 My name is Ron Bolster, I'm the Director of the Office of Kettichetics at Franciscan University and the host of the St. John Bosco Conference. As my brothers and sisters in Christ have been reflecting upon the initial stages of discipleship, upon the seed stage, it gave me an opportunity to reminisce about my own early discipleship. When I went off to college I was a little ambitious, I wanted to do well in my courses, I wanted to run fast enough to make the cross-country team. What I figured out is if I wanted to achieve those goals I would have more success if I hung out with the people that were smarter than I was and people that were faster than I was. And so I did, I ran in those circles literally and figuratively and learned a great deal from those who were better at those activities than I. At a certain point I encountered the Jesus people, people who got my attention because they were living in a way that I knew I should be and wasn't and they also had a freedom from anxiety that I didn't have, a certain peace that I found very attractive and intriguing and so I decided that maybe my theory would hold there as well and I began to add some of those folks into my circle. It was only a little bit of time at the beginning but afterwards I added more and more and more and as a fruit of running in the circles of those who were intentionally and aggressively pursuing holiness I was able to advance myself and that was a very very valuable experience for me. We're thankful that you're running in our circles and I encourage you to consider the suggestions that my colleagues have made with regard to deepening your own discipleship. To look for others who are pursuing holiness aggressively and to run in their circles and even when you feel very alone on the road to discipleship that you turn to the Lord who's ready to take you out of the darkness and find you the fellowship that deepens your relationship. At the Catechetics program at Franciscan University we speak about the testimony or the witness of Christian living as a major foundational means of making disciples and in that discussion we consider three groups of witnesses, the witness of the individual, the teacher, the catechist, the mentor or just the co-worker whatever it might be. We also speak about the testimony, the witness of the community. Ideally that would be the parish where all the Jesus people are hanging out but could be the people in our family could be the people in our workplace. The third group of witnesses we consider are the great witnesses of the past and the lives of the saints and so whether you are on the road to discipleship yourself or whether you are in the business of making disciples I encourage you to commit yourself to be the kind of witness, the kind of person that you would like your disciples who have running in your circle. Secondarily don't try to be the only witness but rather introduce your disciples to the lives of other witnesses. Again the people at your parish who are making a difference, the people in your workplace, those that you know who have been intentionally intentionally taken up the road to holiness. Allow your disciples to be in their presence and to run in their circles and never underestimate the impact that the witnesses of the past can have on us to introduce your disciples or to introduce yourself. Thank you again for being with us. I look forward to the opportunity to send you to the next stage of discipleship as we wrap up these stages and look forward to the fruit. It is a great adventure, extraordinarily fun to be involved. Welcome to the journey.