I have an exciting announcement to make: I have taken a job as the Director of Evangelization for the Diocese of Venice, Florida! My family will be moving down to Florida in early August to begin the job.

As regular readers of my blog will know, over 17 years ago I began the Master’s in Theology program at Franciscan University of Steubenville. My original plan was to find full-time work in the Church or an apostolate. Of course, life intervened and I had to put my studies on hold. So for the past 15 years I have worked in software development and raised my family. However, I never lost my desire to serve the Church full-time. For the past few years I have been doing much “part-time” apostolate: writing books and articles, hosting this blog, running the evangelization efforts at my parish, etc. I also have been finishing my Master’s degree, which I just received a few weeks ago. So I thought now was a good time to make the move to full-time apostolate.

Why this particular position? Simply put, I was very impressed with the bishop of Venice, Bishop Frank Dewane. He has a deep love for the Church and a passion for spreading the Catholic Faith. In talking to him, I realized that here was a successor to the apostles who has an apostolic zeal. And I hear the weather there isn’t too shabby.

I still plan on writing books and articles even after moving into this position. Most likely, I will also continue blogging, but probably for the Venice Diocese instead of here. But I’ll keep everyone up-to-date as things progress.

Also, if any of my readers live in the Venice/Sarasota area, I’d love to hear from you! You can email me at eric@ericsammons.com.

Please pray for me and my family as we make this big move!

Recently, the Holy Father urged all Christians to embrace our call as evangelizers of the modern world. Evangelization today primarily involves combating the indifference of the world to the Gospel. The message of the Church, according to the Pope, “needs to be renewed today in order to convince modern persons, who are often distracted and insensitive.”

I think that description – “distracted and insensitive” – is very apt for modern man. Too many people are modern-day Esaus, who exchange their birthright as children of God for the mess of porridge that is modern entertainment, news and technology. And I think, as Catholics, we need to look and see if we too fall into that same distraction and insensitivity. A few questions we can ask ourselves:

- Do we go from place to place with our faces buried in our cell phones or other gadgets?
I have always been surprised by how often I’m able to engage people in public settings – airports, subway stations, etc. – but of course that would not be possible if I don’t even look at them! Today we receive a constant stream of information, but in doing so we can become distracted from the more important things of life.

- Do we spend time each day in quiet meditation and prayer?
I know first-hand how quickly modern technology can ensnare you. The gadget that is purchased to make life easier becomes the chain around your neck. We must not allow the allure of technology to keep us from spending quiet time with the Lord – and with other people.

- Are we insensitive to the troubles of others?
We live in a self-centered world, and every message of modern culture cries out, “I gotta look out after me!” But the essence of Trinitarian love is self-gift, in which we pour ourselves out to others. Do we care about the plight of others, even those we don’t know well? My wife has been going to the same hair stylist for a few years, and over that time she has engaged him in many conversations. Recently his son tragically died, and my wife had a Mass offered for the son and sent her stylist a card. He was very touched by the gesture. Would this had happened if my wife had simply ignored her stylist?

Before we can effectively spread the Gospel to others, we must live it in our own lives. Take some time today to ask yourself how you can become less distracted by the things of this world and more focused on the things of God.