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Excitement Builds as Why Catholic? Launch Date Fast Approaches
“It was an automatic yes,” said Pam, member of St. Ann’s Catholic Church, Debary. “As adults it’s so important to really know our faith and understand the ‘why’ and ‘how’ because we’re all still growing in our faith journey,” added Pam. The McCourts immediately saw the benefit of helping members of their parish learn more about the Catholic faith in small Christian communities that will hopefully lead to parish renewal. “It’s for the spiritual renewal of the parish, not just the individuals who sign up for the small Christian communities,” said Sister Pat Thomas, OP, Renew International. “The parish as a whole will hopefully be touched by the experience of Why Catholic?” Steve and Pam were among 1500 people who attended leader training conducted by the Diocese of Orlando and Renew International. The training covered topics such as how to understand group dynamics, how to keep an agenda flowing and how to prepare for weekly sessions. Renew International has been implementing Why Catholic? at dioceses around the country for over five years. One reason for its success is the comprehensive preparation and training that takes place for an entire year before the launch of Why Catholic? In the Diocese of Orlando, the evangelization and adult faith formation program Why Catholic? is launching on October 4 and shortly thereafter, small Christian communities will be meeting for six weeks to explore the theme: “Christian Prayer, Deeping my Experience of God.” “People will have a chance to learn new ways of expressing prayer, such as contemplative prayer and lectio divina. They will also learn about the traditions behind our Church’s devotions,” said Sister Pat. “Hopefully people will have an even better appreciation of prayer in their lives and they won’t just say prayers, they will pray. I think that’s most important,” added Sister Pat. The training workshops were held at six parishes diocese wide between August 12 and 16. Several sessions were filled to capacity with standing room only and each workshop was offered in English and Spanish simultaneously. “I was so impressed by how many people are involved in this and the workshop was so positive and encouraging. People are really excited about this and I’m thrilled to participate” said Bernadette Moore. She attended the training on August 13 and is serving as Why Catholic coordinator at All Souls Catholic church. Sign up for Why Catholic? During the month of September many parishes in our diocese will organize a sign up Sunday or weekend when individuals will be invited to sign up to join a small Christian community. The communities will meet over a six week period in various locations including leaders’ homes, individual parishes, nursing homes and college campuses. The theme for the first year of Why Catholic? is: “Christian Prayer, Deeping my Experience of God.” Fifty parishes are participating in Why Catholic? in the Diocese of Orlando.
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