Charting the Synodal Way of Evangelizing Through Baseball
“Charting the Synodal Way of Evangelizing Through Baseball”
Friday, July 29 @ 6 PM
Father Ray Reyes and the St. Augustine Youth Group (SAYG) are inviting the parishioners of SAC and everyone in the Archdiocese of San Francisco to participate in a special Townhall Forum featuring Father Casey Cole and Father Roberto “Tito” Serrano, also known as the “Bleacher Brothers.” They are Franciscan Friars and stars of the popular YouTube Channel, “Breaking in the Habit.” Following the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi, Father Casey and Father Tito have embarked on an 11-week pilgrimage that started May 19 to visit all 30 major league baseball ballparks, traveling more than 17,000 miles to meet people where they are and preach the good news of Jesus Christ. They will watch the Oakland Athletics play on July 27 and the San Francisco Giants on July 28. The following night they will be the keynote speakers at the Townhall Forum at SAC. Father Ray and SAYG are encouraging everyone to come and engage them in a casual conversation to talk about Family, Vocations, Understanding our Faith Journey and Spirituality of Baseball.
Father Casey and Father Tito met in their sophomore year of formation and bonded over their love for baseball. Eight years ago, they started planning to visit major baseball stadiums around the country to connect with others who share their love for baseball and to get to know the faith and culture of the people they would encounter on their tour. The vision of these young Franciscan friars is to see firsthand how Catholicism has been shaped in each city they visit by the culture and by the different immigrant groups that have come, and to engage them in a dialogue about their hopes and shared vision for a synodal church.
Father Casey said: “St. Francis didn’t just preach in churches. He had a gift of finding God in even the ordinary. For 800 years the Franciscans have continued this legacy. This trip is our way of carrying on what St. Francis started.”
Don’t miss this special gathering. Be part of the Bleacher Brothers’ exciting journey to the new path of evangelization. Father Casey and Father Tito truly epitomize Pope Francis’ vision of synodality conveyed in his apostolic exhortation Christus Vivit: “Together, we can learn from one another, warm hearts and inspire each other’s minds with the light of the Gospel.”
To learn more about the “Bleacher Brothers” and their baseball pilgrimage tour, visit the following websites:
https://breakinginthehabit.org