Summer spiritual reading: Try the Gospels
Monday, June 20, 2011
Cheryl Whapham
In 2004, Msgr. Vincent Kelly, pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish and vicar of the Division of Christian Formation, wanted to do something to reintroduce the faithful to the riches of the Scriptures. He wanted it to be simple and accessible. That year, the Catholic Conversations on the Scriptures were born.
The Conversations consist of the Gospel reading, a brief commentary on the Gospel, a summary of three significant messages found in that particular Gospel, two questions for personal or group reflection and discussion, and connections to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Conversations are provided in English and Spanish, free of charge to every parish in the archdiocese, and they are posted on our archdiocesan website so everyone can have access to them.
Many thousands of people in the archdiocese have already been enjoying this resource for the last seven years. Thank you for sharing with me your stories of how you use the Catholic Conversations in your prayer life. It’s always spiritually uplifting for me to hear how you use the resource. So I thought it might be fun to use my blog this time to share with each other how we use the Catholic Conversations for prayer during the week. I know the men’s prayer group at St. John Neumann that meets once a week for breakfast reflects on the Gospel using the Conversations, and the staff at Archbishop Curley Notre Dame High School uses them for their prayer experience on a weekly basis, just to name a few.
How about the rest of you? We want to know what parish you’re from. Do you pray alone or with a group? At what time of day?
If you are new to this and just getting started, I will offer two quick suggestions. Always read the Gospel before you attend Mass on Sunday. Read it and pray about it, be familiar with it. That way when it’s proclaimed in the presence of the gathered assembly, you are not hearing it for the first time and you can really sink into the words that are being spoken. Part of our being spiritually prepared for Mass is to be familiar with the readings. During the week following the Sunday celebration, see how that Scripture comes alive in your life and in your heart. It’s just that simple.
I want to take this opportunity to thank the pastors who have been faithfully printing the Conversations in their bulletins each week and the bulletin editors who have worked with us as we scurry to make deadline each month. I also want to thank Adele Gonzalez, who was the first author of the Catholic Conversations, for her talent; and Msgr. Kelly, who is the source of all good ideas.
Comments from readers
Once again good reading. I pass these on every week to my fellow church goers and non-goers. Always with the hope of bringing someone back to church and back to God. I get lots of input back so I know everyone is reading them. Keep them coming!
Lisa
I use the Spanish version of the "Conversaciones Catolicas" to share with my Ministry "PAC", Parish Action Committee or Por Amor a Cristo. It is a ministry where we teach Stewardship; how to share our Time, Talents and Treasure with others. I have been using the conversations for the last year and a half, they are very good. I use the conversations as the base, and I add additional information making it sometimes almost two pages. The reason I add more is that given I have a Master in Pastoral Ministry I usually love to do additional research and add more history and/or information about that specific reading. I then send it to other units of our ministry in other parishes even outside the Archdiocese of Miami. Everyone benefits and I think it is great to not only read but to study the Word of God before we go to mass on Sunday. Thank you for your effort, it goes a long way!
Elizabeth