Vatican II
We’ve Only Just Begun!
…in the Archdiocese of Atlanta
Today
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Two goals:
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To convince you to teach about Vatican II in
all your parish or school programs.
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50th Anniversary just beginning
Year of Faith
To talk about the Universal Call to Holiness
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How can we help parishioners hear the call?
How can we help them respond to it?
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Also
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Two sets of resources:
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The Vatican II Center materials
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Resources for every age and stage
Affordable and mostly reproducible
In English or Spanish
Come to the Table │ Ven a la Mesa
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Small group faith formation
Dynamite
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Conversation
What do you remember
(or what have you been told)
about the Church
on the eve of Vatican II?
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Always use an editor!
Check it twice!
The Low Self Esteem support group
will meet Thursday at 7 PM.
Please use the back door!
When you arrive late for Mass,
please wait in the vestibule.
The Ushers will eat you.
The women’s Bible study meets
Tuesday after the morning Mass.
Breakfast will be served
after the B.S. is over.
This being Easter, the members
of the Rosary Society will each
come forward…
…and lay an egg on the altar!
Youth basketball program notes:
Come and watch Mary,
Mother of the Church
kill Christ the King!
OK
Let’s get to work…
Church history
325
JC
The
Founding
Period
Encounter
with Christ
A life of
discipleship
See how they love
one another
Catechumenate
Enthusiastic
faith!
1517
Today
Your mission statement
The Reformation
As disciples and
believers in our
reforms
Religious
orders
Lord andCarolingian
Savior
Jesus
Christ,
Lateran Councils
Movements
we proclaim the good among
newsclergy
and
&
laity
grow
in
faith,
hope,
love,
and
Baptism with no formation
Less
personal faith
– others.
decided by the local ruler
service
to
More “membership”
Under Constantine
Rapid growth in ever-larger parishes
Minimum “obligations” – threat of Hell
Conversion
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Church history
325
1959
JC
The
Founding
Period
Today
John XXIII
a new vision
ecumenical in
spirit & scope
filled with hope
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Blessed John XXIII
The Council?
I expect a little fresh air from it.
We must become a church of pastors,
not a society of rulers.
We must shake off the imperial dust
that has accumulated on the throne
of St. Peter since Constantine.
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Church history
325
1517
JC
The
Founding
Period
Today
1959
John XXIII
Ressourcement:
Return to the sources
and let them teach you.
Recovering elements of the Church
which had been lost to history
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Church history
325
1517
JC
Today
The
Founding
Period
1959
John XXIII
Aggiornamento:
Read the signs of the times
and bring yourself up to date!
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
How the Council worked:
325
1517
JC
Today
The
Founding
Period
1958
John XXIII
Doctrine develops:
Allow the development or
evolution of church teaching
Dei Verbum #8
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
How the Council worked:
325
Ressourcement
1517
JC
Today
The
Founding
Period
Doctrine develops
Aggiornamento
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
The Universal Call to
Holiness
What was
recovered?
The
Call to an Encounter
with Christ
36
From the early centuries
The Mass
Baptism
Scripture - People of the Word
Church - People of God
Ecumenism
The Catechumenate (RCIA)
Work for Justice
And, the BIGGEE
Personal experience of Christ
It is a response to God’s
summons to us – God’s call
It is rooted in self-giving love,
dying to ourselves as Christ did
Pope John’s question:
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How could a church
so completely entrenched in the model
which emerged in the 4th Century,
a model retained by both the Council of
Trent and the First Vatican Council
renew itself for these times?
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
In the words of John XXIII

“Our soul was illumined
by a great idea
which we felt in that instant
and received with indescribable trust
in the Divine Master.
A word solemn and binding rose to our lips:
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‘A Council!’”
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PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Jan 25, 1959
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At St Paul Outside the Walls
Pope John & 17 Cardinals
After Evening Prayer…
3 little announcements:
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A Synod for the Diocese of
Rome
A Commission to revise Canon
Law
An Ecumenical Council of the
Universal Church,

Basilica San Paolo
Fuori le Mura
with all Christians invited as
observers
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Jan 25, 1959
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“Humanly we could have
expected
that the cardinals
after hearing our
allocution
might have crowded
around to express
approval and good
wishes…
Instead there was a
devout and impressive
silence…”
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
The idea of the Council
did not ripen in me
as the fruit of long
meditation but came forth
like the flower of an
unexpected spring.
Blessed John XXIII
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
The Speech
Oct 11, 1962
Opening Mass of the Council
Tridentine Latin Mass
Only a few received communion
Most said “private Masses” that
morning
People were chatting, comingand-going, feeling boredom &
fatigue
Opening Speech of John XXIII
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Expressed optimism about how God is
leading the Church
Stepped away from those who wanted
condemnations
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“We demonstrate the validity of our teaching
rather than condemning others.”
“We prefer to use the medicine of mercy
rather than that of severity”
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Opening Speech of John XXIII
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Drew a distinction between:
Authentic traditions
in harmony with the inner nature
of the church and her sacraments
and
Dated routine
added at some point in history
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
For example
Authentic tradition
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Bread and wine at the
Eucharist
Water at Baptism
The ancient prayers of
the liturgy
Assembling and praying
on the Lord’s day
Dated routine
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Latin
Benediction
Precise formulas of prayer
or actions
Praying devotions and
rosaries during Mass
The communion rail cloth
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Opening Speech of John XXIII
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Doctrine develops over time
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Not all that the Gospel demands of us has yet
been fully revealed to us (John XXIII)
Distinction between:
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Revealed truth - which does not change
The language in which we express it - which
must change in every generation in order to
remain true
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Council procedures
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Latin would be the language
Voting was by punch card
Speakers were given 10 minutes

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But had to submit ahead in writing
In Latin
The Pope was not in the Hall
Very few lay people & no women were
present in the beginning
Turning Points
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The Cardinal Lienart intervention
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Oct 13 1962, the first full day
Cardinal Frings seconded the motion
Immediate and full applause!
Daily liturgy in various rites of the
Church
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Not all of them use Latin!
Turning Points
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The accidental seating plan in the hall
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By date of appointment
The bishops interacting with each other
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Illegal rooftop parties
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Which followed evening lectures
Including women religious, seminarians, the
press, & non-Catholics
The Dei Verbum intervention
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The majority exercised its will
Turning Points
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Nov 14, 1962
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Test vote on Liturgy
Passed with only 46 “no” votes
A clear message that the majority was
large and intent on recovering elements of
the faith which had been lost to the
centuries.
The Crowds in the Piazza
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Aware of the proceedings
Prayer and singing
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Veni Creator Spiritus
The whole church mingled together
The world was watching
The bishops knew this
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It brought them together
The Council
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The bishops of the world were the heroes of
Vatican II
16 official documents
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4 great constitutions
9 decrees & 3 declarations
No one was condemned
No new doctrines were defined
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
4 Great Constitutions
Divine
Revelation
Liturgy
The
Church
Dei Verbum
Sacrosanctum
Concilium
Lumen Genitum
Approved
Approved
Approved
2344 to 6
2147-4
2151-5
The Church
in the
Modern
World
Gaudium & Spes
Approved
2309-75
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Why teach about Vatican II?
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The Holy Spirit really moved the Church
during the Council!
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We are living in the age when the Spirit is
bringing new energy to us all
We can’t ignore this
This is what it means to be Catholic

You really can’t skip it
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Why teach about the Council?

We all want our young learners to grow
up Catholic
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To become active members of the Church
The Council provides us with many tools
This is how God is saving the world
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Our task is quite simple:
Cooperate and do our part
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
How do you teach about it?
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3 Principles
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This is only a unit in your existing program
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Help your learners see what happened
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Don’t try to create a complete curriculum
It’s a great story
And the outcomes are essential
Teach the spirituality of the Council
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I’m gonna show this to you in my 2nd half today
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Vatican II Resources
To teach about the Council
&
implement it more fully
For your own reading
The Documents
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Vatican Council II
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Austin Flannery OP
Gender inclusive
Easy-to-read
translation
Dominican Pubs
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
The documents
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Vatican II in Plain
English
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Bill Huebsch
The story of the Council
A summary of each doc
Available from
PastoralPlanning.com
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
For the parish -- eResources
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Study Guide for Vatican II in
Plain English
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14 sessions
eResource
Each is its own handout
Includes an outline of the
history of the church
culminating in the Council
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
The theology
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Richard Gaillardetz &
Catherine Clifford
Lit Press
Strong reflection on each of 20
conciliar passages
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Gives historical background
And the provenance of the doc
Plus pastoral perspective
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
The theology
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What Happened at Vatican II?
John W O’Malley
Harvard Univ Press
Brief, readable account of
what happened in Rome
during the Council
Tells “the story” very well
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
The History of Vatican II
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Edited by Giuseppe Alberigo
and Joseph Komonchak
Orbis books
5 volumes, each about $80
A basis for scholarship today
But a tough read
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
The story of the Council
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From Xavier Rynne
Francis Xavier Murphy
Redemptorist priest
Reporter inside the
Council
The inside story (the
gossip?) of Vatican II
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
What I’m reading right now
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Yves Congar’s Journal
A key (the most influential and
effective?) theologian at the Council
Penetrating insights
Paul Philibert’s essay on the
intégristes – worth the price of the
book
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
From David Haas
Be Love - the prayer used each day at the
Council
Abide, O Spirit of Life – from John XXIII’s
opening speech
By David Haas │ Published by GIA
How to teach about…
Teaching about this in the parish
The Story & Promise
of Vatican II
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
eResources – K-8

Lesson plans for
young Catholics
Ages 6-8
 Ages 9-11
The resource
 includes:
Ages 12-14
Older students use
Reproducible lessons
the Workshop kits
A teacher’s guide

PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
eResources – youth & adults
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También en español
Three workshop
kits* on Vatican II:
The Story & Promise
of the Council
The kits include:
 The Documents &
PowerPoint (optional)
Outcomes
Talking points
Handouts
 The Reform of the
Prayer service & full outline
Sacraments
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PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
eResources – youth & adults
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Study Guides for the
4 Constitutions
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eResource
Each with 5 small
group sessions in it
Works with any
translation of the
Documents
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
For the parish -- eResources

52 Did you
Know…about
Vatican II?
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JPG files
Quick facts
Use them
throughout the
parish all year!
También en español
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
eResource Handouts
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12 Handouts on themes
of the Council
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eResource
To accompany workshops
Or to use in meetings
Excellent for classroom
use
También en español
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
For the parish -- eResources
También en español
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Communal Prayer
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16 in the words of John
XXIII
18 in the words of the
Council
Ready to reproduce and
use in the parish or
school!
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
eResources – for parish leaders
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9 Implementation
Worksheets
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Hand to committees
or the Council
Ask them to come
back with new ideas
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Universal Call
Participatory Liturgy
Ecumenism
Baptism
Domestic Church
Justice & peace
Conscience
Mary & the saints
Church as the People
of God
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
For the parish -- eResources

Vatican II Syllabus
with 16 PowerPoints
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For high school,
college, or grad
level
Ideal for use with
O’Malley’s book +
Plain English
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
In sum
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Teach about Vatican II
For parishioners of all ages
Don’t make it complicated
Avoid handing out books
The best way to teach about the Council is
to implement it
This is our time
Pause
Spirituality of Vatican II
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At the Council
This theme emerged…
The Universal Call to Holiness
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Chapter 5, the Constitution on the Church
But what does this mean?
How can we live in holiness?
How can we lead others to holiness?
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Constitution on the Church
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Lumen Gentium – chapter 5
We are called to holiness by Christ
We transform the activities & events
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of every day life
into holy moments
Everyone is called to be holy (#40)
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
The Call to Holiness
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We’ll consider 3 aspects of holiness
as the Council saw them
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Knowing Christ as a person
Learning how to join in his dying & rising
Becoming the Body of Christ for the world
Also: How can we invite parishioners to
deepen their own holiness?
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Your Mission
First
Spirituality of Vatican II
Dei Verbum 2
Constitution on Revelation
We meet
the Person of Jesus Christ
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Dei Verbum 2
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Constitution on Divine Revelation
Article 2:
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God reveals God’s own self to us
Calling us to draw near to God
Addressing us as his friends
Living among us
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Revealing an intimate truth: Jesus Christ
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PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
A shift in focus
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God did not reveal a theology system
Or a moral code
God revealed God’s own self
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In the very person of Jesus Christ
God comes to us as a person
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And this requires a relationship to a person
Not merely the ability to recite creeds or know
theology
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
A shift in focus
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It’s the difference between knowing about
someone and actually relating to him or
her
If you saw someone across the piazza
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Even if I told you who they were
And even if you could see them at that
distance…
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Before the Council
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Our faith was in theological ideas
Memorized answers in catechism books
We believed in the rules
And sometimes in a sort of magic
We had faith in the Church
Today we are invited to have faith in
Christ himself, who leads us to the Church
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
A story… (for example)
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Herman
Catholic his whole life
Mass every Sunday
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$2 in the collection
Paid for a new window
His wife – Alzheimer’s
When he told his story, he saw the miracle
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
In parish life
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How can a parish help people encounter
Christ?
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Small group faith formation
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Parish-based retreats
Group reflection on shared experiences
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Including Scripture, prayer, and sharing
Called mystagogia
Teach people to pause and be conscious
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Meeting Christ
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Certainly textbooks can help…
But sometimes you have to just put down
the book.
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What’s needed is not there
It’s in your heart
How does someone meet Christ?
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Meeting Christ

By meeting YOU & others:
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Your generous spirit with them
They see you being forgiving
They can tell that your faith is important
Recently some friends…

Live your faith convincingly
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
The Question is…
When you meet Christ in another,
what is it you really see?
What are the SIGNS
that Christ is present in someone’s life?
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
The research is in
Helping members of the parish
learn to really LIVE their faith
requires small group
faith formation
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Living Christ retreats
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Thursday & Friday evening and
Saturday morning
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Or another schedule format
About 30 folks per retreat
Leaders and host team from parish
Deepen communion with Christ

Grow in your ability to “die in Christ”
www.ThePastoralCenter.com
Living Christ retreats
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Use YOUR leaders
Do not make this complicated
Start with those in your parish who are
already evangelized through Cursillo or other
retreats
Provide follow up
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Questions of the Week
Mini-Course gatherings
Be ready with follow up pastoral care
Small group faith formation
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Come to the Table
y Ven a la Mesa
Conversations about
faith - with a heart
for folks from other
faith traditions
Welcoming and
engaging!
Talking about faith

We don’t really like to do it

But it is the way we grow


So this helps people do it without irritating
or frightening them
The design is brilliant:
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Come to the Table
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No books to buy
No major training is needed to do this
People sign up for 3 or 6 week sessions
 I know this is the TOUGH PART
Each participant gets one worksheet for
each small group session
The leader gets a full guide
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
How to invite

A lot of people in today’s world are talking
about religion
With apologies
to them?
Shouldn’t we Catholics be among
Mr. Dickens
An hour per week: happiness
for the rest of


your life

We have to have Great Expectations
Higher Expectations

Parish life

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
But do this
without
Come to Mass now and then
annoying
A little in the collection
plate people
Possibly more at Easter
Start asking for more

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Don’t quit or take “no” for an answer
In 2 years, you will have a new parish
People will expect to participate more fully
What works

Use a resource that expects participation

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Let people express their true beliefs
Make it fun
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No one wants to listen to a lecture
How did religion get to be so grim?
Keep it short – about an hour
Make it part & parcel of parish life
7 themes: Come to the Table
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Catholic Liturgy and Ritual
Catholic Beliefs that Guide us
Living a Deeply Fulfilled Life – morality
The Amazing Gift of Prayer
How God Speaks to us
The Mystery of God
How we Become the People of God
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Out to the Highways & Hedgerows
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A plan for the parish
Ask the active members to
speak of their faith to the
inactive
The new evangelization
made plain & practical!
PowerPoint, handouts,
everything needed
Includes a flier: “How to
Speak about Faith (without
being annoying)”
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Setting the Table
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A kick-off event for the
Year of Faith
Set in the context of a meal
Includes a demo of a small
group session

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Get off to a great start!
Also one for young adults
Plus: training to reach out
& welcome the inactive
using Highways &
Hedgerows
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Tidbits from the Table


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For busy parents to help
them talk with their own
kids about faith
One-fold fliers which you
print
Quick, attractive, practical
and full of “coaching for
young parents”
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
All of these resources


Very affordable
All are in eFormat


Meaning you get the files
And you print your own

Changeable and flexible

Full of faith – from a team that wants
only to help you do this well.
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Your Mission
Second
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Spirituality of Vatican II
Sacrosanctum Concilium 6
Constitution on Liturgy
We are “plunged into”
the Paschal Mystery
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Sacrosanctum Concilium 6


Constitution on Sacred Liturgy
Article 6:

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
Christ sent his followers to preach the Gospel
Which is that we are set free by the dying of Jesus
Christ willed that the work of salvation would
continue through sacrifice & sacrament
Hence, by baptism, we are immersed in the
dying and rising of Christ
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Who wants to die?

We avoid dying, don’t we?
And yet… nothing else makes us happy.
Very strange

One might even say mysterious

We may put too much value on life
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Jesus gave up his life, after all
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Psalm 63: 1, 3a
O God, you are my God, I seek you,
my soul thirsts for you;
My flesh faints for you
as in a dry and weary land
where there is no water…
Because your steadfast love
is better than life…
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Better than life?
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The one thing more important than life is
giving your life away in love
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Sacrifice
Shedding one’s own self (John XXIII)
Paschal Mystery
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Paschal = sacrifice of the lamb
Mystery = how Jesus taught us this would
happen
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This is “healthy” dying
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Personal sacrifice on behalf of another
Aware that human suffering is part of the
picture
But letting that lead us to really DONATE
ourselves
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God acts in our sacrifice
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As God acted in Jesus’ sacrifice
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
The power of story
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One of the gifts of the restored RCIA
Stories “reveal” the hand of God in our
lives
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We usually see this “after the fact”
Stories are communal by their nature
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There is a teller
And a listener
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Back to Herman
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When he finally told his story
A miracle happened
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It happened to Herman
But it also happened to you today
To implement Vatican II
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We help people tell their stories
In a setting which leads to meaning
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Conversation
What miracles have you witnessed?
(Name something
from the very recent weeks.)
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
In the parish
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How can we help folks
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understand this?
grow in their ability to die to self?
Especially for households
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for the sake of marriage│friends│families?
and just for the sake of being happy?
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Your Mission
Third
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Spirituality of Vatican II
Lumen Gentium 7
Dogmatic Constitution
on the Church
We are the Body of Christ
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Lumen Gentium 7
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Constitution on the Church
Article 7
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By joining us to himself
Christ changes us into a family
We see ourselves as the Body of Christ
We become what we receive
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We become ever-more the Body of Christ
Called from every nation
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What we believe
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These people –
who are they?
They belong to us…
…because they
belong to Christ.
They are our sisters
and brothers
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The Incarnation
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A key dimension of Christian theology
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The Incarnation
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God is in the flesh
We don’t like this
It makes us uncomfortable
We prefer to keep God at a safe distance
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Up in heaven
Or over in Wisconsin…
Having flesh is messy
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
The body of Christ
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But this is the core of our belief
The Incarnation did not end at the
Resurrection
It was not a 33 year divine experiment
God is still among us in the flesh
Christ still lives within and among us
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
There is always a temptation…
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To make religion more pure
To try to dwell among the angels
To spend our time tinkering with rubrics
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…the formula of words we pray
… who gets to play what role in our rituals
This takes us away from the nitty-gritty of real
faith
Real faith is in the flesh…
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or it’s not of Christ (1 John 4:1-2)
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Who is the body of Christ?
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This is the core of all
spirituality
We are the Body of
Christ
At Mass, we accept
& internalize
The Body of Christ:
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The Body of Christ…
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…is hungry today
There is a lot of
personal sacrifice
…can’t get a good education
involved
…has a high infant mortality
rate here.
…has AIDS and cancer
…lives in poor housing and drinks bad water
…is treated with injustice
We act because we believe.
We have no other choice.
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Conversation
What does receiving
Holy Communion
call us to do for the world?
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In sum…
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We encounter Christ
We join in his paschal mystery
We hear his voice echo in our depths
And we become his Body today
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feeding the poor
loving the vulnerable
and being Christ for the world
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
The Call to Holiness
Dei Verbum 2
Constitution on Revelation
Sacrosanctum Concilium 6
Constitution on Liturgy
The Person of Jesus Christ
The Paschal Mystery
Lumen Gentium 7
Dogmatic Constitution
on the Church
The Body of Christ
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Finally
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Thank you for all you are doing
We are the Church of the Baptized
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And you share in the priesthood of Christ
Teach about Vatican II
Help people live out the holiness
to which each is called
Amen.
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center