Fruitful Discipleship: Living the Mission of Jesus in the Church and the World
“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.” – John 15:8
How does God’s grace change our individual lives, families, neighborhoods, parish communities, and cities?
In Fruitful Discipleship: Living the Mission of Jesus in the Church and the World, Sherry A. Weddell describes how the Holy Spirit is at work in all the baptized – calling and gifting us to “say yes” in ways that will be the longed-for answer to someone else’s prayers and fuel the mission of the whole Church.
God has chosen to be present in this world through the faith and obedience of missionary disciples who witness to Jesus Christ and bear abundant fruit. In Fruitful Discipleship, Sherry shares what she and her team have learned from helping over 100,000 Catholics of all backgrounds; identifies and explains 23 distinct charisms; provides wise guidance for discerning and exercising the gifts received in baptism; sheds light on the implications of those gifts for both service and leadership within the Church and in mission to the world; encourages readers with true stories of parishes, cities, and whole dioceses who are experiencing powerful renewal because they are forming intentional disciples who bear much fruit. Siena.org
Our Sunday Visitor Huntington, Indiana, June 21, 2017 – Sherry A. Weddell, influential writer, speaker, and cofounder of the Catherine of Siena Institute, continues her ground-breaking series on intentional discipleship with Fruitful Discipleship: Living the Mission of Jesus in the Church and the World.
Fruitful Discipleship brings accessible theology and best practices together and shows readers how to take the words of John’s Gospel — “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples” (Jn 15:8) — to heart and to action. Weddell points to the work of the Holy Spirit in calling and gifting all as missionary disciples witnessing to Christ, building the Church, and transforming the world through service, leadership, and evangelization.
With knowledge gained from helping over 100,000 Catholics around the world, Weddell guides readers to understand the importance of discerning and exercising the charisms – gifts that we receive at baptism – and sheds light on the implications of those gifts for the inner life of the Church and its mission to the world. The exercise of a Christian’s charisms is one powerful way that the fruit of our discipleship will change the lives of many. Weddell identifies twenty-three charisms in seven general categories: pastoral, communication, organizational, lifestyle, healing, understanding, and creative gifts, and emphasizes the careful discernment that must take place before effective exercise of a charism.
Along with the deep exploration of charisms, Fruitful Discipleship shares true stories from parishes — and even entire cities — that have seen vital renewal from the fruit borne out of intentional Christian discipleship that is owned, supported, and sustained. These examples provide encouragement to readers to answer God’s call, bear fruit in their own lives, and go out to the world to spread the good news of the Gospel and glorify God.
Amazon Format: Paperback & Kindle Edition & Audible “For every one of us, the fruit we bear has a profound impact on our personal maturation and holiness as disciples in Christ. But your fruit also increases the evangelical capacity of the whole Church: her love and ability to bear witness to Christ. The mission and compassion of the whole Church is fueled by your fruit. Today’s “nones” and “former Catholics” are seldom interested in our insider debates but are really intrigued and moved by the fruit that Christians bear. The fruit we bear “reveals” the presence and the love of God. Our fruit builds powerful bridges of spiritual trust and rouses spiritual curiosity.
…There is someone out there right now who is waiting for what you have been given to give, and their life, their spiritual and personal destiny, hangs in the balance. You may not have met them yet. They may not even have been born yet, but in God’s providence, you are the one. It matters that you say ‘yes.'”- Sherry Weddell, “Fruitful Discipleship: Living the Mission of Jesus in the Church and the World”
What does FRUITFUL discipleship look like? How do we become fruitful disciples? What’s at stake if we do not bear fruit? What are individual charisms and what role do they play in the mission of the Church? How do individual charisms work together with hierarchical (ecclesial/ordained) and founding (religious orders) charisms? How do we discern charisms? How can we move from maintenance-oriented busy-ness to fruitful disciple and apostle making?
Sherry Weddell’s new book is out, and it is a compelling read! It is well-researched and grounded in Catholic teaching – teaching that is known and understood by too few in the Church. But the greatest value to evangelizers and would-be evangelizers is that this book contains treasure that is borne of solid PRAXIS – it contains not only sound Catholic teaching and theology but also the fruit of over two decades of pastoral practice, particularly in the area of the formation of lay apostles by Sherry Weddell and her collaborators in the Catherine of Siena Institute (www.siena.org). This is a book that could start amazing discussions between both ordained and lay and a must-read for anyone interested in learning more about how to discern their charisms and personal vocation or to help others discern theirs. There is also a powerful chapter at the end of the book that talks about what “parish culture” is, why it matters, and what an outward-facing, missional parish spiritual culture looks like and what it can do.
In Weddell’s first published book, “Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus”, there is a chapter titled “We Don’t Know What Normal Is” which described how most Catholics are so used to a sub-discipleship spiritual culture that we don’t know what normal fruit-bearing discipleship actually looks like. In “Fruitful Discipleship”, the entire book is filled with awe-inspiring stories and examples of the amazing fruits that mature intentional discipleship bears in the Holy Spirit. Reading it was a galvanizing experience for me as I was personally reminded of the power that Christ has promised to – and will realize in – the humblest of his disciples to do no less than transform the world together though his goodness, beauty, and truth. Sherry Weddell writes from a primarily American context, but the truths and principles contained in this relatively pithy and concise volume are universal and will surely speak to every reader who is desirous of becoming and forming other fruitful disciples of Christ in the Church and the world!
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