Left: Melissa Westgeest, on staff with CCO, and Nicole Germaine, Courageous Catholic participant. Both young ladies are excited to see the change happening as the result of Impact and the Courageous Catholic program.
Right: Yours truly with CCO co-founder Andre Regnier


Jennifer Vellacott, Courageous Catholic participant from St. Paul's Cathedral


Courageous Catholic Study Launched During Impact 2009: Fostering a Missionary Disposition
by Robin Anderson
June 29, 2009

“All that matters is that Christ is proclaimed. In that, I rejoice!” –Philippians 1:18

Ahem. I would like to interrupt this Cornerstone series with a word from a special occurrence in the Saskatoon Diocese this summer. Courageous Catholic, Catholic Christian Outreach’s fifth study, was launched alongside Impact 2009! Yours truly had the opportunity to participate in the program, and to see the hope growing in all the program’s participants. “I found myself coming away hopeful,” says Ray Boehm of Our Lady of Lourdes parish.

The study is about fostering a missionary heart, or disposition, that can then be brought into the world. “We wanted to make sure that our alumni were equipped and ready,” says CCO co-founder Andre Regnier, “and that they had the right disposition, so that when they graduated, they would be able to continue their missionary work.” The study soon came to have a broader scope, however: “CCO’s goal has never been to merely create a campus movement,” says Andre. The leaders from campus would hopefully move out from campus to renew the world. Here in Saskatoon, some parishioners who had never been in contact with CCO were part of the program.

The study focuses on a missionary’s heart for the lost, developing great expectations in ministry, how to share the Gospel message clearly and simply, and the process of forming a missionary heart in those whom the participants come into contact with. For Jennifer Vellacott, the Bridge Diagram, that simple tool for sharing the Gospel message, was new: “I really like the Bridge Diagram; it’s a simple tool that is easy to share with others, to explain to them the importance of Jesus and what he did for us.” Betty Boehm agrees, “I think the most important thing that I’ve come away with is that I evangelize using the basic Gospel message, that saving act of Jesus Christ on the cross. Each one of us has a need to accept that personally for ourselves.” Each participant in Courageous Catholic was taken through the Discovery Faith Study, in the hopes that the study will be led around Saskatoon.

“I’m excited to get more involved with the faith studies in my parish,” says Jennifer, “now knowing that I have the tools to even think about doing that kind of thing.” Says Betty, with a smile: “I would like to lead a faith study now.”

A new diagram, intended to teach how to help others form missionary hearts, was new in the study. “The Discipleship Pyramid was new for me,” says Andrew Lockert, “and I thought is was pretty powerful.” Each heart of a missionary begins at the level of relationship, and works its way up through Jesus, formation, and evangelization. The goal of our relationships with others should be to foster that missionary disposition.

I myself can add a hearty “Amen” to the statements of my fellow participants. The study was key for me in tying up some loose ends; disconnected parts and tools that are a component of evangelization and the missionary heart came together in a beautiful synthesis. With prayer and the continued action of Courageous Catholics, the Church in the Diocese of Saskatoon will become one with a fervent love for Jesus, and with a desire to spread that love far and wide.