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The invitation of the Australian Bishops is to undertake a spiritual journey, a time of listening and prayer, a fresh encounter with Jesus.
The basis for the call by the Bishops to a Year of Grace – “to start afresh from
Christ”, “to contemplate the face of Christ” comes from Pope John Paul II and his
Apostolic Letter, Novo Millennio Ineunte (At the Beginning of the New
Millennium).
The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition , copyrighted 1989, 1993, by the Division of
Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, and are used by permission. All rights reserved.
F ORMATION P ROGRAMME 2012 “A Year of Grace”

ONTENTS
Foreword – Bishop Ronald Mulkearns
Format of Segments
Programme Segments
1 The Invitation of the Bishops
What are the Bishops asking of us?
2 The Challenge of 'Novo Millenio Ineunte'
Starting Afresh From Christ
3 A Year of Grace - An Overview
The shape of the Year of Grace
4 What is Grace?
“... by grace God abides in the just soul as in a temple...”
5 A Year of Grace and Prayer
“... by grace God abides in the just soul as in a temple...”
6 A Year of Grace and Scripture
“The Word of the Lord is living and active ...”
7 A Year of Grace and Liturgical Celebrations
The heart of Sunday, the Eucharist, is essential to a truly informed and consistent Christian life.
8 The Journey Thus Far
Recognising the times of Grace in our lives and how this can transform us and the Church.
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F ORMATION P ROGRAMME 2012 “A Year of Grace”

FORMATION PROGRAMME 2012
FOREWORD
In a letter to the Catholic people of Australia, written on behalf of all the Bishops of Australia by Archbishop Wilson, President of the Australian Catholic Bishops
Conference, Archbishop Wilson wrote: "We call the Catholic people in Australia to a Year of Grace, to span the time from Pentecost 2012 to Pentecost 2013.
Like the disciples at the first Pentecost, we commit ourselves to start afresh from
Christ."
Noting that Pope Benedict XVI has also proclaimed a Year of Faith for the whole Church, to begin on 11th October, 2012, the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Council, the Archbishop wrote: "We are confident that, with grace leading to faith and faith responding to grace, the Year of Faith and our Year of Grace will complement each other."
With this background it is obvious that the Formation Programme for the
Knights of the Southern Cross this year must be part of the response of the
Catholics of Australia to this call from the Bishops to "start afresh from Christ".
I pray that it will be helpful to the Knights themselves and to the work of the
Order.
Again I am indebted to Sister Anne McMillan, Director of the Pastoral Ministry
Office of the Diocese of Ballarat for her generous work in putting this
Programme together.
Bishop Ronald A Mulkeams
National Chaplain.
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F ORMATION P ROGRAMME 2012 “A Year of Grace”

FORMAT OF PRAYER SEGMENTS
(20
MINS
)
1.
2.
OPENING PRAYERS
 Opening Prayers from the Order Prayers for Meetings of the Order.
PRAYER FOCUS
 Each segment will address a theme taken from the Order Prayers and the Objects of the Order.
3.
3. THE WORD
 The Word of God and related reading from Church documentation is proclaimed.
This is read by the discussion leader or member/s nominated by him.
4. REFLECTION
 Silent reflection on the Word of God and other readings. (5 mins.)
5. THE SHARING
 Members share their reflection on the Word and responses to discussion points. (10 mins.)
6. CLOSING PRAYERS
 Closing Prayer as in the Order Prayers for Meetings of the Order.
Points for Successful Formation Programmes
1.
Choose a formation leader for the year so that someone is responsible for the facilitation of the segment.
2. These formation segments require each participant to ideally have his own copy of the
Readings, therefore a copy of the Session should be provided for each member at the each meeting.
Abide strictly to the allotted time; not less than twenty nor more than thirty minutes.
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F ORMATION P ROGRAMME 2012 “A Year of Grace”