 Praise be Jesus Christ now and forever Dear friends, it's good for us to be here not to of course quote St. Peter and I want a special welcome to my brother Bishops, thank you for coming and attending our conference here for st. John Bosco. You're most welcome most welcome and actually we've had a chance to visit on the One of us on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean and Latvia and then also Orlando So good for us have a chance to be here in our home in Steubenville Whoever receives you Receives me So what does that mean? Well, Jesus words are quite direct, but they also are an invitation for us to go out We're not as Christians. We're not silos. No man is an island or as a woman We're called to go out to encounter I say that because Every year I have a chance to visit our Catholic schools. There are 11 in the diocese of Steubenville and I try to encounter the various classes Especially during Catholic schools week celebrating mass for each one of those schools and There are different let's say game plans that I have for different grades the older ones I will explain how God is proven through science Now I can't get into that right now here in the homily otherwise You're looking at a 45 minute homily and that might be tough on the catechesis here however It's well received There are a lot of books out there Catholic authors that talk about science and I'm a science geek So I enjoy having a chance to share that with the students to show that faith and reason are not mutually exclusive One depends on the other our science and our faith Other grades will get a little lower. Let's say the fourth grade. I will do an impromptu ask the bishop and Not to push something but I actually published a book like that as well But that was a result actually I would say the kids republished the books The kids asked three questions every month in our diocesan paper and I published those Which was so great and afterwards my education office said you have 180 questions that you've answered Why don't you make it a book and thank goodness that we did just that and used the four pillars of the catechism Fourth grade had a chance to fit with them and then I made the mistake of asking them a question and I asked how long do you think I've been a bishop a Young lady's very confident raised her hand and said 85 years. I Asked for it or second graders to come in especially before they receive first communion Have any questions for the bishop and a young gentleman raised his hand a little seven-year-old he goes This question has been bothering me my entire life Okay, and he goes what were Jesus first words I'm like well, we have of course Jesus words at a 12-year-old in the temple but I'm not one in when it comes to speculative theology, but I thought you know He's God, but he's also a little baby boy. So think about what was our first word probably mommy and How Jesus was even teaching us back then the head of the church teaching the body of the church that Mary is our mother And then of course to visit the kindergarten kids, which you say their attention spans like four and a half seconds You have a chance to visit with them and talking off squirrel So I went and visited with them and They were doing a little crayola crayon drawings And I went to a young lady there and I said oh and I can't recall what the drawing was and I said You know when I was your age we had cruel acrylic crayons as well She looked up at me. She goes no way What am I from the Stone Age or what? but We're encountering the kids have a chance to see their bishop the only time I saw my bishop growing up was when I was confirmed That was it So this way they have a chance to visit with the shepherd Ask questions about their faith encounter encounter encounter and so in those classrooms as well as at mass I'm living the whoever receives you receives me. We share Jesus Jesus concludes his apostolic discourse in the gospel according to Matthew With vivid imagery for you and for me not just the apostles 2000 years ago, but here us in finnegan fieldhouse Whoever receives you receives me These words define evangelization and catechesis. Yes These words define who the apostles are to be You see It's been said that the apostles were more than teachers Because Jesus is more than a teacher As we all of us represent Jesus With the human drama of redemption as it plays out here even in our human history now Christian salvation begins and ends in encounter In an embrace In dispensing the grace of God's various gifts Certainly as bishops and priests we do more than teach We bring people to Jesus And through him Bring them to our heavenly father Putting it bluntly The eternal union of father and son The eternal communion Comes to humanity The divine words mission My dear friends here as we commence our conference here On evangelization and catechesis Let us remember we're more than teachers We are missionary disciples as Pope Francis puts it And a missionary disciple is a christ bearer A missionary disciple is a christ bearer The divine presence in Jesus is also shared with the apostles empowering them with the authority To share in the apostolic mission A mission that it is shared then with all the faithful by virtue of our baptism Our confirmation Our reception to Eucharist those sacraments of initiation For the church authority is from above And shared in the divine human community The whole purpose of the incarnation and passion and resurrection Is the very communion With the person of Jesus Christ We are sent To the people of god in christ's name As jesus went out to share himself with humanity My dear friends we he's the first going out. We are the second going out over and over again To share jesus christ to be if i can say Contagious with the holy spirit Jesus encourages us and he leaves us with these words Whoever receives you Receives me Amen