July 29, 2018 - "More About the Pastoral Plan for Adult Faith Formation"

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 look at moral formation and prayer.
 
Moral Formation is treated in detail in paragraph 93 of this pastoral plan.  Reference is made there to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1691-2557 and the General Directory for Catechesis, nos. 84-85, 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 moral formation:
 
· Understand how the “entire Law of the Gospel is contained in the ‘new commandment’ of Jesus, to love one another as he has loved us,” and promote each disciple’s formation in the life of the risen Jesus.
· Study the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, and the moral catechesis of the apostolic teachings, and live in accord with them.
· Appreciate the dignity, destiny, freedom, and responsibility of the human person, together with the reality of sin and the power of God’s grace to overcome it.
· Learn how to acquire and follow a well-formed conscience in personal and social life, clarifying current religious and moral questions in the light of faith, and cultivating a Christian discernment of ethical implications of developments in the socio-cultural order.
· Recognize, defend, and live by the truth of objective moral norms as taught the Church’s magisterium in its moral and social teaching.
· Promote a thorough catechesis of the Gospel of Life so that respect for life from conception to natural death is honored in personal behavior, in public policy, and in the expressed values and attitudes of our society.                                                                            
· Live a lifestyle reflecting scriptural values of holiness, simplicity, and compassion.

Prayer is treated in paragraph 94 of this pastoral plan. Reference is made there to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 2558-2865 and the General Directory for Catechesis, nos. 84-85, 87.  Here are the elements that a parish would include in its adult faith formation plan for a thorough treatment of prayer:
 
· Become familiar with the diverse forms and expressions of Christian prayer, with special attention to “the Our Father, the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples and which is the model of all Christian prayer.”
· Experience and appreciate the richness of the Catholic ascetical-mystical tradition as it has taken form across the centuries in diverse historical and cultural settings.
· Develop a regular pattern of personal prayer and spiritual reflection, recognizing vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplative prayer as basic and fruitful practices in the life of a disciple of Jesus.
· Engage in shared prayer with others, especially family prayer, as well as at parish meetings and in small communities of faith.
· Recognize and encourage practices of popular piety and devotion that help believers express and strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ.
 
Until next week,
Fr. John