Why Catholic?

In November of 1999, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a pastoral plan entitled, “Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us,” which called for a renewed commitment to adult faith formation. The bishops recognized that many of us inherited our faith unquestioningly from our parents or grandpar- ents and as a result we sometimes feel we lack the knowledge and experience to confidently share our faith with others. The bishops wanted us to understand that Catholic spirituality is meant to be the lifelong journey of a living faith and, like all living things, this faith needs to be nourished. “Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us” encouraged all adult members of our faith communities to continually seek out opportunities for personal prayer, study and reflection. The plan particularly encouraged the formation of small faith communities as powerful vehicles for adult faith formation and community building.

Last spring, Sacred Heart Parish completed a three-year process of spiritual renewal entitled “ARISE: Together in Christ.” Over five seasons, more than one hundred of our parishioners joined together in small faith communities of 6-10 members to pray together and share their faith around topics such as reconciliation, transformation and discipleship. Beginning next Lenten season, February of 2012, our parish will have an opportunity to continue to build on the experience of faith enrichment and faith sharing begun with the ARISE program. This new process will again utilize the small faith community structure and meet once a week for six weeks for 90 minutes per session but the content of the program will be different. “Why Catholic?: A Journey Through the Faith” will offer our adult parishioners the opportunity to explore four essential aspects of our faith: Prayer, the Creed, the Sacraments, and Christian Morality. Within the time frame of the program there will be additional optional enrichment offerings, social gatherings, and prayer/retreat experiences. This Lent the program will begin by exploring the way we nurture our relationship with God through prayer. The focus will be on learning about our rich tradition of prayer and providing experiences of the different types and forms of prayer. Signup to participate in the first session of Why Catholic? will take place in January, 2012. We hope that each of you will consider taking part in this process as a wonderful opportunity to increase your understanding of what it really means to profess to be a Catholic Christian and as an opportunity to strengthen your faith by deepening your relationship to God and your faith community.