary Devotions: meditate daily on the mysteries of our faith through the Marian Rosary.
- Practice Lectio Divina each day, and pray the Jesus Prayer throughout your entire day.
- Daily Mass: come to Mass, Monday through Saturday mornings, at 7:30 a.m. in our church.
- Spiritual Direction: click here to explore Spiritual Direction as a path to greater holiness.
We are a faith community of prayer, LEARNING, and service. Once we have discovered who Jesus is as God, and why faith in Him matters, then we want to know more, that is, to know all about Him. Notice that “knowing” Jesus personally comes first, and then “knowing about” Jesus naturally follows. Here are some ways that we can learn more about the Jesus whom we know and love:
- ChristLife Course: go to www.StDaniel.org/ChristLife or www.ChristLife.org.
- Catechism Course: check out www.MyCatholic.Life/the-my-catholic-life-series/.
- Online Learning: go to www.InstituteOfCatholicCulture.org for more information.
- Check out the adult formation page of our parish website for even more programs.
- Engage in regular spiritual reading and develop your own spiritual Plan of Life.
We are a faith community of prayer, learning, and SERVICE. Once we have discovered who Jesus is, why He matters, and then learned more about Jesus and His teachings, the next step is to lovingly share our faith with others. The art of Friendship Evangelization starts in the parish community and reaches out to all people of good will. Here are some steps in that direction:
- Participate in the charitable drives of the St. Vincent DePaul Society at our parish.
- Volunteer in local community organizations that assist the poor and the homeless.
- Volunteer for the liturgical, educational, and service ministries of our parish community.
- Join or start a parish Prayer Partner group that regularly prays, learns, and serves together.
- Share your faith with others through the lessons learned in the ChristLife course at our parish.
For more information about the Great Spiritual Reset, please send an email to Prayer@StDaniel.org. Let us reopen our hearts to Christ, illumine our minds with Christ, and empower our wills for Christ so that, when we come out of the catacombs of this pandemic, we will be fully equipped to courageously practice and promote our Faith for the salvation of the world in Christ. Together, let us:
- Look upward in faith: to know the core gospel message and to grow in the practice of our Faith Tradition.
- Move forward in hope: to keep our eyes always fixed on Jesus, so that we may follow wherever He lead us.
- Lead onward in love: to fervently keep the new commandment of Christ in sacrificial love and Christian service.
- To new life in Christ: this is eternal life, to know the one true God and the Christ whom He has sent to save us.
Stand Up for Jesus! This is our hope. This is our destiny. This is our defining moment in Christ! Join us in the Great Spiritual Reset of the Church! Our local parish efforts parallel those of neighboring dioceses. Please click here for more information. When it comes to the New Evangelization, we are all in this together. May the following prayer inspire us to move forward in our spiritual journey together: