To the Ends of the Earth
Witness
To the Ends of the Earth
Witness
Mark C. McCann
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Except where noted, the Scripture citations used in this work are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible — Second Catholic Edition (Ignatius Edition), copyright © 1965, 1966, 2006 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Where noted, other Scripture texts are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition (NABRE) © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C., and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All rights reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Excerpts from The Roman Missal, copyright © 2010, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2019 by Mark C. McCann. Published 2019.
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To my father-in-law, Gerald Davino, who taught me that a Catholic man is both a strong leader and a solid friend, a tireless and tender provider for his family, and a serious and sober defender of the Faith. You are a true follower of Christ — a believer with an open heart, a humble worldview, and a willingness to grow as a man of God. Thank you for being a shining example of Christian manhood and for accepting me into your family. Thank you most of all for nurturing the daughter who became my beautiful bride and shared God’s salvation story with me.
Table of Contents
Week 1: The Love of the Husband for His Bride
Week 3: Pure of Heart, Sound of Mind
Week 5: Independence Day — Real Freedom
Week 6: The Constancy of Heaven’s Plan
Week 8: Them Bones, Them Bones
Preface
We live in a world that has been tainted by the sin of our first parents. The world groans as it awaits its redemption and restoration in Christ (cf. Rom 8:22–24). As Christian men, we have a duty to witness to the joy that is ours through Christ by our purposeful, powerful, and pure living. Because Jesus has overcome the world (cf. Jn 16:33), we have been given the grace that will allow us to face the trials and tribulations of life in his strength.
We are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (cf. Phil 2:12), striving to live lives that transform the world around us. Such godly living begins in our homes. For those of us called to marriage, it begins especially with our wives. We are to live in mutual submission with our spouses, being sacrificial in our love, working always not to dominate our wives but to deliver them spotless to Christ. We are to forsake all others as we cling to them. We are to carry this intentionality into a life of purity, shining the light of God on our secret sins and being men who transform rather than conform.
With our Catholic faith as our foundation, we have a solid and permanent store of treasure to invest in the future of our children. We can pass on solid Church teaching to help guide their lives, and a godly example of how being a follower of Christ transforms us into men and women after God’s own heart. This should take place at every moment, whether we are sharing the gospel message from God’s Word and Catholic doctrine or imparting life lessons and leading our children into maturity. As we witness to the work God has done in our lives, we provide the grounding for our sons and daughters to grow into true disciples of Jesus Christ.
Finally, men who are called to the single life, like Saint Paul, can make life choices that reflect what this call lived well brings to the life of the Church. The challenges and the joys of dedicating one’s life to the priesthood or religious life, missionary work, or a lay