Fr. Pullis and Beth unpack Guidepost 1 of Unleash the Gospel, and dive into markers 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3, which invite the faithful to recognize and lean on the power of the Holy Spirit. They speak from their personal experiences, share insights on how the Holy Spirit empowers us to share the Gospel in our current age, and offer practical advice on praying for the power of the Holy Spirit.

(03:20) Fr. Pullis and Beth open up the episode with some small talk about baseball season and they introduce the topic for today’s episode, which is focusing on the guideposts outlined by Archbishop Vigneron in Unleash the Gospel.

(06:50) Fr. Pullis highlights the first guidepost they’ll unpack on the podcast, “A New Pentecost.” Beth shares that the original Pentecost didn’t expire, but that we continually need to receive a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. They discuss how central this idea is to the Synod, and note how the outpouring of the Spirit empowers us to be witnesses.

(13:06) They discuss the importance of inviting the Holy Spirit into our plans, and even entrusting our plans to him, and share how they have personally seen the Holy Spirit work in ministry. They talk about how even our best plans can be fruitless when we don’t pair them with a docility to the Spirit and highlight the counterintuitive ways in which God often works.

(16:04) Fr. Pullis prays for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit over him, Beth and listeners. He shares a quote from St. Bonaventure about how we can dispose ourselves to inviting the Holy Spirit into our lives. They talk about the ministry Acts XXIX, and the idea it is based upon: that the apostolic age is not over, the Body of Christ is still alive, and we are living in that next chapter of Acts.

(19:38) Looking to marker 1.2 of Unleash the Gospel, they discuss what repentance means and emphasize the need to allow Jesus to transform us and for us to be willing to turn away from sin. They note how repentance and believing in the Gospel go hand in hand.

(27:57) They note how the new evangelization requires a renewal of the mind and how, in this age, we have to be clear and bold in our proclamation of the Gospel to the secular world. They note how oftentimes this message can sound old fashioned or be painted as bigoted, but how that doesn’t diminish the need for people to hear it.

(30:12) They break open marker 1.3, “signs and wonders,” and talk about the personal manifestation of miracles, healings, prophetic words, etc. — things characteristic of charismatic renewal. They talk about how Catholics sometimes have a discomfort with the Holy Spirit, but emphasize that the Holy Spirit can do big things in and through us. They share their own experiences in this and emphasize that, while it’s important to pray for the Holy Spirit to work in big ways, that we can trust the Spirit is moving, whether we see it or not, when we entrust others to the Lord.

(36:46) They talk about the upcoming National Eucharistic Congress and the anticipation of that event being a real new Pentecost moment for the Church in the United States.

(37:37) They close by offering encouragement to those working in mission direct areas of ministry to remember that the Holy Spirit is the principal agent of evangelization, and to have confidence in the work that they do, when they approach it with a disposition of docility, expectancy, and confidence.

On this episode, Fr. Pullis and Beth unpack each of the good habits of our local Church described in 3.4 of Unleash the Gospel. They share some of the challenges associated with adopting them, how they’ve seen them lived out in ministry, and identify saints who embodied them as well.

(00:12) Fr. Pullis and Beth open up by talking a bit about Lent and looking forward to Easter. They recap briefly what they discussed last month and introduce this month’s topic of the good habits of our local Church described in 3.4 of Unleash the Gospel.

(05:37) They start by unpacking the habit of docility to the Spirit and identify saints who illustrate this habit in their lives, including St. Philip Neri and Our Blessed Mother. They talk about the nature of the Holy Spirit as advocate and counselor and share how the Spirit has guided them in their own roles in ministry.

(11:33) They talk about the good habit of a spirit of cooperation and highlight the ways in ministry we need to be willing to give all of our ideas and preferences to God and let his will be done. They also discuss the good habit of a spirit of innovation, and the invitation to shed old structures for the sake of mission. They discuss how challenging this can be in ministry when it feels that change is imposed, rather than sought out. They identify St. Maximilian Kolbe as a saint who displayed this good habit through his innovation in print media.

(20:13) They introduce the good habit of confidence in God and share how the renewal of our Archdiocese is the work of God in which we participate, not our work to complete. They share where they have struggled with this habit in ministry, and offer encouragement to listeners to seek opportunities to renew their confidence. They highlight St. Teresa of Calcutta as a saint who embodies this habit.

(27:41) They highlight the attitude of gratitude as the antidote to discouragement and share how impactful practicing gratitude has been in their own lives and in ministry. They discuss how Bl. Solanus Casey and St. Faustina embody this habit. They talk about how these good habits interact with one another and offer suggestions on how to practically incorporate this habit into the life of ministry.

(42:04) They introduce the good habit of apostolic boldness, bringing to mind St. Joan of Arc. They highlight the reality that Jesus gave us his Spirit to empower us in boldness. They offer encouragement to listeners to not be afraid and to remember that God will not abandon them. They also discuss how St. Katherine Drexel embodies this habit as well. They note that God is raising up men and women today, for our times, to be saints living apostolic boldness and they encourage listeners to celebrate and affirm them when we see them doing so.

In this episode, Fr. Pullis and Beth unpack the bad habits that prevent us from unleashing the Gospel, that are outlined in Unleash the Gospel. They discuss each one of the five listed and share their experiences and insights on how to combat them. They highlight the urgency of sharing the Gospel, and illustrate how these bad habits, when left unattended to, can prevent us from sharing the good news of Jesus Christ as we’ve been called to do.

(01:43) Fr. Pullis and Beth open up the episode by talking about Ash Wednesday and Lent, and share how sometimes the Lenten season can feel burdensome. They discuss entering into Lent intentionally, but with freedom from the need to carry out Lenten commitments perfectly.

(05:01) They talk about bad habits, as they’ll unpack this topic as it’s covered in Unleash the Gospel, and share some of their own bad habits. They introduce the good and bad habits section of Unleash the Gospel as this week’s topic and Beth shares why this is one of her favorite sections in the letter.

(09:28) Fr. Pullis and Beth begin to unpack the five bad habits listed: worldly notion of the Church, spiritual lethargy, status quo mentality, fear, and a complaining attitude. They discuss the bad habit of a complaining attitude, how it can come about, and talk about how doing so can destroy joy. They highlight how our impulse to complain about a situation in ministry should be met with a resolution to ask what God is calling us to do in it. They highlight how we can bring our complaints to the Lord and entrust our challenges to him.

(19:45) They move on to the bad habit of spiritual lethargy, noting how this can be experienced by those who serve in mission direct roles. They discuss how we need to let the Lord renew us often in order to serve him in ministry. Beth notes how spiritual lethargy can be experienced by disengaged parishioners, who don’t seek to live their faith beyond the Sunday obligation. Fr. Pullis shares the wisdom of the Church in requiring priests to make an annual retreat.

(24:13) They discuss how working in a parish can lead to this spiritual lethargy and a sense of disengagement. Beth encourages listeners to seek out an opportunity to go deeper in their faith and seek the sacrament of Confession if they’re experiencing spiritual lethargy. She also notes how we can fall into this bad habit if we don’t have people around us who challenge us.

(29:38) They move on to the bad habit of the worldly notion of the Church and talk about how in ministry, the temptation to be concerned with numbers can be a source of discomfort for those who work in ministry. They highlight the need to focus on our mission of leading people to an encounter with Jesus. They remind listeners to not get caught up in worldly notions of success but to remain faithful to what God is leading.

(34:01) They move on to the bad habit of the status quo mentality. Beth shares a quote from From Christendom to Apostolic Mission, highlighting the urgency of evangelization. They talk about how comfortable it can be to stay internal, but how we are called to step into discomfort, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus and taking the Gospel to those who need it.

(43:03) They unpack the final bad habit which is fear, and note the various fears we may have when it comes to ministry and evangelization. They highlight especially how important it is to be willing to take risks in ministry. They close by offering encouragement to listeners to enter into Easter intentionally, by entering into the resurrection and new life that Christ offers.