Parish Programs for Year of Faith

[eschator83]

Our parish has announced a meeting about the Year of Faith beginning Oct 2012, but has not published an agenda. I’ve heard that the New Evangelization will be the primary theme of the Year of Faith–and I’m hoping readers will post here comments on programs in their parishes as they are developed and implemented.
For my part, I think the whole Church has properly been subdued for at least a decade (because of scandals), and I think this New Evangelization is a very important step in moving beyond the scandal (calling back our Catholic members).
I hope we will adopt programs that will demonstrate and celebrate our Christian faith and lifestyle: pilgrimmages, movies, concerts, dinners, speakers (missionaries, welfare servicers, healers, counselors). Can we reopen our churches and monasteries and promote access to our faith, our Way of Life, and our people?

 

[PeterJohn]

Hi eschator83,

In my small parish (400 families) in rural PA we are forming a Parish Activities Commitee for the purpose of the “New Evangelization”.
Our plan focuses on fellowship and spiritual grow.
Were focusing on fellowship because we believe the catholic faithful lack fellowship opportunities and the sense of devotion due to fellowship. This area of focused growth will make our parish inviting to youth as well as lapsed Catholics.
Acts 2:42
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

We believe the Church does three of these things well, and falters when it comes to fellowship. So our plan is to harness our parishioners gifts of the holy spirit and create a solid community with plenty of fun activities in the Lords name. We hope to make our parish as inviting as some of these evangelical mega churches are.
Secondly we will be, under the guidance of our priest, creating spiritual growth programs to allow our parish to grow in their faith and become better disciples of Christ. I would love to share all of our ideas with anyone who wants to hear them! Just message me!

God bless

 

[eschator83]

Thanks very much PJ for your comments. Our recent meeting served to announce a small number of changes in parish schedules and procedures, but nothing in the nature of a program for the Year of Faith. I was tempted to ask about a program but held back–I’m not really sure why–discussion was focused on specifics of changes. I’ll comment further as we get any info, and I hope others will too.
Best wishes for your parish, especially in the area of fellowship. Twenty-some years ago our Diocese sponsored the Renew program, followed by Small Church Communities, both of which encouraged meetings of small groups of 8-12 people, and some of which continue to meet today. Those groups have done much for parish fellowship–sponsoring movies and Bible Study sessions, speakers, Adoration Hours and other events. I think most of us need more than just an hour a week of church.

 

[Joe_5859]

I just posted this in another thread:

First, you would want to take a look at the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s Note with pastoral recommendations for the Year of Faith. Part IV has recommendations for the parish level. That should be the starting point for every parish.

Second, you’ll want to take a look at whatever your diocese may be doing. If they have any diocesan-wide events or resources that they are making available, then you’ll want to see what they’re doing so you don’t spend a bunch of time re-inventing the wheel.

I think the idea of studying the Catechism in your Bible study is a good way to take advantage of utlilizing something your parish already has going and giving it a Year of Faith focus. Sometimes, when these things come around, people can roll their eyes thinking that they now have “one more thing to do”. So anytime you can take advantage of what people are already doing, I think that makes your job easier.

Pope Benedict’s Motu Proprio Porta Fidei emphasizes a more widespread familiarity with both the Catechism and the documents of Vatican II. I think that a great personal devotion during the Year of Faith would be to read trhough either the entire Catechism, the documents of Vatican II, or both. The Coming Home Network has produced a handy flyer for reading through the Bible and Catechism in a year. I am actually working on a reading plan for reading the 16 documents of Vatican II in a year since my online search yielded no results. It will be on the website vaticantwo.wordpress.com. I’m, almost done. Since the Year of Faith is actually six weeks longer than a year, there is a built in cushion if you find yourself missing a few days.

If you want to go the route of having a polished study that your parish can host, Ascension Press has a new series Pillars that explores the Catechism. So far, they have available the study on the first pillar (Creed). The other three pillars will be forthcoming. It’s a 12 part study. If that seems too daunting, doing six weeks in the Fall (leading up to Advent) and six weeks in the Spirng (during Lent) is an approach I’ve seen work well with similar programs. Getting people to sign up for something that is going to be every week for three months can be difficult. But if it’s only for four or six weeks at a time, people are generally more receptive. And of course, once they start, they become more invested and are more likely to keep going.

Maryvale has a Catholic-Year-of-Faith.com website. They have lots of info and resources related to the Year of Faith. So that’s another place to check into.

Our Sunday Visitor has a pamphlet, Bible study, magnet, and prayer card. Those type of things are always nice to have around.

I’m sure the coming months will bring even more resources to light.

 

[eschator83]

Many thanks for this great post, Joe, and congrats for so many of your others as well. I’ll be busy following up for hours.
For anyone who might not have checked them, Joe’s websites are very interesting and helpful. I strongly recommend them.
I wonder, Joe, if preparations for the Year of Faith might be a good topic for your next poll–I’d do one if I knew how. I think polls are an excellent communication tool–for comments as well as votes–and I strongly encourage you to do more here. I’m sure you’ve noticed that your views were high (2k) even if actual votes and replies might seem disappointing. At Ccom I would expect polls to (at least) be straight-forward and honest, which seldom seems the case in most commercial polls. Can anyone comment on best way to find other polls? And how to get authorized and instructed?
Poll concept:
Are you/ will you be involved in parish or diocese Year of Faith programs?
Now leading or intend to
Now working on plans or intend to
Intend to participate
Hope to
might
undecided
would but can’t
unlikely
no interest

 

[Duffle]

Great post, Joe 5859. Especially appreciated the reading schedules. I googled Year of Faith Ideas and found some websites with great ideas. Of course the vatican has a Year of Faith website, www.annusfidei.va.

 

[Joe_5859]

Great post, Joe 5859. Especially appreciated the reading schedules. I googled Year of Faith Ideas and found some websites with great ideas. Of course the vatican has a Year of Faith website, www.annusfidei.va.

Ah yes, thank you. Another poster posted the link to the Vatican site in the other Year of Faith thread from which I copied my post. So I forgot to mention it. But that is great resource as well.