Fr. Tom Rosica at CCO's 20th Anniversary BBQ, St. Paul's Cathedral, Saskatoon
Left: Matthew Orlowski, a testimony of CCO and the discernment of the priesthood. Right: Gregory Smith-Windsor. Both young men are entering the seminary this fall in London, Ontario, and both have been involved with CCO on the University of Saskatchewan campus.
Thanking the Lord for His Goodness: CCO 20th Anniversary BBQ July 8, 2009by Robin Anderson
July 13, 2009
“How can we repay the Lord for all the good done for us? We will raise the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord!” --Psalm 116: 12-13
I’d like to interrupt this Cornerstone series, AGAIN, with another very important report. CCO had a BBQ potluck night at St. Paul’s Cathedral last week, Wednesday, July 8. All 60 missionaries were present from across the country; furthermore, Fr. Thomas Rosica (CEO of Salt and Light Television and organizer of World Youth Day in Toronto) addressed a large crowd of Impacters and supporters from in and around Saskatoon. There was an abundance of food; but even more importantly, there was an abundance of hope in celebrating what has been for CCO, as well as hope for the future of CCO in Canada and the world.
Jeff Lockert brought greetings as President of Catholic Christian Outreach, drawing attention to CCO’s 20th Anniversary, as the celebrations come to an end with Impact 2009. Saskatoon, he said, was the perfect place to hold the Impact mission, as it is the founding city. He acknowledged past and present students, staff alumni, and all the supporters attending. Jeff also spoke of the expansion to Laval University this fall, in Québec.
Two student testimonies, those of Megan Crowe and Matthew Orlowski, followed Jeff’s greetings in the packed Saskatoon cathedral. Megan shared about her experience on Impact 2009 so far, especially noting that her expectations for the mission and her actual experience had turned out to be quite different. She pictured herself in a large parish, and impacting many people at a time; however, through her missionary experience she has come to see the significance of one person at a time. God has shown her the importance of all the relationships in her life, and that she is called to be a missionary in her work relationships and friendships. “I know now,” she said, “that God wants me to proclaim the gospel to the world, one person at a time.”
Matthew Orlowski shared a moving testimony of his discernment of the priesthood, a discernment process that involved Catholic Christian Outreach. Through CCO’s faith studies, both leading them and attending them, Matthew has been “astounded in the changes I’ve seen in myself and in the people around me.” On Impact 2007, during a time of Eucharistic Adoration, Matthew came to a place of greater surrender with regards to his vocation; he knew the priesthood was viable possibility for him. Through diocesan discernment retreats, as well as another mission with CCO in Québec (Rencontrez Jésus), in the fall of 2008 Matt decided to apply for the seminary.
Fr. Tom’s sharing, the main attraction of the night, was partly a talk he delivered at CCO’s Rise Up in Toronto this past New Years. He drew attention to the wall at St. Thomas More College in Saskatoon: it depicts the Basilians as the apostles, distributing the product of the miracle of loaves and fishes to the multitudes. According to Fr. Tom, CCO missionaries could be depicted alongside the Basilian Fathers, as they have taken the call of evangelization seriously in the last twenty years. CCO is “guilty as charged”; the "charges" range anywhere from being a friend of the pope to proclaiming Jesus, even when it is difficult.
The role and mission of CCO in the Canadian Catholic Church, and indeed in the Church as a whole, is a large role and mission according to Fr. Rosica. CCO is an answer to John Paul II’s call for a “new Pentecost.” The movement has responded to the needs of evangelization, formation, the need for testimonies, and the need for creativity and freshness. “CCO,” said Fr. Tom, “does not exist to apologize Christianity out of existence” […] but contains “Catholic agents of change who know and love Jesus Christ.” Fr. Tom expressed his admiration for young people using the “language of conversion, taken from the Acts of Apostles,” phrases such as “since my conversion,” and “I’m discerning that option right now.” CCO has refused to water down the Gospel message, declaring with St. Paul: “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (I Corinthians 9:16).
Furthermore, said Fr. Tom, CCO has a special relationship with John Paul II. The movement was brought to his attention after World Youth Day 2002, when Fr. Tom had his follow-up meeting with the Holy Father. A card from CCO soon after yielded a strange, but inspired, response from the pope. He signed his own name on the large card of names, declaring himself a member of CCO; he then sent the card back. The card is preserved in CCO archives in the Ottawa head office.
Fr. Tom Rosica also notified CCO of the temptation that could potentially grow in the movement. There is a danger, he said, in seeing ourselves as on a “Noah’s Ark”; once on the vessel of salvation, the terrible, sinful people will be left to their own destruction. CCO is called, as indeed is every Catholic, “to enter into the messes encountered on an every-day level” and invite people into a relationship with Jesus Christ. CCO is called to be on the “Bark of Peter, with Jesus,” not on a “Noah’s Ark.” CCO is called to continue the work it was founded to assume.
Fr. Tom ended his address with a quotation from Marianne Williamson (quoted by Nelson Mandela when he became prime minister of South Africa), a fitting quotation for current students and alumni alike:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
“We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
“We are meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Angèle and André Regnier thanked everyone, especially those who journeyed with CCO in the movement’s beginning stages. André called all the missionaries, both staff and Impacters, to the front. He asked, “Looking at all these missionaries… Do you see hope?”
Indeed, I do. I’m so excited to see CCO’s progress through the next twenty years!
Carmen Shepherd
Nicole Brodner