Christ Renews His Parish
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Christ Renews His Parish |
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The Second Vatican Council not only took a long look
at our faith, it also evaluated how we, the ordained and laity are to
contribute to and be evangelizers of the faith. It had not been
since the early church in the first millennium that the laity was given
such a charge to be a living part of the faith. The documents of
Vatican II talk about this new life in three phases. There is the
one true Catholic, Apostolic Church. In a world wide sense this
can include some of the laity such as the national secretariats of the
Worldwide Cursillo Movement but would usually be populated by the
Bishops and the College of Cardinals. It is the collection of all
the dioceses in the world. The next level is the diocese.
There are a lot more laity involved in this level as well as the priests
and deacons coming together in Christ at the diocesan level. One
of the lay movements that operates partially in this level is Cursillo
from which came many movements including Christ Renews His Parish.
The third level is at the parish and it is here that Christ Renews His Parish was created to bring a new awakening to a parish community to help make it a community of the living faith. While the renewal weekend is a formative experience, there is no formal teaching for the retreatants who are making the journey. Instead, the teaching is accomplished through the experiences of others as they give witness to their lives as it pertains to the area of focus for that particular portion of the weekend. Christ Renews His Parish is a basic, center of the road journey. There is no effort, nor should there be, to try and "touch" everything in which some people in the church are involved. Christ Renews His Parish is Christ Centered. With Christ in the lead, our journey will go down the correct path. The path does go beyond the weekend but what is important to remember is that what happens beyond the weekend is up to God and the call he places in your heart comes in second. The primary challenge is taking your next first step into the rest of your life in Christ. The weekend is that first step and He has his arms open to welcome you. |
You are as close to God as you want to be!