By: Renée Culverwell, Discipleship Lead
REASONS
There are at least twelve reasons I can think of for joining a Small Faith Sharing Group during Lent, but for this bulletin insert, I am happy to share three with you. The first reason to participate in a Small Group during Lent is Lent itself. During the season of Lent, we are called to:
PRAY more, PENANCE – give up something or do a loving action, and ALMSGIVING – give.
The way I see it, joining a Small Group takes care of all three. Let me explain, you will pray more WITH your Small Group and FOR the members of your group. When you join a Small Group, you will be giving up 90 minutes of your free time each week, a small sacrifice. You will also be doing a loving action because you will be asked to care for and be attentive to the members of your group. How will you give?
Well, there are several ways to give to your Small Group: you can offer to bring and say an opening or closing prayer, you can provide a snack for one of the meetings and/or you can give of yourself by sharing your faith and your life with the members of your group. Let me be clear, sharing your faith is different from preaching to your group. Small Group is not a place or platform to instruct others about the bible or telling people what they should believe; contrarily, sharing means that you’ve reflected on the questions and you are sharing your thoughts about your lived experience. It also means that you are listening and relating to the experiences shared by others in your group.
Another reason for joining a Small Group is to form new relationships. It’s wonderful to meet new people and even better when the new people you meet are faith filled like you. If you can make Faith Friends who you can share, increase and strengthen your faith with, imagine how much easier it will be to reach out to others. Let’s face it, sharing our faith takes practice. It may come easy to some people, but I’d be willing to bet that it is difficult for most people. Isn’t our mission to form disciples who reach out to all? Participating in Small Groups is a great way to start. I am continually seeking how to be a better disciple, reading a book with great strategies and listening to the thoughts of other faith filled people about how to be a better disciple is a great way to learn, improve and strive for more.
The book we are using is well designed to stimulate conversation because there is so much great content. The title of the book is “rebuilt Faith”, it has two subtitles: “40 Days to Uncover What Matters” and “A Handbook for Skeptical Catholics”. It is written by Father Michael White and his pastoral minister Tom Corcoran. Some may take offence about the second subtitle, but let’s be honest, everyone who is serious about faith is skeptical about something at sometime in their faith journey. The book is divided into six weeks with a small reading to complete each day. The wonderful themes in the book that you will receive are: Get to know Jesus, Serve, Give, Engage in Christian Community, Practice Prayer and Sacraments, and Share your Faith.
I really enjoyed the quotes, scripture, readings and reflection questions. This session of Small Groups is like a Catholic Book Club, how fun! However, we must remember that this book is just a tool to generate conversation and maybe conversion (a change or stirring in our heart), since there is a great deal of content, the goal isn’t to discuss every question.
After our Couples Small Group this fall, one of the participants wrote this on her feedback form:
“I learned so much from the book. I liked the way it was laid out always beginning with a passage from scripture with that theme carrying through the rest of the day. I liked the focus questions which enabled us to return to the content of the day and apply it to our own lives. Therefore it became more than just reading a text.” ~Mary Lou Wood
The last and most important reason for joining a small group, in my opinion, is that sharing our faith deepens our faith and our life. I love this quote from page 211 of the book we are using: “We help people meet Jesus not only because He makes our lives better but also because He makes us better at life.”
Every time I share my faith, whether it’s at a retreat, during Disciple’s Road, at a witness talk, in a classroom or in a small group, I feel that my faith grows. My convictions grow stronger and I realize and understand more. A Small Faith Group is a place where you can be strengthened and encouraged by other people’s faith. I hope you will join a Small Group this Lent!
Register here – SMALL GROUP REGISTRATION
