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October 11, 2012

This week\\u2019s episode:\\xa0Welcome to the\\xa0Year of Faith!

This Special Edition is a departure from our normal format in order to give listeners an overview of great resources for the Year of Faith.

Links for this episode:

The\\xa0Year of Faith\\xa0is actually slightly longer than a full year: October 11, 2012 through November 23, 2013.\\xa0 It has a\\xa0three-fold focus: knowing our Catholic faith, living it out both sacramentally within the church and in the world, and sharing the faith through evangelization and catechesis. This is a wonderful opportunity to make a plan for yourself as to what you might do to grow in those three areas.

Here are some links to help us get the most out of this year.

An Overview of the Year of Faith

• Here\\u2019s the\\xa0official Vatican home page for the Year of Faith\\xa0(Annus Fidei). Pope Benedict\\u2019s Apostolic Letter introducing the Year of Faith is\\xa0Porta Fidei\\xa0or \\u201cThe Door of Faith\\u201d. Deanna Bartalini has prepared some helpful study questions to help you get the most out of the Pope\\u2019s letter at the\\xa0New Evangelizers website.

• The\\xa0Calendar\\xa0for the Year of Faith highlights special Vatican-sponsored events for the coming year including special days to celebrate the canonizations of new saints, lay and religious vocations, confirmations, World Youth Day, devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist, Mary and Marian devotion, and more.

• The Pope and the bishops of the world are meeting in a Synod through the month of October. The theme of those meeting is the new evangelization. The document that contains the agenda for those meetings is found\\xa0here.

• The USCCB (United States Catholic Conference of Bishops) has their Year of Faith website\\xa0here. You\\u2019ll find many resources including:
  • a Year of Faith Q & A
  • a good line-up of videos on a variety of topics

Knowing Your Faith

Get to know the Bible.\\xa0Most newcomers to bible study get comfortable by first looking at the Gospels and the epistles of the New Testament. Here\\u2019s an excellent\\xa0bible commentary series\\xa0on the New Testament for personal study or for groups, plus a\\xa0New Testament study bible\\xa0to with wonderful study helps built right into its pages.

Get to know the\\xa0Catechism of the Catholic Church.\\xa0This landmark reference work is the first update to the universal catechism the Church has had in 400 years, since the Council of Trent. It\\u2019s a masterpiece of all the Church believes, worships, lives, and prays. The Year of Faith celebrates the 20^th\\xa0anniversary of the Catechism\\u2019s reception. Find\\xa0one\\xa0at your local Catholic bookseller, or you may enjoy these resources

• The Catechism is online\\xa0on the Vatican website. But there\\u2019s an excellent\\xa0online \\u201csearchable\\u201d Catechism, too!\\xa0Start by learning the\\xa0Precepts of the Church.

• Read the Catechism in a year by email.\\xa0The makers of FlockNote have come up with a strategy by offering small chunks of the Catechism delivered to your email each day. Sign up or get more details\\xa0here.

• United States Catholic Catechism for Adults

• YOUCAT: the Catechism for youth

Read the Documents of Vatican II. The Year of Faith coincides with the fiftieth\\xa0anniversary of the start of the Second Vatican Council. Read the documents\\xa0online, or buy a copy from your local Catholic bookseller. Need a place to start? Try reading\\xa0Lumen Gentium\\xa0(The Dogmatic Constitution of the Church). It is 8 chapters long and it is the key to unlocking the themes of the council found in the rest of the documents. Also, coming soon:\\xa0a film on the historic Council known as Vatican II.

Discover Catholic programming\\xa0to strengthen your faith through the national television ministries of\\xa0Catholic TV\\xa0and\\xa0EWTN, and look to your local diocesan programming as well. Don\\u2019t forget Catholic radio networks, many of which can be found\\xa0here. If you enjoy new media,\\xa0SQPN is a Catholic podcasting network. Or, subscribe to Catholic newspapers, magazines, and your diocesan paper.

Watch a DVD. Try the 10-part\\xa0Catholicism\\xa0DVD series from Word on Fire. It is often shown in parishes and dioceses, as well as on Catholic television. It is also available for purchase.

Take a course.\\xa0Pillars of Catholicism\\xa0is a free online course that is being offered by the professors of John Paul the Great University. This series is a self-professed crash course in the fundamentals of the Catholic Faith. It consists of 13 episodes, each a half-hour long. A new episode will be unlocked each week and will be permanently accessible. The course and all materials it provides are free.

Interested in subject matter related to women and the feminine genius?\\xa0Watch for my new book,\\xa0Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacious: Celebrating the Gift of Catholic Womanhood, due for release in March 2013. And for your personal and group study I recommend the ministry of\\xa0Endow, which supports nearly 20,000 women in study groups across the US and Canada.

Living Your Faith

Get more out of the Mass.\\xa0Try these resources:

• Fr. Robert Barron from\\xa0Word on Fire\\xa0offers thoughtful\\xa0audio sermons\\xa0every week. Check out the entire\\xa0Word on Fire\\xa0website for more Catholic content.

• USCCB website lets you\\xa0read the day\\u2019s Mass readings, or hear them\\xa0with the audio versions, plus listen to video reflections on their subject matter.

• Magnificat\\xa0is a print subscription, or use their app for your smart phone to access the daily readings, commentary, and morning and evening prayer.

• Find a Mass\\xa0near you or when you travel.

Pray more and increase your devotional life.\\xa0Here\\u2019s a few suggestions:

• Discover the\\xa0Liturgy of the Hours.\\xa0Longtime the prayer practice of priests and religious, many lay people enjoy praying the liturgy of the hours in whole or in part. You can purchase a breviary from your local Catholic bookseller, or online, by going to\\xa0Universalis\\xa0or the\\xa0Divine Office. Modified versions of morning prayer and evening prayer are found in\\xa0Magnificat.
• Receive a plenary indulgence\\xa0for your religious practice by fulfilling certain requirements during the Year of Faith. Elizabeth Scalia offers\\xa0understanding on the plenary indulgence.
  
• Make a holy hour, or go to Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Find a chapel that offers Adoration\\xa0here.

• Pray a prayer for the new evangelization.

• Learn how to pray\\xa0the Rosary.

• Learn how to pray\\xa0the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

Sharing Your Faith

A baptized Catholic is baptized into the mission of the Church. Therefore, we, too, are called to spread the faith to others. Get started with these resources:

• USCCB has\\xa0suggestions for sharing the faith\\xa0through the new evangelization.
• Go and Make Disciples: A National Plan and Strategy for Catholic Evangelization in the United States.
• Share articles and blog posts from\\xa0Patheos\\u2019 Catholic Portal.

• New Evangelizers\\xa0website has blog posts and free resources that can help you make a faith connection with others.

• Amazing Catechists, led by Patheos\\u2019 columnist\\xa0Lisa Mladinich, supports those called to the work of faith formation and religious education.\\xa0Catechist\\u2019s Journey\\xa0with Joe Paprocki also supports catechists.
• Share religious books with friends and family. Watch for Catholic Books that are offered for review in the Patheos Book Club when you see them suggested here on the Catholic portal. Plus, visit your Catholic bookseller for titles that may be of interest.
• Links to my archived articles on easy ways to share your faith with others from my column at Patheos, \\u201cA Word in Season\\u201d:
  • The Heart of Evangelization Must Beat in Us
    
  • The Jesus Moment
    
  • Tithing on Social Media
    
  • What Would You Like Me to Pray For?
    
  • A.S.K.: Ask, Seek, Knock \\u2014 Three Steps toward Praying with Others

The information shared here is also found in numerous links I prepared for\\xa0my column at Patheos. Read the original article\\xa0here.\\xa0You can subscribe to it via RSS or email\\xa0here.\\xa0

Other shows of related interest:

AW 147: on the Pope\\u2019s Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei on the Year of Faith

AW 128: on the Liturgy of the Hours

Also: visit Among Women\\u2019s Catholic Resources page.