Encountering the living Christ

By Steven Polley

Director of Youth Ministry

Throughout the nation this weekend, dioceses and parishes are celebrating Catechetical Sunday. The theme for this year is “Encountering the Living Christ”. This is a time when all people who are involved in any form of religious formation are recognized and in some way commissioned to live out their baptismal promises through this ministry.

Also this weekend I have had the privilege to conduct a retreat for religious educators in the Diocese of Wichita as they celebrate Catechetical Sunday. What an honor it was for me to be asked to do this.

I must say the preparation time for this has been equally rewarding, as I have not only reflected on the theme, but on my life and personal experiences as well.

I had to ask myself, how do I encounter the living Christ? This may be a good question to ask yourself as well.

After some thought and prayer, I decided to break the retreat into four segments, each one grounded in the theme, but asking how we encounter the living Christ in self, others, our ministry and in mission.

As I worked on this, I became intrigued as to how I found it more difficult to find presentation materials and reflection activities on the segment of encountering the living Christ in others. As I continued to work on this, I found myself thinking about the number of times I have encountered Christ through others. The only problem with this is that most of the time I recognized the encounter after the fact. Here I was remembering the many conversations, disagreements or activities that I have been part of over the years and how through so many of them, it was after I had walked away, sometimes angry and upset, that I realized that Christ was speaking to me through the other person. As I remember these many encounters, I am thankful for how each of them helped me grow as a person and in my own relationship with our risen Lord. Some have been a little humbling, but maturing none the less.

However, I continue to ask myself, why is it after the fact that I come to realize that it was Christ speaking to me through the other person? Why is it that I cannot see Christ in that person during the time we are together? Obviously this is something that I need to work on.

So my goal for this catechetical year is to do just this, center myself more deeply in these encounters with other people, so that I can encounter the living Christ through each of them in a stronger way. I would like to extend my invitation for you to do the same thing, especially with the Diocesan Youth Council.

Over the past couple issues I have written about them, their leadership and their ministry in parishes and in the diocese. In this issue, you will find a list of the Council and their parish. I encourage you to help them in their role as representatives of the diocese, and in their responsibility and ministry. Get to know them, as Christ is working through each of them. And as you encounter these young men and women, you too will be encountering our living Christ.