3. Lord Jesus Christ,
We thank you for having called us together here.
We offer you what we are about to undertake,
everything we think, do and experience
during these coming days in your honor.
We also offer you any fatigue of this day,
from the various events of the past week,
because this - too - is our “daily bread.”
Grant that we may begin this retreat
with a spirit of hope and anticipation
That you will feed our hearts and souls in the days ahead...
in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
7. “Faith impels us to read and
discern the signs of the times
in the present history.”
Porta Fidei, Pope Benedict XVI, 2012
8. Preamble
“(The current times) should prove a stimulus to the Church:
To increase its vitality,
To take stock of itself,
To give careful consideration to the signs of the times,
Always and everywhere ‘proving all things and holding fast
that which is good.’"
(Ecclesiam Suam, Encyclical by Paul VI “On The Church,” 1964 )
9. Preamble
And….how do we discern this? (next slide)
In other words, the Church asks:
Where were we? …….. (Past)
Where are we? ……… (Present)
Where are we going? .. (Future)
What’s good? ……….. (Keep or make better)
What’s not? …………. (Change or discard)
11. Reading the “Signs of the Times”
As a Church, where do we see:
An increase in vitality?
The Church taking stock of itself?
The Church giving careful consideration to the
signs of the times?
“Holding fast that which is good"
12. Reading the “Signs of the Times”
As a Church, where do we NOT see:
An increase in vitality?
The Church taking stock of itself?
The Church giving careful consideration to the
signs of the times?
“Holding fast that which is good"
13. Reading the “Signs of the Times”
As a BELIEVER:
Where do you see an increase in vitality in you life?
How are your taking stock of yourself?
Who helps you give careful consideration to the
signs of the times?
What is good in your life to which you are, and
should be, “holding fast?”
14. Reading the “Signs of the Times”
As a BELIEVER, where does there need
to be conversion/redemption:
What areas of your life are lacking vitality?
What areas of your life have not been examined?
(“Taking stock of yourself”)
Whom do you still need to consult to give
“careful consideration to the signs of the times?”
What is NOT good in your life onto which you are
still “holding fast?”
15. Questions:
What is this that we’re doing?
Why is this important?
What saint is famous for this process?
Extra Credit:
What religious order did he found?
What book did he write?
What Pope is a member of this order?
17. “They asked him, „What must we do
to do the works of God?‟ Jesus
answered …
(To start….) “The work of God is this:
to believe in the one he has sent.”
John 6:28-29 (NIV)
22. Gifts vs. Charisms
Gifts :Difference? Charisms :
Supernatural Natural
Given by God TO you… Given by God TO you…
Given by God FOR you …for OTHERS!
For your sanctification For their consolation
23. Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
But what are charisms?
How do In know which charisms I have?
Corresponding
Gifts: Virtues:
1. Wisdom (desire spiritual > temporal) ….. Charity
2. Understanding (know truths beyond faith).. Faith
3. Knowledge (circumstances) ………………. Faith
4. Counsel (right/wrong judgment) …………. Prudence
5. Fortitude (courage) ……………………………… Courage
6. Piety (reverence)…………………………………... Justice
7. Fear of the Lord (wonder and awe)……….. Hope
27. Charisms…
determining, and discerning
Discerning Ministries
and Charisms: Steps:
Explanation and inventory
Catherine of Siena Institute
First session (1 hour )
“Called and Gifted”
Going in Depth
“Spiritual Gifts Inventory”
Discern How to Apply in Life
Start to Apply / Experience
How could do you do this on your own ?
Re-Discern
32. Pope Pius XII
Divino Afflante Spiritu (1943)
• Let also the minds of the faithful be nourished
with this same food, that they may draw from
[the Bible] the knowledge and love of God and
the progress in perfection and the happiness
of their own individual souls.
33. The “Big Questions”
• Suffering
• My Family
• What Should Lay People Do?
▫ (vs priests & nuns)
• Women
• Human Sexuality
36. The Word
(Reformation / evangelical Theology)
• The Word = The Bible
• Whole of Christian truth - found within Bible’s pages.
• All material needed for understanding:
▫ Who is God
▫ Who am I
▫ My relationship with God
▫ My relationships with others
37. The Word
(Reformation / evangelical Theology)
• Material sufficiently clear…
• No need for any other teaching authority to help one
understand it.
▫ (Like “apostolic tradition” or the Church’s
“Magisterium”)
• Anything extraneous to the Bible is unnecessary, non-
authoritative or wrong - may well hinder one in
coming to God.
▫ (ibid)
38. The “Word”
(Catholic Tradition)
• Sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture form
one sacred deposit of the word of God
▫ (Vatican II, Dei Verbum para. 10)
• …there exists a close connection and communication
between sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture.
• Both of them, flowing from the same divine
wellspring, merge into a unity. (Ibid)
39. The “Word”
(Catholic Tradition)
• Sacred Scripture is the word of God inasmuch as
it is consigned to writing under the
inspiration of the divine Spirit …
40. The “Word”
(Catholic Tradition)
• …while sacred tradition takes the word of God
entrusted by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit
to the Apostles, and hands it on to their successors
in its full purity …
• ….so that led by the light of the Spirit of truth,
they may - in proclaiming it - preserve this word
of God faithfully, explain it, and make it more
widely known.
i.e. … applying the Scriptures, in
practical ways, to everyday
situations in our lives.
41. The “Word”
(Catholic Tradition)
• Consequently it is not from Sacred Scripture alone that the
Church draws her certainty about everything which has been
revealed.
▫ Both sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture are to be accepted
and venerated with the same sense of loyalty and reverence.
▫ (Vatican II, Dei Verbum (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation para. 10))
42. New wine – New wineskins
As Catholics, how do we
begin applying the
“Word” – in new ways –
• Mark 2:22 … in our lives today ?
• “No one puts new wine into old wineskins;
▫ or else the new wine bursts the wineskins,
▫ the wine is spilled,
▫ and the wineskins are ruined.
• New wine must be put into new wineskins.”
43. The “Great Questions”
• Suffering
▫ When Bad Things Happen to Good People
(Rabbi Harold Kushner)
▫ Salvifici Doloris
(1984 Pope John Paul II)
• Family (1981, Familiaris Consortio)
• Laity (1988, Christifidelis Laici)
44. The “Great Questions”
• Women (1988, Mulinaris Dignitatem)
• Human Sexuality
▫ (1968, Humanae Vitae, Paul VI)
▫ (1979-1984, Theology of the Body, John Paul II)
For Adults For Young
Adults
47. Faith Applied in Action:
• Discern for yourself what the Lord is telling you
during your retreat this year.
• Discuss this three times with at least one person
over the course of the next year.
48. Faith Applied in Action:
• There are 18 Marian celebrations and feast
days…
• Celebrate just one of these days that honor Mary
this year.
49. Faith Applied in Action:
• Commit to saying the Rosary (or Divine Chaplet)
daily during October, the month dedicated to
Our Lady of the Rosary.
50. Faith Applied in Action:
• Mary is mentioned close to 50 times in the New
Testament. …
• Over the next year, chose and read just one
Marian story or passage. Sit with and pray with
this passage for one week from one Saturday to
the next.
51. Mary as the Model
When you do this: What you might experience:
• Treasuring Memories • Joy
▫ “Pondering”
• Trepidation
• Meditation • Trust
▫ “Reflecting”
• Confusion
• Tasting • Wonder
▫ The fruits
