August 5, 2018 - "Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us"

In 1999, the Catholic Bishops of the United States issued Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us:  A Pastoral Plan for Adult Faith Formation in the United States.  In that document the Bishops note that the Catholic faith is like a symphony in which the unity of faith finds expressions in richly diverse formulations and manifestations.  They state that the ongoing development of a living, explicit, and fruitful Christian faith in adulthood requires growth in six dimensions:  knowledge of the faith, liturgical life, moral formation, prayer, belonging to community, and missionary spirit.  This week I am continuing a series in which we shall explore these six dimensions.  Today I want to conclude this exploration by looking at communal life and missionary spirit.
 
Communal Life is treated in detail in paragraph 95 of this pastoral plan.  Reference is made there to the General Directory for Catechesis, nos. 84, 86-87.  Here are the elements that would be found in a well-developed Adult Faith Formation Plan in a parish that wanted to give a thorough presentation on communal life:
 
· Pursue personal and spiritual growth in human and Christian maturity.
 
· Cultivate the human values and Christian virtues that foster growth in interpersonal relationships and in civic responsibility.
 
· Nurture marriage and family life to build up the Church of the home.
 
· Share actively in the life and work of the parish, and foster the potential of small communities to deepen the faith and relationships of members, to strengthen the bonds of communion with the parish, and to serve the Church’s mission in society.
 
· Learn the Church’s teaching on the nature and mission of the Church, including an understanding of the Church’s authority and structures and of the rights and responsibilities of the Christian faithful.
 
Support the ecumenical movement and promote the unity of God’s people as a constitutive dimension of fidelity to the Gospel.       

   Missionary Spirit is treated in paragraph 96 of this pastoral plan. Reference is made there to the General Directory for Catechesis, nos. 84, 86-87.  Here are the elements that a parish would include in its adult faith formation plan for a thorough treatment of missionary spirit:
 
· Cultivate an evangelizing spirit among all the faithful as an integral element of their baptismal calling, of the Church’s nature and mission, and of a Catholic way of life.
 
· Respond to God’s call whether as lay, ordained, or religious and develop a personal apostolate in family, Church, and society.
 
· Motivate and equip the faithful to speak to others about the Scriptures, the tradition and teachings of the Church, and one’s own experience of faith.
 
· Explore and promote applications of the Church’s moral and social teaching in personal, family, professional, cultural, and social life.
 
· Understand the importance of serving those in need, promoting the common good, and working for the transformation of society through personal and social action.
 
· Appreciate the value of interreligious dialogue and contacts, and promote the Church’s mission ad gentes in the local and universal Church.
 
Until next week,
Fr. John