Faith-Sharing Books: Content and Structure
The content of the books
The books and the themes that are developed in the sessions are based on the structure of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and of the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults.
So for each of the "four pillars" of the Catechisms, the Why Catholic? process offers a twelve-session faith-sharing book:
CHRISTIAN PRAYER:
Deepening My Experience of God
(12 Sessions)
The first three sessions of Christian Prayer: Deepening My Experience of God focus on prayer and how God communicates with us.
The next six sessions look at different forms of prayer and some difficulties we experience in prayer.
The last three sessions offer a deeper look at the Lord's Prayer.
The sessions explore the concept of prayer, and include various styles of prayer for participants' use.
For a fuller presentation of this book and its contents, click here.
THE PROFESSION OF FAITH:
What We Believe
(12 Sessions)
The Profession of Faith: What We Believe, looks at the truths that we, as Catholics, believe. It offers insights on what it means to be a Catholic following what the Catechism describes as "the oldest Roman catechism, the Apostles' Creed."
For a fuller presentation of this book and its contents, click here.
THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY:
The Sacraments
(12 Sessions)
The first four sessions of The Celebration of the Christian Mystery: Sacraments focus on the liturgy and an understanding of the sacraments. Then follow two sessions on Baptism, one on the sacrament itself and another on the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. The last six sessions focus on the other six sacraments.
For a fuller presentation of this book and its contents, click here.
LIFE IN CHRIST:
Walking With God
(12 Sessions)
The first six sessions of Life in Christ: Walking with God center on the Beatitudes, on our freedom and responsibility, conscience, virtues, moral law, sin, mercy, grace, and the Church.
The second six sessions focus on the implications of the Ten Commandments.
For a fuller presentation of this book and its contents, click here.
CHRISTIAN PRAYER:
Deepening My Experience of God
(12 Sessions)
The first three sessions of Christian Prayer: Deepening My Experience of God focus on prayer and how God communicates with us.
The next six sessions look at different forms of prayer and some difficulties we experience in prayer.
The last three sessions offer a deeper look at the Lord's Prayer.
The sessions explore the concept of prayer, and include various styles of prayer for participants' use.
For a fuller presentation of this book and its contents, click here.
The structure of the books
Each book offers twelve sessions. The small communities usually meet for faith sharing for six sessions per season.
Each session has been designed to lead the participants into faith sharing, around a quotation from Scripture and an appropriate section from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
A session lasts approximately 90 minutes, and has the following parts:
Lifting Our Hearts
(a moment of opening prayer) | 10 minutes |
Sharing the Good News
(How did we manage to live out our action commitment
from the previous session?) | 5 minutes |
Exploring the Catechism
(a first moment of reflection) | 10 minutes |
Scripture: Pondering the Word
and Sharing Question | 15 minutes |
Exploring the Catechism [continued]
(a second moment of reflection) | 10 minutes |
| Sharing Our Faith | 25 minutes |
Living the Good News
(Commitment to an action that flows from the sharing) | 5 minutes |
Lifting Our Hearts
(a moment of closing prayer) | 10 minutes |
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