The Power of Small Faith-Sharing Communities
During the second half of last year, in preparation for this Jubilee Year, we sent out to parishes a series of prayer sessions called Lord, Teach us to Pray… This is being followed this year by further series of prayer sessions to assist us in praying together in small faith-sharing communities.
Perhaps there are some of you who are not familiar with this type of praying. The question What is a small faith-sharing group? is answered in the introduction to the present series, found on this website:
It is a gathering of 6-12 people who meet to read and reflect on the materials provided. Each small group is made up of a variety of people, they may be people of different ages, diverse backgrounds and a variety of interests or they may be a group of people like the Parish catechists, or the stay-at-home moms, or the recently widowed – who do have similar interests. A faith-sharing group provides a place where we can simply be ourselves in a comfortable, friendly atmosphere – a place where we can renew ourselves spiritually. Faith-sharing is a prayerful experience of listening to God’s word as well as other writings from Vatican II and the Catechism of the Catholic Church and then sharing how this is lived in our own lives and the lives of others. It is also a great way to meet and get to know others in your parish community.
The first of this year’s Jubilee series of prayer focuses on The Eucharist – Source and Summit of the Church’s Life. It is a series of four sessions to be prayed during Lent, in preparation for the Lord’s Supper at the start of the Easter Triduum. The four sessions are entitled:
Our Life… Our Identity
Word… Eucharist… Life
One Bread… One Body
Our Hope… Our Joy
In developing this series, we have drawn heavily from the content of the 2013 Ecclesia series, and on the “mini-sermons” written by Monsignor Andrew Borello, then Episcopal Vicar for Pastoral Development in the Archdiocese of Cape Town. These provide a powerful message to all today on the Eucharist as the source and summit of our faith life. Suitable reflective questions, quotes, prayers and hymns accompany this material, providing groups with profoundly meaningful sources of reflection.
We invite you to join a small faith-sharing group within your parish to pray and share together and thus deepen your understanding of your faith.
Further prayer sessions will be shared during the course of this Jubilee year.
Please go to the RESOURCES page for “ The Prayer Series – The Eucharist” to find out more and download the booklet which is available in three languages, English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa.
