Go forth to love and serve ...

We finished up our clergy conference yesterday. I felt bad for Father, he was delayed in getting to Chicago from Washington, because of the blizzard, and yesterday (Wednesday) they were getting their second blizzard of the week. Most likely Father spent the night in St. Charles.

Anyway, after about two hours of sobering statistics, mass counts, active catholics, et al, we heard about some great parish based programs to enliven the parish. They sound real good and are not your typical cookie cutter cardboard box like programs. These are small faith sharing groups and are very basic.

A few years ago we did the Why Catholic program, which centered on the catechism, and involved faith sharing. I think that one of the difficulties was that some of our leaders needed more training and support. Wonderful people, full of love and dedication to their faith, but leading a group was overwhelming. These groups I think would would be gentler since they use the catechism to answer the really difficult questions, and are limited in their topic and duration.

I really wish we could do Theology On Tap still. Sometimes talking about faith and religion around beer, or double-chocolate cake and coffee, seems easier than in a classroom. The classroom can be too formal. But I think that my parish can look forward to Awakening Faith sometime in the Fall.