Weekly HOMILY for September 27, 2009: The Fourth Year of "Why Catholic?"

Let Us Pray…
The Fourth Year of “Why Catholic?”


We are about to begin our fourth and final year of the Why Catholic? program. Many parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore have been participating in this small-group learning experience for adult Catholics which is based upon the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC). Each year, the program has focused on one of the four sections of the CCC:

1. What We Believe (The Creed)

2. How We Celebrate (The Liturgy)

3. How We Live our Faith (Morality)

4. How We Pray

This is how the program works: each year, small groups of adults meet for six weeks in the Fall and again for six weeks during Lent. They use a booklet which gives quotes from the Catechism, explanations of the topic, reflection and discussion questions and prayers.

Anyone is welcome to participate in the groups, which meet either at church or in parishioner’s homes each week for 90 minutes. It does not matter if you participated in previous years or not. The six weekly sessions will meet starting the week of October 11th and ending the week of November 15th. Here at Our Lady of Grace, we have six groups that will meet at various times and locations, including one group that will meet on Sunday mornings for one hour while children are in Religious Education from 10:15 to 11:15. Parents, this is a great opportunity to learn something about your faith during that hour that you are waiting for your children. The title of the booklet for this year is: CHRISTIAN PRAYER: Deepening My Experience of God.

Sessions 1-6
This is the final book in the Why Catholic? series; it responds to the deep hunger felt and expressed in many ways by our society.

The first six sessions explain and invite participants to reflect and share our understanding and experience of prayer.

Prayer in the scriptures: the sessions
focus on Mary and Jesus as our teachers of prayer, a variety of forms of prayer, on different sources, and ways of prayer.

Guidelines for prayer will all be explored.

Personal experience: in these sessions not only will members have opportunities to recall how they were taught to pray as children, but to share how they have grown in prayer; to what and to whom they attribute the invitation to grow.

Opportunities: This could be an opportunity to learn what different cultures bring to prayer; how culture and society influences the way one comes to God in prayer.

St Paul wrote to the fledgling Christian community in Thessalonica, “Pray without ceasing.” How do we do this in the midst of a busy life? Christian Prayer will help the members to grow into a stance constant prayer and union with God.

Following are the available groups – please contact me to join by October 4th:

Sunday 10:15 – 11:15am
OLG Education Center

Sunday 7:30 – 9:00 pm
Parishioner’s Home

Sunday 7:30 – 9:00 pm
Parishioner’s Home

Tuesday 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Parishioner’s Home

Tuesday 6:30 – 8:00 pm
OLG Education Center

Wednesday 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Parishioner’s Home

Blessings,
Sister Mary Therese