Slide presentation from November 2017 St. Monica "Sacrament Saturday"

1. Parish of St. Monica
“Sacrament Saturday”

2. Topics Today
 Opening Prayer
 Current View of the Catholic Church
 Issues and Explanation
 Approaches and Resources
 Suggestions and Q&A

3.  Lord Jesus Christ,
 We thank you for having called us together here.
We offer you what we are called to do …
as the People of God - of the Parish of St. Monica
for your greater glory
and the coming of your Kingdom.
 Grant that we may begin this time
a spirit of hope and anticipation,
 and that you will guide and feed our minds,
our hearts and souls in the day ahead...
in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

4. Whose in the Pews?
 30%
 38%
 32%
 -----------
 100%
 Americans raised Catholic & are “practicing”
 = Attend Mass once/month
 ½ of these are at Mass any given weekend
 Hold on to their Catholic Identity but seldom/never attend Mass
 No longer consider themselves Catholic 

5. And Whose not …
“32% No longer consider themselves Catholic “
• 3% - Part of a non-Christian faith
• 14% - Unaffiliated
• 15% - Part of some Protestant faith tradition
• =600 St. Monica Parishioners
• Compare: 800 at Mass/weekend

6. Issues:
Protestant / Evangelicals:
 Highly attuned to spiritual mobility of
Postmodern Americans
 Constantly consider how to reach out
to them.
 Conviction: every person has a personal
decision to make!
 Personal relationship with Christ
 i.e. “getting saved”
Catholics:
 Assume religious identity is largely
inherited.
 Faith can be passed down through
Catholic Schools, PREP, youth programs,
etc…
 Assume religious practice remains stable
throughout one’s life.

7. Issues:
 CCD, Youth Groups, Catholic Grade- High School make little/no difference
whether or not American teen stays Catholic.
 “Eucharist” will not bring them back.
 Sacraments for “their children” will not bring them back.
 Since Renaissance, Catholic church highly Influenced by
power of education
 Strategy was:
 Childhood Catechesis
 Sacramental Initiation
Implications for
current practice at St.
Monica?

8. Kerygma: The Faith Journey
Pre-Evangelization (Get
Them Curious First)
Evangelization
Relationship Here)
Next, Deepen & Form
The Relationship
Catechesis (Teach
Deeper Here)
In Religious Education: WE’VE REVERSED THE ORDER!
We Catechized FIRST –
THEN Sacramentalized –
THEN Evangelized (maybe?)
We Should Evangelize FIRST –
THEN Sacramentalize –
THEN Catechize

12. In The Past: Catered to Silos
Evangelizatio Sacramental Catechesis Service Other..

13. Pre-
Trust
Trust
Curious
Open
Seeking
Disciple
Apostle
Catechesis Only
Effective Here
“Apologetics”
Necessary Here
Delivery Towards: Evangelization – Encounter- Formation – Discipleship ?
………
Where is “small group” (or other approaches) effective? Appropriate?

14. Sacrament Saturday
“Selected Resources”

15. Selected Resources: TEENS, YOUTH, CONFIRMATION
.

16. Selected Resources:
CONFIRMATION
Chosen from
Ascension Press

17. Selected Resources: FIRST
PENANCE / COMMUNI0N
Blessed from
Dynamic Catholic
(Matthew Kelly)
Brand New
This Year!

18. Selected Resources:
CHILDREN LECTIONARY-BASED SCRIPTURE STUDY
Gospel Weeklies -
Pflaum

19. Practical Formation
1. What working in YOUR FAMILY?
1. Prayer
2. Instruction
3. Practical
4. Pastoral
2. Any “best practices”
3. Resources:
1. Blogs & web sites
2. Conferences and books
3. Other

20. “Sacrament Saturday”
Questions & Answers

21. “Sacrament Saturday”
Summary and Evaluation