Catholic Apostolate Center Resources

Catholic Apostolate Center
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Welcome to the Catholic Apostolate Center’s Resrouce series. Listen to these presentations, interviews, and webinars featured on the Catholic Apostolate Center’s website.

  1. 17H AGO

    Art of Consensus in Parish Pastoral Councils with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 05/13/2025

    Consensus of the parish pastoral council permits greater discernment of God’s will. Parish pastoral councils allow a collaboration between the pastor and the people of the parish to generate effective ministry to the community. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about parish pastoral councils. “Consensus is not the practice of negotiation, or compromise, or coming around to Father's way of thinking. Good consensus as practiced by a parish council is the fruit of prayer, discernment, and discussion. It is the mark of fidelity of a community committed to responding to the movement of the Spirit within the community.” ~ Dr. Susan Timoney in In Service to the Parish and Church: A Formation Series for Parish Pastoral Councils. Parish pastoral councils are a consultative body in a Catholic parish that advises the pastor on pastoral matters, helping to plan, coordinate, and review activities related to the parish's mission, such as evangelization, worship, and service. It acts as a representative body, assisting in setting goals and fostering unity, ensuring the parish responds effectively to the needs of its community. As part of its renewal to the Church, the Council called for a number of new structures to promote active involvement and collaboration in the mission of the Church. After the Council, a new structure was proposed by the Church to call forth in an orderly fashion the insights and cooperation of persons at the level of the local community. That structure is the parish pastoral council. The rationale for the parish pastoral council may be found in the Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: “By reason of the knowledge, competence, or pre-eminence which they have, the laity are empowered indeed sometimes obliged to manifest their opinion on those things which pertain to the good of the Church. If the occasion should arise this should be done through the institutions established by the Church for that purpose and always with truth, courage and prudence and with reverence and charity towards those who, by reason of their office represent the person of Christ.” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church)   Notes: Access Collaboration in Ministry resources On Mission: Collaboration and Co-Responsibility More episodes about Living as Missionary Disciples   From the Ad Infinitum blog: Laborers in the Vineyard Collaboration and Co-Responsibility More blogs about Collaboration Follow us: The Catholic Apostolate CenterThe Center's podcast websiteInstagramFacebookApple PodcastsSpotify  Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

    10 min
  2. Pastoral Care in the Context of Church History

    1D AGO

    Pastoral Care in the Context of Church History

    Church history demonstrates the various ways evangelization encountered cultures in different times and places. These cultural contexts show how the same message of Christ, unchanging throughout the centuries, can be continually applied to allow Christ to encounter his people in their particular context. This blogcast explores “Pastoral Care in the Context of Church History" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written by Christian Bordak-Roseman read by Monica Thom Konschnik. “This [the Feast of Pentecost] was to show that just as God in creating man had, as Holy Scripture expresses it, breathed into him the breath of life, so too in communicating a new life to his disciples to live only by grace, he breathed into them his divine Spirit to give them some share in his own divine life. The Spirit of God also ought to come and to rest upon you on this sacred day, to make it possible for you to live and to act only by the Spirit’s action in you. Draw him within you by offering him a well-disposed heart.” — St. John Baptist De LaSalle, Meditation 43.1 Every year at Pentecost, the Church celebrates its birthday, and this year — assuming Christ died in 33 A.D. — the Church will be celebrating its 1,991st birthday. That is 1,991 years of preaching, teaching, and pastoral care for the many and diverse people of God. Each day, I work with ninth and tenth graders in a Catholic high school, teaching them about Sacred Scripture and the Catholic Church. While teaching my sophomores about Church History, I continually receive similar questions: “How did the Church care for its people?” “Why did the Church do that when it seems so wrong by today’s standards?” These questions got me thinking about the Church’s choices in caring for the people of God across history and led me to teach Church history by contextualizing Pastoral Decisions within the historical context of the time period. This led my students to a deeper understanding of the ancient, medieval, and modern ages of the Church. I began this blog post with a quote from St. John Baptist de LaSalle on the gifts of the Holy Spirit given to the Apostles at Pentecost because the same Spirit and gifts have guided the Church since that day. In the early Church, the Holy Spirit guided the Apostles to go out from Jerusalem and preach to the people where they were already living their daily lives. Acts of the Apostles discusses Peter and other Apostles preaching in the Temple in Jerusalem, entering the homes of Gentiles, and traveling to cities across the Roman Empire to speak in public spaces. These first missions sought to bring Jesus’s Gospel message to people in their own cultural context, made possible by the Holy Spirit’s gift of being able to speak various languages from Pentecost. The early Church focused its sacramental life on the “breaking of the bread” or Mass, most likely occurring in people’s homes and dining areas in their preferred language, as seen in the Road to Emmaus story. These personal invitations to the Faith yielded great results and the founding of Christian communities across the Roman Empire. These localized communities, however, soon began to consolidate with new pastoral goals and programs in the aftermath of Constantine’s Edict of Milan which legalized Christian worship, and the subsequent shift of Roman religion from paganism to Catholicism. With Catholicism becoming the state religion of the Roman Empire, the Church gradually became a more established institution. Part of this was the adoption of the use of Latin in public liturgy. Since Catholics could now worship in newly founded Basilicas and Churches, a common liturgical language was needed to cater to all members of Roman society. Additionally, when the Western Roman Empire fell in 476 A.D., effectively breaking up the empire into states ruled by different ethnic groups across Europe, the Church stepped in as a stabilizing institution to help govern and rule a fractured continent. The necessities of common liturgical practices and a united Faith leadership led the Church to influence secular medieval and Renaissance rulers. Many in society today — including my students — look at this era of the Church as the height of Catholic control and corruption, and there were several corrupt leaders within the Church. Nevertheless, when shown as a unifying agent of society — with positive and influential leaders like St. Francis of Assisi, St. Dominic Guzman, and St. Thomas Aquinas — the Church’s evangelization and catechesis efforts come to the forefront. Even today, the Church references the documents and principles of medieval and Renaissance theologians to explain how the Church continues to live its authentic witness to the Gospel in the modern age. The Church of the modern age has naturally progressed from its ancient, medieval, and Renaissance roots. The Holy Spirit continues to guide Pope Francis, the Bishops, and lay leadership across the Church to pastorally respond to the modern needs of the Body of Christ. One of the most notable moments of a pastoral shift in the modern era was the Second Vatican Council, allowing greater expression of cultural diversity in the Church, Liturgy, and personal spirituality. Each Pope since Vatican II has continued to further explain and open the documents of the council for consideration and application among the faithful. In 2019, in his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation to Young People in the Church, Pope Francis challenges the reader to “above all, in one way or another, fight for the common good, serve the poor, be protagonists of the revolution of charity and service, capable of resisting the pathologies of consumerism and superficial individualism” (Christus Vivit, No. 174). While addressed to young people to be agents of change in society, this is one of many challenges of Pope Francis that beg the faithful to continue witnessing to the Truth of the Gospel and Jesus’s Mission in their own life. Similar messages have been given throughout the long history of the Church, with the only difference being in language and historical context. The singular unifying agent of the Church’s Pastoral Care throughout history has been the Holy Spirit. Today, we must continue to ask the Holy Spirit for help and inspiration in our daily life to help us go forward with the love of Christ to be positive witnesses of the Church today.   Author: Christian Bordak-Roseman serves as a Religion Teacher at St. John's College High School in Washington DC. He received his Bachelor of Arts in History, minoring in Theology, and a Master of Arts in Secondary Education at The Catholic University of America. Informed by the Lasallian charism of St. John's and the Pallottine charism of the Catholic Apostolate Center, Christian works to witness Christ's mission of love by living as an apostle at school as a teacher and at home as a husband.   Resources: Listen to On Mission: Parish Pastoral Councils Browse Living as Missionary Disciples Resources Read the Ad Infinitum blog Follow us: The Catholic Apostolate CenterThe Center's podcast websiteInstagramFacebookApple PodcastsSpotify  Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

    8 min

  3. APR 29

    Functioning of Parish Pastoral Councils with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 04/29/2025

    Parish pastoral councils allow a collaboration between the pastor and the people of the parish to generate effective ministry to the community. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about parish pastoral councils. Parish pastoral councils are a consultative body in a Catholic parish that advises the pastor on pastoral matters, helping to plan, coordinate, and review activities related to the parish's mission, such as evangelization, worship, and service. It acts as a representative body, assisting in setting goals and fostering unity, ensuring the parish responds effectively to the needs of its community. As part of its renewal to the Church, the Council called for a number of new structures to promote active involvement and collaboration in the mission of the Church. After the Council, a new structure was proposed by the Church to call forth in an orderly fashion the insights and cooperation of persons at the level of the local community. That structure is the parish pastoral council. The rationale for the parish pastoral council may be found in the Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: “By reason of the knowledge, competence, or pre-eminence which they have, the laity are empowered indeed sometimes obliged to manifest their opinion on those things which pertain to the good of the Church. If the occasion should arise this should be done through the institutions established by the Church for that purpose and always with truth, courage and prudence and with reverence and charity towards those who, by reason of their office represent the person of Christ.” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church)   Notes: Access Collaboration in Ministry resources On Mission: Collaboration and Co-Responsibility More episodes about Living as Missionary Disciples   From the Ad Infinitum blog: Laborers in the Vineyard Collaboration and Co-Responsibility More blogs about Collaboration Follow us: The Catholic Apostolate CenterThe Center's podcast websiteInstagramFacebookApple PodcastsSpotify  Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

    9 min
  4. Jesus Alive: Encountering the Truth of Christ

    APR 28

    Jesus Alive: Encountering the Truth of Christ

    Jesus can easily be relegated in our minds to specific areas of our lives or in popular art. We see depictions of him in paintings, music, and films. But, Jesus is more real and more present to us than any artistic representation can reproduce. This blogcast explores “Jesus Alive: Encountering the Truth of Christ" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written by Brady Baylis and read by Jonathan Harrison. I think there is something special about a cover—about taking a song, a painting, or a movie and recreating it within the modern frame of mind. Aretha Franklin’s bold and unapologetic “Respect” is a perfect example, as she interprets the song as a Black woman in the 1960’s. As is Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower,” in which he narrates the song with hauntingly beautiful guitar riffs. In visual art, Andy Warhol recreates the portrait of Mao Zedong with a messy array of bright colors—an unusual depiction of the dictator. Finally, modern movies, headlined by the Cohen Brothers’ True Grit, give life to old characters and stories, recreating them for new audiences. However, even the Beatles, the most covered band of all time, cannot compete with the millions of interpretations of Jesus Christ. Thousands of artists have painted Christ crucified or the Madonna and Child. Everyone from Van Gogh, Basquiat, or da Vinci have painted Jesus Christ, each in their own manner. It can be mind-numbing to try to flip through them all, viewing each painting, alien to the others, and, oftentimes, to us. There are always two questions to ask when discussing art: “What is this artist trying to say?” and “What do we think he or she is trying to say?” These questions matter much more when investigating faith. In a special way, how artists of all disciplines—including sculptors, writers, or directors—interpret Jesus will affect us. Every Catholic, no doubt, thinks of Jesus through some piece of art or another, but Jesus is more than just a collection of paints, words, or images. Jesus is alive. It is tempting to trap Him in a Caravaggio, an El Greco, or even in the Passion of the Christ—to prevent Him from challenging us. Jesus as represented in art cannot call us out in our sins; He cannot tell us the hard truths we need to wrestle with. Even further, we should not trap Jesus in the Church or solely in the Mass. Yes, we are oftentimes challenged in specific ways during the Mass, especially when a priest gives a difficult homily. It can be easy, however, to selectively hear the priest, interpreting him and hearing only what we want to hear. We often want a sanitized Jesus, one that affirms us and makes us feel good. But while Jesus resides in the tabernacle and comes to meet us in every celebration of the Eucharist, He cannot be left there. Jesus wants to encounter us personally in order for us to help others encounter Him. Jesus always challenged His disciples to worship, act, and believe in accordance with truth. Jesus was not “sanitized” or acting in the “proper way” when He overturned the tables of the money changers; He was not “sanitized” when He described the narrow way; and He surely was not clean and tidy when He died on the Cross. Jesus defied our expectations. He was filled with passion for God’s truth. While He is Beauty itself, Jesus often made His listeners look away as they were unable to embrace the unsavory truth that can be hard to swallow. I enjoy going to Washington’s National Gallery of Art or New York’s MET, but next time I see Christ there, I will be reminded that He is not trapped in the golden walls of the frame. Jesus is alive, living in the Eucharist and in others. While it is beautiful to witness Jesus in the arts, we must remember that Christ lives in the audience, the museum goers. While the beauty of the art itself is mesmerizing, Christ is alive in flesh, both on the altar and in people who remind us that, while beautiful, Christ’s message is a challenge.    Author: Brady Baylis is alum of The Catholic University of America with a degree in history and secondary education.   Resources: Listen to On Mission: Eucharistic Revival: Year of Mission Eucharist podcasts Read the Ad Infinitum blog Blog posts about the Eucharist Follow us: The Catholic Apostolate CenterThe Center's podcast websiteInstagramFacebookApple PodcastsSpotify  Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

    5 min

  5. APR 22

    Purpose and Role of Parish Pastoral Councils with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 04/22/2025

    Parish pastoral councils allow a collaboration between the pastor and the people of the parish to generate effective ministry to the community. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about parish pastoral councils. Parish pastoral councils are a consultative body in a Catholic parish that advises the pastor on pastoral matters, helping to plan, coordinate, and review activities related to the parish's mission, such as evangelization, worship, and service. It acts as a representative body, assisting in setting goals and fostering unity, ensuring the parish responds effectively to the needs of its community. As part of its renewal to the Church, the Council called for a number of new structures to promote active involvement and collaboration in the mission of the Church. After the Council, a new structure was proposed by the Church to call forth in an orderly fashion the insights and cooperation of persons at the level of the local community. That structure is the parish pastoral council. The rationale for the parish pastoral council may be found in the Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: “By reason of the knowledge, competence, or pre-eminence which they have, the laity are empowered indeed sometimes obliged to manifest their opinion on those things which pertain to the good of the Church. If the occasion should arise this should be done through the institutions established by the Church for that purpose and always with truth, courage and prudence and with reverence and charity towards those who, by reason of their office represent the person of Christ.” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church)   Notes: Access Collaboration in Ministry resources On Mission: Collaboration and Co-Responsibility More episodes about Living as Missionary Disciples   From the Ad Infinitum blog: Laborers in the Vineyard Collaboration and Co-Responsibility More blogs about Collaboration Follow us: The Catholic Apostolate CenterThe Center's podcast websiteInstagramFacebookApple PodcastsSpotify  Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

    10 min
  6. How to be an Easter People

    APR 14

    How to be an Easter People

    Easter is the preeminent feast in the Church’s calendar. It celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus and foreshadows our new life in Christ and our opportunity for salvation. As such, it is appropriate to celebrate this feast for the entire 50 days long season the Church provides us. This blogcast explores “How to be an Easter People" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written by Erin Donn and read by Fatima Monterrubio Cruess. In St. Peter’s speech at Pentecost he proclaims, “But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it.” (Acts 2:24) The truth of St. Peter’s words is made manifest in the liturgical rhythm of the Church year. Just as our Lord could not be held by the grave, the celebration of Easter cannot be held to just one day. In her beauty, the Church does not stop at the Octave of Easter either, but offers the faithful an entire liturgical season—50 whole days—to glory in Jesus’ resurrection. As Pope St. John Paul II declared, “We are an Easter people.” But once the beautiful liturgies of the Octave are behind us, the Easter lilies are removed from the churches, and the carrot cake has all been eaten, how are we to be an Easter people? One good place to begin is entering into the celebration of the liturgy. I have a distinct childhood memory of attending Easter Sunday Mass while my family was away on spring break. During the homily the priest invited everyone to exclaim ‘alleluia!’, and then do it again because we weren’t enthusiastic enough. As an unobservant and not-the-best catechised child, the purpose of this exercise was lost on me. But now, as a frequent daily Mass attendee I am much more aware of the forty long, alleluia-less days of Lent and more fully appreciate the significance of proclaiming alleluia together with renewed vigor on Easter and in the days that follow.  During Lent many of us are motivated to make more time for Mass or prayer in our lives, which are beautiful practices to continue through the Easter season and beyond. Throughout the Masses of the Octave, the Victimae paschali laudes, an ancient chant, may be recited before the Gospel. Whether you attend Mass and hear the chant or simply take time to meditate on it each day, it is a beautiful tool for reflecting on the Paschal mystery in our lives and offering extra praise to the Lord: “The sheep are ransomed by the Lamb; / and Christ, the undefiled, / hath sinners to his Father reconciled.” Just as Lent is a time of remembering our mortality, Easter can be a time of remembering our Eternal life. Another liturgical tool to draw on is the Liturgy of the Hours, the communal prayer of the Church. In Morning Prayer throughout the Octave, we use the same psalms and canticle of Easter Sunday morning for all eight days. Particularly striking is the Canticle of Daniel (Daniel 3:57-88, 56), in which we pray that all things on Heaven and Earth bless the Lord: Let us bless the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Let us praise and exalt him above all forever. Blessed are you, Lord, in the firmament of heaven. Praiseworthy and glorious and exalted above all forever. Whether you are able to pray Morning Prayer, or any of the other hours, in community or humbly pray them alone, you are still raising your prayers with all the faithful throughout the Earth and elevating them through Jesus to the Father. Throughout the Easter season, the first readings at Mass are taken from the Acts of the Apostles. Practically this makes sense since Acts recounts the events following Jesus’ death and resurrection. But there is also a spiritual significance to reading from this book during the Easter season. Just like His first disciples, we aren’t meant to keep our alleluias and joy in the Lord’s resurrection and salvation confined to our churches or to ourselves, but to proclaim them to the world. It took a little encouragement for the apostles to do this, and so it may for us, but we too can say with St. Peter: “He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:42-43) The Easter season is a grace-filled time to unite ourselves to this age-old mission of the Apostles and share the Good News of Jesus.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that, “Beginning with the Easter Triduum as its source of light, the new age of the Resurrection fills the whole liturgical year with its brilliance.” (Paragraph 1168) At the Easter Vigil, the faithful are invited to renew their baptismal promises and remember the light of Christ that is within them. As we make our way through the Easter season, let us glorify Christ in the liturgy and let the brilliance of the Eternal Light shine forth from our churches and our hearts.   Author: Erin Donn serves as the parish missionary at Immaculate Conception Church in Washington, DC.   Resources: Listen to On Mission podcast Catholic Feast Days App Read the Ad Infinitum blog Follow us: The Catholic Apostolate CenterThe Center's podcast websiteInstagramFacebookApple PodcastsSpotify  Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

    7 min
  7. Holy Week: Anticipation, Forgiveness, and Love

    MAR 31

    Holy Week: Anticipation, Forgiveness, and Love

    Holy Week is the most important week in all of the Catholic Church year. It commemorates the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus as well as the betrayal of Judas and Peter. This blogcast explores “Anticipation, Forgiveness, and Love" from the Ad Infinitum blog, written by Krissy Pierno. and read by Meghan Abando. Holy Week is one of my favorite weeks of the year; each of the days builds with anticipation and I get excited just by the thought of Easter Sunday. Lent is almost through and it’s almost time to be joyful in the Risen Lord. When I was little, I felt this anticipation and excitement too. I would spend Holy Week letting people know that Easter was only a couple short days away—it felt like spring would officially be here as soon as we woke up on Easter Sunday! “The very best holiday of the year” was coming, and I had to get ready for it! Did I fully understand it was Christ that I was waiting for or did I just want to wear my new white shoes for church? Looking back, although it could have been the new Easter shoes, I think my 10 year-old-self would have agreed that I really was waiting for Holy Week as the final stretch to the finish line on a journey that began on Ash Wednesday. In today’s Gospel reading, we read about moments of betrayal and loyalty. Judas leaves the Last Supper to betray Jesus while Peter in his humanity says that he will never deny him. I find it to be one of the most powerful Gospels of Holy Week. Here’s why: Like Peter, we are called to be disciples whose repentance leads to an experience of God’s forgiveness. Jesus knows that his friends will betray him and that he has limited time left on Earth. On one hand, Judas tries not to be obvious about his deception as he leaves the table, and on the other hand, Peter publicly tells Christ that he will stand by him and never fail him. Ultimately, both men betray Jesus, but it’s Peter who seeks forgiveness and allows himself a second chance. Judas, on the other hand, is overcome with guilt and despairs that his sin is beyond the reach of God’s mercy-- eventually taking his own life. We are like Peter in so many ways! We say we love Christ and that we could never deny him, but at the first sign of pressure we sin and turn our backs on him. How often have we chosen to do something that pulls our hearts from Jesus? It is during Lent—especially during Holy Week—that we recall the pain we’ve caused Christ. This week and each day, Jesus gives us another chance to say to him, “Forgive me; I have sinned.” When Christ meets his disciples after his Resurrection, he asks Peter, “Do you love me?” Let us respond with Peter this Easter, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you!” As Easter approaches, we remember how much we are loved by Christ in his Passion, death on the Cross, and soon to be Resurrection. In these next few days, I challenge you not to say, “Lord I could never deny you!” but instead, “Forgive me Lord, for I have sinned.” Last year on Good Friday, Pope Francis said, “Lord Jesus, always grant us the grace of holy repentance...the spark of hope is lit in the darkness of our despair, because we know that your only measure for loving us is to love us without measure.” This Holy Week, in this time for “holy repentance,” let us make sure to spend these last days in Lent with our hearts preparing for Easter. May we use these remaining days in the desert as a time for forgiveness and allow our hearts to be loved by Christ. May all of our hearts gleam with anticipation for Holy Week and better knowledge of the Risen Lord!   Author: ​Krissy Pierno is a teacher for the Archdiocese of Washington.   Resources: Listen to On Mission: Journeying Through Holy Week Read and learn about Lent and Easter Read the Ad Infinitum blog Follow us: The Catholic Apostolate CenterThe Center's podcast websiteInstagramFacebookApple PodcastsSpotify  Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

    4 min

  8. MAR 25

    Co-Responsibility and Collaboration in the Church with Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C.: Son Rise Morning Show 03/25/2025

    Co-responsibility is the understanding that the baptized uniquely and collectively share in Christ’s mission to share the Good News. Listen to Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C share more in this segment of the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio, about sharing collectively in Christ’s mission with those we are in ministry with. "At the same time, in the life of the Church, mission is closely linked to communion. While the mystery of Christmas celebrates the mission of the Son of God among us, it also contemplates its purpose, namely that God has reconciled the world to himself through Christ (cf. 2 Cor 5:19) and in him made us his children. Christmas reminds us that Jesus came to reveal the true face of God as Father, so that we might all become his children and therefore brothers and sisters to one another. The Father’s love, embodied and revealed by Jesus in his liberating actions and preaching, enables us, in the Holy Spirit, to be a sign of a new humanity — no longer founded on selfishness and individualism, but on mutual love and solidarity. This task is urgent both ad intra and ad extra. It is urgent ad intra, because communion in the Church always remains a challenge that calls us to conversion. At times, beneath an apparent calm, forces of division may be at play. We can fall into the temptation of swinging between two opposite extremes: uniformity that fails to value differences, or the exacerbation of differences and viewpoints instead of seeking communion. Thus, in interpersonal relationships, in internal office dynamics, or in addressing questions of faith, liturgy, morality and more besides, there is a risk of falling into rigidity or ideology, with their consequent conflicts. Yet we are the Church of Christ, his members, his body. We are brothers and sisters in him. And in Christ, though many and diverse, we are one: In Illo uno unum. We are called, especially here in the Curia, to be builders of Christ’s communion, which is to take shape in a synodal Church where all cooperate in the same mission, each according to his or her charism and role. This communion is built not so much through words and documents as through concrete gestures and attitudes that ought to appear in our daily lives, including in our work." ~ quote from Pope Leo XIV: https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/speeches/2025/december/documents/20251222-curia-romana.html   There are seven keys to effective Christ-centered collaboration in the Church: 1) Christ—we must recognize that Christ is the center of all that we do, 2) Cenacle—referring to how the Apostles and the Blessed Mother Mary gathered in prayer, discernment, and action, 3) Communio—communion is the core of collaboration and provides the sense of togetherness, 4) Cooperation—we must work together to understand perspectives and care for those in need, 5) Communication—effective communication ensures that collaboration moves efficiently and effectively to achieve the ministerial goals, 6) Compassion—when things don’t go according to plan, ensure that those involved in the work of the ministry are cared for with charity as well, 7) Co-responsibility—we all share in the mission of Christ and his church, it is each of our roles to preach the Gospel.   Notes: Access Collaboration in Ministry resources On Mission: Collaboration and Co-Responsibility More episodes about Living as Missionary Disciples   From the Ad Infinitum blog: Laborers in the Vineyard Collaboration and Co-Responsibility More blogs about Collaboration Follow us: The Catholic Apostolate CenterThe Center's podcast websiteInstagramFacebookApple PodcastsSpotify  Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

    10 min
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Welcome to the Catholic Apostolate Center’s Resrouce series. Listen to these presentations, interviews, and webinars featured on the Catholic Apostolate Center’s website.

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