Lisa Spear has always found simple ways to be a disciple for Christ, whether she’s singing in her parish choir, running a bible study at a nursing home, or just pulling weeds without being asked.
Spear makes being a disciple look easy.
“She has been a disciple to Jesus and an inspiration to my conversion to Catholicism,” said Kathy Perkins, who was sponsored in RCIA by Spear.
Most volunteers have one thing in common, they say “yes” when opportunities arise. Spear had been a eucharistic minister at Risen Christ Parish when she heard that some of the residents at nursing homes were not able to keep their personal Bibles. The residents desired a way to read and talk about the Bible, so she started a regular study group with them.
“We can all wring our hands, but it starts with each of us,” Spear said. “You can only control how you react to things.”
Spear is a recent graduate from the Catholic Biblical School at the Lay Division of St. John Vianney Theological Seminary. She tries to find creative ways to spread what she’s learned from sharing lists of Catholic media resources to friends or providing children’s Bible storybooks for youth that she knows.
“You have several circles of influence,” Spear said. “It starts with you, and it goes out exponentially and your circles overlap with others. That’s how God’s message needs to be spread.”
Congratulations, Lisa Spear, for being the Archbishop’s Catholic Appeal, “Disciple of the Month.”
If you know someone else who is courageously spreading the Gospel, please share his or her story with us at archden.org/give/nominate and they may become the next “Disciple of the Month.”
The Archbishop’s Catholic Appeal funds over 40 ministries that are sharing the Gospel every day.