Our first Newsletter spoke about how the Basic Community is Eucharistic in nature.  This edition will address some of the reasons that these communities are an opportunity for each of us to grow stronger in our faith and our love for the Eucharist, our love for Christ Jesus.

To begin:  many people see the St. Paul's Neighborhood Faith Gatherings as just another church program.  This is far from true.  There is a very real and very widespread need for experiences of real community in our society.  So many people are cut off from belonging to a community.  Poverty, unemployment, illness, competitiveness in the workplace and in education, and lack of transportation as well as many other factors contribute to the sense of isolation and alienation from others.  Powerful forces are reshaping society and as a result many people feel that they are being pushed aside; may feel that they are alone, with little sense of their own value or contribution.  This is NOT the vision of Jesus.  He came to bring people into communion with each other as brothers and sisters and into a family relationship with God.

Fundamentally, the Church is a new form of community that is at work within our world, a community born from the divine Trinitarian communion.  In a quotation from St. Cyprian, the Second Vatican Council reminds us that the Church is "a people brought into unity from the unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

Since each Neighborhood Faith Gathering tries to live within this union of Church, they become a true expression of community and a means for the construction of the even more profound communion of Church.

We who are baptized ARE THE CHURCH.  We are the People of God, the Sacrament of Salvation, and as Catholics and members of St. Paul the Apostle and St. Pius X parishes, our commitment must be to being a Community for the World - a Christian Community whose mission is to be the "salt of the earth."  We are all called to be "a witness and a representative of the saving love of God.  This suggests that there is a key element necessary for fulfillment of our commitment, and that element is the continued development of our St. Paul's Neighborhood Faith Gatherings.

In the few short months that our faith gatherings have been meeting, a greater understanding of their nature is becoming clearer.  Consider for instance, the name that has been decided on for these gatherings.  It is a part of the identity of our community and the faith we have.  However, this is not as important as the fact that it aids us in focusing our thoughts on just what is distinctive about these communities.

The world-wide emergence of small, home-based-ecclesial communities is indeed the work of the Holy Spirit in our day and age, a gift from God to the Church.  Because of this, they have a central place in the vision of many parishes throughout the world. Within our diocese, we see this gift present, especially in the vision for St. Paul the Apostle Parish in this time of transition and even extending into the time after our new family home is completed in Pueblo West.  It is impossible for us to transport the Latin American experience of these communities here to Pueblo and Pueblo West.  Our own St. Paul's Neighborhood Faith Gatherings will have to develop in their own way.  As they develop, each neighborhood will find their concerns are with issues that touch the lives of the people within our parishes and especially within their own neighborhood.

As mentioned earlier, there is a lot of misunderstanding about just what a neighborhood faith gathering is about.  Some people feel that it will never work because we no longer have a church building to gather in.  Still others feel that it is simply a waste of time.

It may be beneficial to explain what these neighborhoods are not:  They are not a specialized group with a particular mission, such as the Knights of Columbus.  They are not a group with a particular function on the behalf of the parish, such as a Right of Christian Initiation of Adults group.  They are not a group of people of the same general age, such as youth group.  They are not a group of people who share a common commitment, such as a prayer group or a social justice group.  Each of the groups listed above do have a vital importance within our Church, but they are not Neighborhood Faith Gatherings.

A Neighborhood Faith Gathering is a small local church community, following the way of Jesus, listening to His Word, energized by His Spirit, and directed to His mission.  Each faith gathering's concerns can be as wide as the missionary concerns of the Universal Church.  Each is a permanent community that is open to, and involved with all the Catholics within their specified area and beyond.  They also reach outside the Catholic Community to issues that touch the lives of all people within a local area.  By its very nature, each faith gathering is inclusive and able to welcome people from a variety of different backgrounds and becomes a communion of diverse people, build up through the practice of warm and open friendship, in the spirit of Jesus Christ Himself.

Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical Redemptoris Missio. has said:

"These communities decentralize and organize the parish communities, to which they always remain united....They become a leaven of Christian Life, of care for the poor and neglected and of commitment to the transformation of society.  Within them, the individual Christian experiences community and therefore senses that he or she is playing an active role and is encouraged to share in the common task. Thus the communities become a means of evangelization and of the initial proclamation of the Gospel....being imbued with Christ's love, they also show how divisions, tribalism, and racism can be overcome."

These neighborhood faith gatherings are developing at the very "grass-roots," focusing on the most basic things that make up the lives of people in our streets and neighborhoods.  They are concerned with the realities of day to day living and are called to mission by responding to the joys and the concerns of their neighborhood.

This is everyday life brought into contact with the Gospel through discussion and reflection.  Each neighborhood Faith Gathering is a place for telling our story and listening to the stories of others, to hear the Word of God, a place of celebration at both the personal level and sometimes at the level of the neighborhood and the wider Church.

There is a fundamental and essential necessity that their course be towards the wider world by offering support, direction, and solidarity to their members as they undertake the living of their everyday lives in light of the Gospel.  As they reflect on the social and political causes that confront them in their daily living, they will be abele to take a stand on social issues and act as Christian leaders in our society.

Neighborhood Faith Gatherings are face-to-face communities that are small enough for everyone to get to know everyone else.  Their communal life is built upon the bonds of human friendship which is always open to the stranger an to the one on the edge.  They are meant to give rise to solidarity, mutual help, prayer, and joyful celebration.

In many ways, they reflect the Church of the first centuries.  They are not isolated but are a part of the wider church family and to the parish where the members contribute to the common life of the parish.

St. Paul's Neighborhood Faith Gatherings can help to overcome the isolation that so many people experience.  They can bring not only a sense of belonging, but  also a stronger sense of discipleship and mission.    May God's blessings and guidance continue to be upon all of us as we work to bring the Kingdom to all.

With this issue of the newsletter an area is being implemented for the members of the St. Paul's Neighborhood Faith Gatherings to express their experiences of being a member of a community.  This is the first such letter:

"My name is Mrs. Gloria Benedict.  My husband Eugene and I have been St. Paul parishioners for about 2 years and 6 months.  The reason for my writing is to share my thoughts concerning my participation in St. Paul's Neighborhood Faith Gatherings.  First, how did I make my personal decision to participate?  It can be different for each one of us.  Mine was a yearning to listen to others of my faith.

I am not a talkative person and listening is my strength.  We have 4 times thus far.  I have found fellowship, warmth, and growth in many aspects of my life.  My shyness has diminished and I find I have worthwhile things to share.

Why do I continue to put my time and effort into participation?  I have several reasons.  Human nature is inquisitive.  I seek to find out what more I will learn and where I will be led by my sharing and listening.

Human nature needs activity.  What we say, do, and share is done by individual choices and consensus.  I have never felt pressure from the group to do more than I was ready to give.  Yet, our Lord, through His Spirit, helped me to be ready to give more of myself than I expected myself capable of doing.

These are just highlights I touched on.  I would like to encourage anyone reading this to consider participating for their own reasons which will be varied.  If interested, in more information, please contact Deacon Steve at 719 542-4264 ext. 105, or if I can answer your questions, please call me at 719 547-7679.

I close, putting you and all of us in the care of the Lord.

Mrs. Gloria S. Benedict

 

 Why Faith Gatherings?

What do people in the St. Paul the Apostle's Pueblo West community think when they first hear the words "Basic Ecclesial Communities?"  Most likely their thought run like this:  "What is this; a Bible study course, or something?"  "What's the purpose?"  "Why do we need this?"  And so on.  Hopefully, many of these questions can be answered.

Today, as we continue to await the building of our new parish home in Pueblo West, and as we continue to share facilities with St. Pius X Parish, it is ever more important that our faith gatherings, these Basic Ecclesial Communities, begin and grow in Pueblo West.  Not just for the "What's in it for me?" people, but for each and every one of us.

We began our journey in January of 2007, and as you can see by the name above, those who began the journey have chosen the name St. Paul's Neighborhood Faith Gatherings, instead of Basic Ecclesial Community to better express what they truly are, gatherings of Catholics who share their faith and lives with each other, and thereby enriching the community as a whole, as neighbors and friends.

Each separate neighborhood eventually will choose their own name to give an identity to themselves, thereby becoming a unique entity, one that works together within itself to support, sustain, assist, find the love of Christ within, care about, and share their lives with each other, as we are called to do by Christ.

The concept of these small communities, or neighborhood gatherings really goes back to the beginnings of the Church itself.  The early Christians met in the homes of the faithful.  There was no church building in which to meet and share with each other.  So they met in small groups in their various homes to deepen the bonds of friendship and charity that had been forged between them.

As Catholics, we believe that the celebration of Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith.  Yet, about 80% of Catholics have chosen not to regularly attend Eucharist.  These neighborhood gatherings help to create an environment for a turn around in church attendance, but this cannot and must not be their explicit goal.  Such a motive would be both paternalistic and misguided.    Such a goal would not value the stories of people as they struggle to make sense of their lives and faith.  It would reinforce a model of Church that focuses on attendance at Mass at the expense of building life-giving relationships.

Small neighborhood gatherings view the Church as 100% of all baptized Catholics; those who are faithful in Mass attendance and those who are not.  Their purpose is to connect with all parishioners without distinction and to create a "springtime" of relationships among the people and their neighborhood.  There is a an attitude of respect for those who meet, an attitude of neighborliness and friendship.  Sometimes those who come may vent their anger with the Church and feel that for the first time they have been listened to.  Others may return to attendance regularly at Eucharist because, during the gatherings, their hearts have been gently changed.

In these faith gatherings, the essence of the Eucharist is lived out because:

  • Meeting and getting to know your neighbors in charity and love is a personal appropriation of the Word of God as it is proclaimed in the Liturgy of the Word.
  • In each Mass, the neighborhood faith gathering members bring all their neighborhood in their hearts and pray earnestly for the needs of their group, asking for God's love and care.
  • They make real the final blessing of the Liturgy wherein we are asked to "Go in peace and love to serve the Lord."
  • They make tangible the command of the Eucharistic prayer to, "Do this in memory of me," as they take the time to go beyond their fears and cross the street in friendship, as did Jesus.  They also encounter Jesus in the people they meet and are ministered to by Him.

Faith sharing neighborhoods are also about "Discerning the body" by getting to know all the body of Catholics in the parish.  In this process the joys and struggles of all the community become known and shared.  No one is excluded from the invitation to relationship.  This gathering and sharing of life on basic levels bears the Eucharist out of the church building and into the neighborhood.  If the Eucharist is the very beating, living heart of the Church, then the Neighborhood faith gatherings are its veins, bringing to life the whole Body of Christ.

We come from all walks of life, from many different cultures and experiences of that life.  Yet, when we gather together, our differences are set aside and we find that we have much in common, especially the love of Christ in our lives, our common faith in Him.  and sharing with each other, that we may find ways to live our faith in the world.

 

If you have any questions about the Neighborhood Faith Gatherings, please call Bill & Liz Sprouse at 647-9649.