amp Hedgerows How to invite amp welcome in Gods name Enter the Mystery An opening conversation Who is absent from parish life What groups of people do not feel welcome in your parish ID: 305104
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Out to the Highways & Hedgerows
How to invite & welcomein God’s name
Enter the Mystery…Slide2
An opening conversation
Who is absent from parish life?What groups of people do not feel welcome in your parishOR just stay away?Why aren’t they with us?
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Who’s absent
People who are in an “irregular marriage situation”People who feel shame about decisions they’ve madePeople who feel the church is out of touch or no longer loves themPeople whose faith has grown cold
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Luke 14:15-24
Jesus tells a story:This guy throws
a huge dinner party.
He
invites a group of locally important folks, but, one by one, they make excuses and don’t show up. Slide5
Luke 14
So he sends his servants out to invite in people from the neighborhood. “Go out to the highways and hedgerows
,” he tells them, “and tell people that I really want them to
come to the table
that my home may be filled.”Slide6
Please stand (if you are able)
What word, image, idea or phrase caught your ear? What did you hear in this parable?What is Jesus teaching in this parable?
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All are invited
With God, we are all welcome.God loves us all.And the love is unconditionalMeaning
truly without conditions
The message we want to send is
You belong to us because you belong to Christ. We welcome you. We treasure you. We do not judge you.
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All are invited
Only in God can we find true human happinessThe teachings of ChristThe Grace of ChristLearn about self-giving loveForgiveness, generosity, hospitality
Nothing else makes us happy
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Conversation
What prevents us from welcoming people with (fully) open arms?
OR
Why do people stay away from us?
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How to Invite & Welcome
in God’s nameTwo Steps:
1.
Sweep in front of your own doorstep- to be sure you’re ready to welcome
2.
Train your own people how to reach out
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How to Invite & Welcome
in God’s nameWe have to think about our own house first –
a sort of parish
examination of consciousness
Do we really want to reach out?
Is this really our goal? Are we ready?
To what will we invite people?
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In other words…
If you were writing the ad for your Catholic parish right now…
What would it say?Slide13
To what do we invite people?
Mass on Sundays?Social events?Small group faith formation?Projects to Feed the hungry
Visit the sick and imprisoned
Protect the vulnerable?
Or what?
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Sunday Mass
A weekly pause from the busy-ness of daily life……to reflect and be together with GodFamilies or households bond as they do this togetherGod works through the sacraments to touch and heal us
Even if we don’t realize it at the time.
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Sunday Mass
But not to earn eternal salvationSome people who do attend weeklyStill live in darkness
Not about earning grace
Grace is FREE
People who rarely come to Mass still have grace operating in their lives
God does not stop loving them
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Sunday Mass
But to cooperate with GraceWe do need the liturgy in our lives
It shapes and forms us
It leads us to the Paschal Mystery
To dying and rising in Christ
Self-giving love
We are fundamentally changed
Our inborn hunger is fed
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The inborn hunger
We all have an inborn hunger forMeaningPurposeIn a word, for God.This is why we want to invite and welcome
In God’s name
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3 elements
i
n the process
of drawing people inSlide19
#1 Feeling invited
We talked earlier about why people don’t always feel welcomeWe are tempted to say that these people make their own choices:That they choose to be outside our foldBy choosing what they do in life
But really, who among us is worthy to be here?
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Why is this hard for us?
We tend to sort people by their sinsSome we acceptOthers we rejectWe worry that having them at liturgy might somehow taint or desecrate the EucharistMatthew 8:8
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Who is really worthy?
Matthew 8:8‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.’
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We need not worry
Christ is our host at MassWe act in his placeWho does Christ welcome?All who need healingSinners and saints alike
In a word, Christ welcomes all
How dare we do any less?
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If you need a tool for this
eResourceReproducible“How to welcome”Step-by-step
A lovely prayer to useSlide24
#2 Feeling we belong here
Belonging is a very strong feelingWe say, I’m from Minneapolis (or wherever)But we say, I
belong
to St Mary’s
What causes one to feel that he or she truly belongs?
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Belonging
How do the people of a parish “choose” each other?by paying attention to themby knowing their namesby greeting them warmlyby chatting after Mass
by inviting them to social engagements
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Belonging
This isn’t a “parish program”
It’s a part of “parish culture”
Or it isn’t!
The way leaders speak of this
Creates a “culture of belonging”
The language you use creates the reality
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If you need a tool for this
An eResourceThe full plan for a gatheringAt which people sense how much they belongA youth element is built inSlide28
A brief review
We come to the parish to feed our inborn hunger for GodBut what keeps us here areFeeling welcomeFeeling we belongAnd #3: Being fed spiritually.
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#3 Being fed spiritually
What feeds our spirits?The Sacrament itselfBeing together: singing, praying, talkingBeing “of one heart” with each other
Getting something we can take home and apply to our daily lives
What else?
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Being fed spiritually
Personal prayerScriptureA love for the poorForgiving the trespasses of othersGiving of ourselves in love
Sharing meals
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Small group life
How are we fed spiritually?We talk together about faith“Never discuss religion or politics”
The research tells us:
Small groups grow faith
People have to find their own group
Friends, family, fellow parishioners
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Small group life
In the small group, we chew on life:Decisions -- big or small
Goals and dreams
Sick parents, partners, or children
Friends moving away
Our own sense of happiness and well-being
What we believe about God
How we are responding to the world around us
Our fears, failures -- or whatever
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Small group life
Faith happens within lifeThis conversation leads us to faithFaith is inside our life It’s not floating above our heads
But in the very center
of life
We see life through the lens of faith
which means
faith lived out in daily life
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If you need a tool for this
Come to the Table y Ven a la MesaConversations about faith - with a heart for folks from other faith traditions
Welcoming and engaging!Slide35
Review
Learn how to invite & welcomeHelp people feel they belong to usFeed them spirituallySlide36
How to Invite & Welcome
in God’s nameHelp our active members
to reach out
Catholics don’t like to do this
We don’t want to preach to others
Or knock on their doors
Or pass out literature
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How did the early church do it?
They lived a convincing lifeAnd others noticed itWhen they asked:Why are you so happy?
How do you cope?
What gives you so much hope?
Why are you so forgiving?
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How did the early church do it?
They cared for the poor and sickThey were faithful in their marriagesThey were devoted to their community
They seemed to be so happy
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How did the early church do it?
Finally someone would askAt that point the Christian would say“Come and see what I have found…”
And by grace…
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The Call to Ministry
Lumen
Gentium
10
The Constitution on the Church
We share in the priesthood of Christ, baptized & ordained
This is what “discipleship” meansSlide41
Lumen Gentium 10
Constitution on the ChurchArticle 10:
Christ made the new people who would gather in his name
A kingdom of priests to his God and Father
The baptized are consecrated as a holy priesthood
That through their sacrifices and good work they might bear witness to ChristSlide42
Lumen Gentium 10
The ministerial priesthood and the common priesthood differ But they are part of the one priesthood of Christ
The ministerial priest forms and governs
In the person of Christ, he brings about the Eucharist
The faithful share in this Eucharist and live with prayer and active charitySlide43
What does this mean?
Some form of the word disciple appears in the New Testament more than 200 timesEarly Christians felt deep solidarity with each other
Galatians 3:28
All of you are one in Christ
Hence our focus earlier on the Paschal Mystery
And on dialogue toward unitySlide44
What does this mean?
1 Peter 2:9-10The term hiereus is applied to all in the communityIn Romans 12:1, a disciple is one
who became a living sacrifice
drawn from the transformation in faith
t
hat flows only from the sacrifice of Christ.Slide45
Over time
The distinction between ordained and lay become very pronouncedLiturgy had become almost exclusively a clerical matterLuther tried to revive the idea of the common priesthoodBut he went too far in regard to the ministerial priesthoodSlide46
Vatican II
Corrects this distinctionIt placed the chapter on the People of God before the ones on hierarchy, laity, and religiousJust read article 9A gorgeous restoration of the baptized as the People of God
“the dignity and freedom of the daughters & sons of God…”Slide47
Vatican II
There are not two priesthoodsThe call to discipleship flows from baptismWe are all in the common priesthoodThe ministerial priesthood is seen in relation to the priesthood of the baptized
To serve and support it
To lead and govern it (to bring “holy order”)Slide48
We might ask
What are the demands of authentic Christian discipleship?Not limited to parish activityThe real task is to animate the world with the spirit of ChristWhich begins at home
Always involves sacrificing oneself out of love for othersSlide49
How to Invite & Welcome
in God’s name
We want our active members
to live their
Christian lives
in a convincing way
What does this mean?
It means letting faith shine in daily life without clobbering people with it
And without annoying them
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How to Invite & Welcome
in God’s nameNo soap boxes!
No sermons!
No big public witness
at ball games!
Instead, a quiet whisper when the moment is right:
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The right moment
Someone tells you about a big lossA parent is worried about the kidsA friend is having financial troubleYour child feels left out at schoolYou’re sitting on the porch and just feel a sense of well-being and love
Something has made you very happy
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And in that moment
You might tell how you were touched by the divine presence at some pointHow you were motivated by your love for the poorHow someone really reached out to you in a time of needHow pausing to pray helps you
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How to Invite & Welcome
in God’s name
This might be in your kitchen
A bowling alley
A golf course
A café or bar
Wherever you are with those who hunger for meaning
And who want to understand more deeply
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To organize this…
Hold a parish eventMaybe a light mealAfterward share some faithAnd use the kit:
How to Invite & Welcome in God’s name
Algunas partes de este están también disponibles en español
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The kit
A complete outline A podcast from Leisa AnslingerA self-directing PowerPoint
The talking points you need
A reproducible flier:
How to speak about your faith (without being annoying)
And a handout explaining what we hope active members might do Slide56
Highways & Hedgerows
Thank you for embracing the command of Christ that we go out to all the worldBy going out to the world which is closest to you every single dayThank you for announcing the good newsWhich is that you love those who are near to you just as God loves us all
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