Catholic Discipleship and "Forming Intentional Disciples"

naming discipleship

Forming Intentional Disciples

discipleship

an introduction to Sherry Weddell’sForming Intentional Disciples

Colleen Vermeulen, M.Div.Twitter: @EvangelToolboxWebsite: http://practicalevangelization.wordpress.com/

Created Feb 2014

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http://practicalevangelization.wordpress.com/

what is discipleship?

disciple.(noun) learner,

student

-ship.condition of being,

implying a skill

Image: The Saint John’s Bible Seeing the Word Blog

discipleshipin the Catholic

Tradition

• Profess, spread, and live the faith of the Church (§1816)

• Establish habits befitting a disciple of Christ (§1494)

• Are initiated and nourished by the Eucharist (§1275)

• Respond to Jesus’ invitation to enter His kingdom (§546)

using the language of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, disciples:

• Pray (§2601, 2612)

• Abide in the Word (§2466)

• Witness to Christ and work using the gifts received from God, in ecclesial and temporal affairs (§1319, 2427)

• Imitate Jesus (§2347, §2470)

discipleship as transmitted by the Church is:

• an active response

• for everyone

• personal (yet in community)

discipleship in the Catholic

faith

experiences of Catholics in our

time

not to scale ;-)

our challenge

the majority of Catholics in the United States

-- Weddell, Forming Intentional Disciples, 46

are sacramentalized but not evangelized

They do not know that an explicit, personal

attachment to Christ—personal discipleship—is

normative Catholicism as taught by the apostles and reiterated time and time again by the popes, councils, and saints of the Church.

For me, faith is born from the encounter with Jesus. A personal encounter, which has touched my heart and given direction and new meaning to my existence.

-- Pope Francis, Letter to La Republica

Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.

-- Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est §1

.

The proclamation of the Gospel kerygma leads a person to, one day be “overwhelmed and brought to the decision to entrust himself to Jesus

Christ by faith” -- Blessed John Paul II, Catechesi Tradendae, §25

of Catholicsonly48%were absolutely certain that the God they believed

in was a God with whom they could have a personal relationship

Forming Intentional Disciples, Chapter 1

assessing the state of discipleship

without vilifyingImage: “Paul Preaching to the Athenians,” Leonard Porter Studio, 2009

naming discipleship


FID + ministry

formation = ?

the book

Chapter One: God Has No Grandchildren

Image: Military Council of Catholic Women Fiat, “Book Club,” www.mccwfiat.wordpress.com

in review: there were lots of statistics

The spiritual winds blow both ways in our postmodern world:

into and out of the Church.

Our spiritual climate provides us with real opportunities

…and very definite threats

if we do not adjust our evangelizing, catechetical, and pastoral practice to the unique challenges

of the times in which we live.-- Weddell, Forming Intentional Disciples, 18

keypoint1

the origin of intentional discipleship

All we meant…was “intentional” as in Peter and his brother, on the sea of Galilee, they dropped their nets, and they followed him.

You don’t do that accidentally, you don’t do it in your sleep,

and neither can any of us be disciples in our sleep!

--Sherry Weddell, onlineinterview with Bishop Sheridan (Colorado Springs) Image: CC license, flappingwings via Flickr

of course, “unintentional discipleship” is impossible,

but using explicit language like “intentional discipleship”

seemed to break the mysterious spell

that makes it difficult for many Catholics to think and speak of discipleship in meaningful, real-life ways


keypoint2

characterizing intentional discipleship

intentional discipleship is characterized by:

• a “drop the net” decision

• primary motivation from within, a “Holy Spirit-given hunger and thirst for righteousness”

• worship and love of the Blessed Trinity with one’s whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love of neighbor as one’s self as source and end of all things Weddell, Forming Intentional Disciples, 65-66

some fruits of intentional discipleship

passionate prayer desire to

worship

love forthe Church

joyfulservice

generous giving

hunger to learn more about their

faith

vocational discernme

nt

loving care for the poor

seeking to know and live God’s

willsharing

the really Good News

sharing the faith with

one’s family

taking risks for

the Kingdom of

God

attend to issues of justice

Weddell, Forming Intentional Disciples, 80-81

keypoint3

intentional discipleship is ecclesial

1. The personal interior journey of a lived relationship with Christ resulting in intentional discipleship.

2. The ecclesial journey into the Church through reception of the sacraments of initiation.

3. The journey of active practice – receiving the sacraments, attending Mass, and participating in the life and mission of the Christian community.

three spiritual journeys 1 2 3

2 13

+ many more variations…

Weddell, Forming Intentional Disciples, 54

keypoint4

discipleship matters for everyone

As we listened to Catholics talk about their spiritual journey, we began to realize that many assumed there were two basic spiritual “tracks”: “ordinary Catholic” and “saint.”

We discovered that many Catholics, including some pastoral leaders…have no imaginative category for one who is an intentional follower of Jesus “on the way” yet not a saint.

There is a strong tendency to account for those who try to live as disciples by labeling them “extraordinary,” either positively, as called to priestly or religious life, or negatively, as pretenders to sanctity.


“We must be convinced that all the baptized – unless they die early or are incapable of making such a decision – will eventually be called to make a personal choice to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ in the midst of his Church”

--Weddell, Forming Intentional Disciples, 70

Image: CNS, Catholic Review, Tom McCarthy Jr., 2012

keypoint5

seek stories, not labels

?baptized

liberal

confirmedatheist

left

married in the Churchconservative

evangelical

right

progressive

practicing Catholic

fallen away Catholic

pro-life

convertclergy

laity

active

keypoint6

offering a framework for the[often overlooked] Spiritual Journey #1

trust

curiosity

openness

seeking

intentional discipleship

5 thresholdsof conversion

the

a framework for spiritual journey #1

not the only framework

FOCUS “Discipleship Roadmap”

Renew International “Spiral”

The Evangelical Catholic “Baseball Diamond”

keypoint7

expect charisms (spiritual gifts) and grace

You and I have no right to judge another’s internal disposition,

nor can we see justification happen in an individuals’ soul.

But this does not mean that no fruits of personal faith are observable from the outside.


And it certainly does not mean that a dramatic and widespread absence of these

fruits in the community overall cannot be recognized and addressed.

Arlington • Baltimore • Boise • Boston • Charleston, SC • Chicago • Cleveland • Colorado Springs • Denver •Detroit • Fargo • Fort Worth, TX •Fort Wayne –

South Bend • Green Bay •Dubuque, IA • Joliet, IL • Knoxville • La Crosse, WI • Lansing, MI •Lexington, KY • Los Angeles • Madison, WI • Manchester, H •

Milwaukee •New York • Newark • Oakland, CA • Ogdensburgh, NY • Oklahoma City • Omaha • Orange, CA • Richmond • San Antonio • San Francisco • San

Jose, CA• Scranton, PA• Seattle • Springfield, IL

at least 91 dioceses in the U.S. are deliberately engaging with the ideas in Forming Intentional Disciples:

[+ dioceses in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and 4 other countries]

since 1997, over 65,000 lay, religious, and ordained Catholics have participated in the Catherine of Siena Institute programs that inspired the book

The book has made a splash.

• in the Amazon Top 5000 nearly continuously since publication• still breaking into the hourly Amazon Top 20 “Catholicism” best sellers

what next?

naming discipleship


?

Study the book.

Talk about it in your parish or ministry setting.

Reflect on: if/how your parish or ministry deliberately allows space for spiritual journey #1

ways to be sensitive to and discern the many thresholds and complex conversion processes of those who are not yet disciples

Check out additional resources at:http://practicalevangelization.wordpress.com/tag/resources-for-intentional-discipleship/