Jesus' mandate to his followers as he ascended to the Father is, "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of time."

In every age, the Church faces unique opportunities and challenges as it proclaims the Good News of God's reign. Today is no exception. We see in our society a widespread hunger, a search for meaning and for a deeper personal experience of God and our community.We live in a time when Catholic laity plays a pivotal leadership role in fulfilling the Christian mission of evangelization and transformation of society. For adults to fulfill their roles in this age of the Church, they must strive for a lifelong deepening of their knowledge and their relationship with God, just as they must continue to learn to keep up in the changing world.

The Catholic faith is, above all, continuous conversion to Jesus Christ, full and sincere adherence to his person, and the decision to walk in his footsteps. Faith is personal encounter with Jesus Christ, always becoming a more faithful disciple of his. A relationship with Jesus demands a permanent commitment to think like him, to judge like him, and to live like him. For a relationship to deepen, one tries to know all there is to know about the other. And for any relationship to deepen, both persons need to be in frequent and honest conversation.

Such opportunities to know Jesus and to learn to think like him, judge like him, and live like him, are to join a discussion group of "Why Catholic?", Scripture reading/discussion, attend a set of adult faith formation classes, daily reading/discussion of spiritual topics, visit Catholic Web sites that offer daily reflections or sell good spiritual books, subscribe to the "America" magazine.