Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Why a Blog?
We want to offer Why Catholic? small group leaders a chance to pick up some new ideas and to share their own successes with others. If you have a questions about a session or want to tell other leaders about something that worked -- or something that didn't -- please post a comment. If you have a reaction to a post that you hope might continue the dialogue and be of benefit to others or youself, please share it with the rest of us. The more people who participate in the discuss, the more effective this blog will be. Let us hear from you.
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Glad to see this. I think that this will help with little pointers to be a better leader.
ReplyDeleteThis is great!
ReplyDeleteSo how does one go about posting a question or idea that worked? (Other than the obvious way that I'm doing--putting a comment on an existing post! ;) )
ReplyDeleteWe had our first meeting last night. Since most of the people did not know each other, people were at first reticient, but things improved as the evening went on. I think next week's materials will be "more discussable".
ReplyDeleteWow! We had our first meeting yesterday afternoon. Lots and lots of sharing. Will need to stay more on the subject but we will learn and God will reveal..... :-)))))
ReplyDeleteGood morning all why catholic leaders,I am both in a group and leading a PSR parents group. I will speak from both perspectives. I have been facilitating groups for many years...and honestly I found this first session questions difficult to respond to. But when the plate of cookies was brought in at 8:15, the conversation flowed naturally. In my expereince, an introduction name game always helps loosen people up. (each person introduces him/herself prefaced by an adjective that says something about them as a catholic...eg committed or chaotic carolyn, steady sam, inguisitive irene.. Sometimes simply having them read aloud also makes a difference. About staying on topic...with another group, I found that people needed to express some frustrations and concerns before we could move to the issues as hand...All this is good...But I worked hard to pull them back to the questiOns of desire for God. We are all in this together with the Holy Spirit--It is not about us. THANKS FOR JOINING ThIS BLOG...TELL YOUR LEADER FRIENDS.
ReplyDeleteBarb said....
ReplyDeleteWe had our first session this morning and it went better than I could have hoped. Perhaps starting with the coffee and pastry freed ladies to talk. Each person read parts of the print material, so they heard their own voices before discussion and responses to questions.
Thanks for the blog!
Our group met last night, though 3 people were not there, we still had a great gathering! We began with dinner just to get to know each other better. We then moved into the living room for our discussion. Wonderful thoughts/opinions/interpretations were shared and we came up with our group project this week....to take 5 minutes a day and LISTEN to God. Simply sit in silence, open our hearts and minds, and LISTEN. My personal 5 minutes today was quite moving, I felt God was so close to me....not that he never is, but today, I stopped to notice.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful program this is! Thank you Jeff City Diocese for presenting this idea to the parishes!
Someone in our group dropped out already because she thought she would be learning about the Catechism and she has never liked sharing in a group. Kind of a downer.
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon WC leaders, Sounds like food is It certainly promotes sharing at all levels. Also tell your folks about the pod casts...simply go to
ReplyDeletewww.diojeffcity.org and click on why catholic pod casts.…
This next week on SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION AS GOD’S REVELATION is quite lengthy. I recommend READING SOME PARTS quietly (perhaps reflective music as a backdrop) and other parts aloud. In either case please consider asking the participants what especially struck them, enlightened them or even puzzled them. This is a good discussion starter. Also it personalizes the reading.
On thing that might puzzle the participants is the section on page 13 about Biblical interpretation… THE CATECHISM PAGES 27-30 ARE HELPFUL, BUT THERE IS OFTEN CONFUSION BETWEEN LITERAL AND LITERALIST INTERPRETATIONS. LITERAL FOCUSES ON WHAT THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR INTENDED TO TEACH.. Study of context—especially cultural and historical realities as well as literary form is usually necessary to uncover the literal meaning. This is very different form LITERALIST…which simply takes words at face value without consideration of context. Eg. Creation in exactly seven day—and precisely the way the story is told. It is often said: TEXT WITHOUT CONTEXT IS A PRETEXT. The official Catholic approach is literal –deeply rooted in Scriptural Scholarship. Perhaps this helps. In gratitude and hope, Committed Carolyn
We had our first meeting last night, opening with the Prayer "Who are you, LORD?". Then listening to Fr. David Bueschers reflections on his Desire for God video, which was very inspiring and immediately started the discussions. A lot ot thought and opinions were shared. Really great. We closed with everyone reading a verse of "WE BELIEVE." and looking forward to next weeks meeting.
ReplyDeleteMy first session is Tuesday night 10/13. The positive comments from other groups who completed their first session are very encouraging. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWe found the podcast helped to understand the material. In fact-our entire group gathered around the computer and listened. This helped with discussion especially several people were new and had not had a chance to read the lesson. I think the reading in the books is somewhat difficult to understand so the podcast helped.
ReplyDeleteWhen will be able to see a Podcast on session 7?
ReplyDelete