Core Value #1: Committed Catholic Disciples

Steve Dawson handing out rosaries at St. Peter’s Square in Rome

Let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.
Hebrews 12:1-2 NABRE

We are committed to being disciples of Jesus as He reveals Himself in the Church — through His saving doctrine and personal guidance in Sacred Scripture, Tradition, Liturgy, the lives and teaching of the Saints, and our personal prayer. We are strengthened by daily prayer, self-sacrifice, regular reception of the sacraments, and consecration to Jesus through Mary.
SPSE “committed Catholic Disciples” Official Description

Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote that “when Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” A disciple is a student who is attached to a teacher. Disciples of Jesus are called to die to themselves and live for Jesus (Galatians 2:20). The evangelists and supporters of St. Paul Street Evangelization try to place every part of their lives under the lordship of Jesus. We experience this dying and rising in the Sacrament of Baptism, and through a life lived according to the Gospel, the cross, and the spirit of the beatitudes.

It is a paradox that a life of service to the Gospel and the suffering that comes with it is a life of joy. Committed Catholic disciples experience the joy of repentance and the forgiveness of sins, the joy of knowing God and being known by God, the joy of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the joy of all of God’s graces and mercy. The ebb and flow of Catholic living is peace in the midst of the chaos of a fallen world. As evangelists we are committed to keeping the Lord’s Day holy, attending and fully participating in Mass on Sunday and all days of obligation at a minimum. We are committed to the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, to studying the Bible and the teaching of the Catholic Church, frequent sacramental confession, daily prayer, regular fasting, and evangelization. We also consecrate ourselves to Jesus through Mary.

We know that this life comes with challenges, so we seek out the fellowship of other committed evangelists and disciples in Catholic community. As members of the family of God, we intercede for one another and support each other. We strive to be docile to the movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives and open to His call to evangelize, with courage to reach out to the lost whenever we are prompted. We know that we will never be disappointed or forsaken when we call on the name of the Lord and accept His will for our life.

Jesus said to the twelve, “Will you also go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
John 6:67-69 RSVCE

Consider the generations of old and see: has anyone trusted in the Lord and been disappointed? Or has anyone persevered in the fear of the Lord and been forsaken? Or has anyone called upon him and been neglected?
Sirach 2:10 NRSVCE

A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master.
Matthew 10:24-25 NRSVCE

In order that love, as good seed may grow and bring forth fruit in the soul, each one of the faithful must willingly hear the Word of God and accept His Will, and must complete what God has begun by their own actions with the help of God’s grace. These actions consist in the use of the sacraments and in a special way the Eucharist, frequent participation in the sacred action of the Liturgy, application of oneself to prayer, self-abnegation, lively fraternal service and the constant exercise of all the virtues.
Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, 42