January 25th, 2020
8:30 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.
St. Agnes, Fowlerville
855 E. Grand River Ave. 48836
Cost:
$35 for Kerygma Encounter
$15 per Individual Workshop
$10 Lunch
Schedule:
8:30 - Check-in
9:00 - 10:45 - Session One
11:00 - 12:45 - Session Two
Lunch ($10)
1:30 - 3:15 - Session Three
Workshop Descriptions
Kerygma Encounter 9:00 – 3:30
Kerygma Encounter is a day spent with our loving God; Father, Son, and Spirit, going deep into the heart of the saving promise of God, fulfilled in the Gospel of Jesus.
The day is spent in quiet listening, and gentle rejoicing: listening to the essential Gospel proclaimed in brief talks, listening to the Lord speak directly to you throughout the day's many silent prayer times, including Eucharistic Adoration, sharing joy with each other in opportunities for quiet conversation. All of this infused and enlivened with the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit.
If you haven't experienced Kerygma Encounter yet, this is the very next step (or the very first step!) on your path to Catechist certification!
Session 1 9:00 – 10:45
The Deposit of Faith: An Intro to the Catechism
Please bring a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Throughout the generations, the Word of God has been handed on as a precious jewel, so that the saving message of hope might shine out for all to see. Now it is up to us. It is our turn to hand on this jewel, unscathed. The term catechesis comes from two Greek words meaning, “to echo down,” reflecting the call to us to “echo down,” the whole of the faith in its saving fullness. This Deposit of Faith is summed up for our times in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. We will look at this important teaching tool for catechesis in this workshop, to discover how we, too, can effectively pass on the precious deposit of Christian teaching.
Christ: His Person & His Works
He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is in all, before all, through all. The primary and essential object of catechesis is, to use an expression dear to St. Paul, “the mystery of Christ.” (CT 5) Therefore everyone who teaches the Catholic faith must be immersed in this mystery. Using Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as well as recent ecclesial documents, this workshop will present the key doctrines that must be taught concerning Jesus Christ. By examining Jesus’ actions in Scripture, His relationships, and His ways of teaching, we will help catechists unlock the mysteries of Christ, His Incarnation, Redemption, and Second Coming.
Session 2 11:00 – 12:45
Essential Link Between Liturgy and Catechesis
This workshop will explore the necessary connection of catechesis to the sacramental and liturgical life of the Church in our work as catechists. The liturgy comes from the “living memory” of the Church, that is, the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit working in the liturgy, the truths of the faith are passed on, like a special family memory, from generation to generation, to the present day. Each time we participate in the liturgy we receive the treasure of the Deposit of Faith. But the liturgy is more than a family heirloom – it is reality, the place in which “Christ Jesus works in fullness for the transformation of human beings” (CT 23). As catechists, we have a call, the privilege of assuring that those we catechize understand and grow in appreciation for this encounter with God. We bring others into God’s saving work in the liturgy so they too can become transformed by He who loves us fully. We teach about the liturgy to pass on the magnificent inheritance of faith to the next generation, echoing the action of catechists from the centuries before us.
The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Church father St. Jerome said that, “To others grace was given in measure, but into Mary was poured the whole fullness.” Daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son, Spouse of the Spirit, the Blessed Virgin has a profoundly unique place in the Mystical Body. She is the first and pre-eminent member of the Church, the model par excellence of faith, hope, and love for all Christians. She is the mirror-image of the Church’s unfailing holiness as virgin-spouse of the Word. This workshop looks at what God revealed to the Church about our Lady, and how those truths form us under her Motherhood as faithful disciples.
Session 3 1:30 – 3:15
Pedagogy of Revelation & Response of Faith
“In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son” (Heb 1:1-2). Revelation means to pull back the veil. It is God’s method of manifesting a bit of Himself, allowing us time to absorb it and respond, before He shows a bit more; and the process repeats. Because the work of catechesis is oriented towards conversion, the catechist needs to understand clearly how a person gets faith, grows in faith, and loses faith. This workshop delves in the sacred pattern of God’s methodology – how He reaches out to us, and how He calls us and enables us to freely respond.
Holy Spirit, Converter of Hearts
How do we keep our focus on serving the Holy Spirit’s plan and empowerment, and not our own ways and human strength? Pope Paul VI wrote, “techniques of evangelization are good, but even the most advanced ones could not replace the gentle action of the Spirit” (Evangelii Nuntandi 75). No one responds to the gospel without first being drawn by the Holy Spirit, and no one can live the high calling of the Christian life without being empowered by the Holy Spirit. When we forget that outreach is a work of God, we burn-out. This workshop explores who the Holy Spirit is and His work in personal conversion and our accepting with joy the gift of the fullness of the Catholic Church.