Oklahoma City, Okla., Jan 28, 2019 / 15:52 pm
Being and making disciples of Christ is a life-long project that requires a continued renewal of focus and recommitment to the Lord, Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City said in his new pastoral letter.
"It is my prayer that we continue to advance in a direction that bears abundant fruit in the coming years, even 'thirty, sixty and a hundredfold.' I call you to be disciples and go make disciples! This is why we are here! This is our mission," he said.
Five years ago, Coakley released "Go Make Disciples," a multi-year vision of holiness and mission for his Archdiocese. It laid out three specific areas of missionary need, including the new evangelization, Hispanic ministry and faith formation.
In his new letter, titled "Go Make Disciples: Building a Culture of Conversion and Discipleship" Coakley looks back and gives thanks for the good fruit born in the archdiocese since the first letter, and he also shares his desire for the archdiocese to recommit to discipleship and evangelization in new ways.
"Much has happened in the past five years, and there is much to celebrate," he said, noting the establishment of a new evangelization office, the strengthening of faith formation, and the "tremendous momentum" within the archdiocesan Hispanic ministry.
Coakley's letter also gave thanks for the beatification of Blessed Stanley Rother in 2017, a "momentous occasion (that) marked a new chapter in the life of the Church in Oklahoma and attracted Catholics and non-Catholics from around the world to celebrate the life and witness of the first U.S.-born martyr and parish priest ever beatified," he said.