Bringing Forward…: A Reappropriation of Faith

By Deacon Wayne M. Hoy

Experience is revelatory. Authentic human experiences are illuminating and transforming. God is constantly revealing himself to us in everyday experiences. It is essential for us to take the time to reflect upon and get in touch with those experiences, for that is the essence of faith. In the beginning the followers of Jesus were not concerned with telling about him. They wanted to tell the story of their experiences of him.

My main purpose in writing this book is simple. I wanted to tell my own journey of faith, which began as a rather fundamental acceptance of God and Church. But as I left home to join the military and eventually attending college, that fundamental viewpoint became less and less defensible. I realized I was no longer content with the way we have been telling the Christian Story, especially relating to the “Kingdom” that Jesus speaks of so frequently in the gospels. His understanding of Kingdom is actually central to his whole preaching. (More than eighty percent of all recorded sayings of Jesus underscore this reality.)

Which brings me to my second purpose, and that is to underscore Jesus’ understanding of Kingdom. I have attempted throughout my ministry to express that insight through my homilies and teaching, frequently by the use of story. I firmly believe that “Truth wrapped in story” is irresistible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665554077

Deacon Wayne M. Hoy

Deacon Wayne M. Hoy was ordained a Roman Catholic Deacon, May 24, 1980 at Our Lady of Soledad Catholic Church in Coachella, California where he served for thirty-two years in a community comprising of ninety percent Hispanic. Upon his retirement he returned to Indiana, the place of his roots. He presently serves as a deacon at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Evansville, Indiana.

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© 2022 Deacon Wayne M. Hoy. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 03/08/2022

ISBN: 978-1-6655-5408-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-5407-7 (e)

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

About The Author

INTRODUCTION

Experience is Revelatory

I remember in the mid-sixties taking my first course in theology. Vatican Council II had just concluded, but its impact had not yet been felt by the Church’s faithful. So much, if not all, the theology I was exposed to was still nuanced by pre-Vatican fundamental thought. Looking back I now feel this initial introduction to God and Church as rather simplistic, and perhaps, even childish.

Experience is revelatory. Authentic human experiences are illuminating and transforming. God is constantly revealing himself to us in everyday experiences. It is essential for us to take the time to reflect upon and get in touch with those experiences, for that is the essence of faith. In the beginning the followers of Jesus were not concerned with telling about him. They wanted to tell the story of their experiences of him.

My main purpose in writing this book is simple. I wanted to tell my own journey of faith, which began as a rather fundamental acceptance of God and Church. But as I left home to join the military and eventually attending college, that fundamental viewpoint became less and less defensible. I realized I was no longer content with the way we have been telling the Christian Story, especially relating to the Kingdom that Jesus speaks of so frequently in the gospels. His understanding of Kingdom is actually central to his whole preaching. (More than eighty percent of all recorded sayings of Jesus underscore this reality.)

Which brings me to my second purpose, and that is to underscore Jesus’ understanding of Kingdom. I have attempted throughout my ministry to express that insight through my homilies and teaching, frequently by the use of story. I firmly believe that Truth wrapped in story is irresistible.

And so I don’t approach this endeavor with great expectations of presenting my readers with any grand new insights, but only how my journey in faith impacted me. Truth does not change. Truth is truth, but oftentimes how we look at truth makes a difference.

ONE

Journey is a Metaphor for Transformation

Once there was a young man, I will call him Eric, who lived in a primitive society, a relatively small community surrounded by mountains and having no contact with the outside world. Eric’s community was highly organized around a system of strict rules, rituals and taboos. There were grave sanctions enforcing this order. Indeed the community believed that if one were to break a rule or a taboo he would become infectious to the other members. Eric did violate an important rule and was ostracized. While wandering in the mountains he became lost and eventually strayed into another small community. Here he encountered strange new practices, things which were forbidden in his tribe. Practices allowed in his own community were outlawed here. The members of the new community, however, were perfectly healthy, indeed, in many ways, they were even better off than the people at home. Imagine Eric’s wonderment and confusion! He became skeptical of his own community’s absolutes. He asked over and over if there could be any really ideal order. One thing was for sure, he would never regain the naïve confidence that he once had in the absoluteness and the uniqueness of his own tribe’s rules, rituals and taboos, unless, of course, he viewed these strange people as monsters.

When Eric returned home, after repeating his experience in several other small villages, his new relativism was not