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CHRIST THE KING PARISH - SPRINGFIELD,IL To group leaders of Christ the King Parish, Springfield, Illinois By Deacon Al Laabs Session 12: “Human Fulfillment in Christ"
Suggested Environment This is our last session and I suspect by now your environment has been fairly well stabilized with maybe a few changes every now and then. I think I’ve been remiss in reminding everyone that some liturgical colors should be evident and since this is still Lent purple is appropriate. So maybe if you haven’t put any Lenten color out, you might do so and remind everyone of the three major vehicles that contribute to our progress in Lent: prayer, fasting and almsgiving—just a thought.
As a session leader I would recommend your reading and perhaps encouraging your members who have the red USCCA to read the section entitled “Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (pages 449-450). Key doctrinal statements on the tenth commandment are also succinctly found on the following pages: Commandment Ten (USCCA pp. 455-456).
Lifting Our Hearts One of the almost overlooked parts of the ordination ceremony for priests and deacons takes place in the very beginning. The candidates are called by name and have to stand and then come forward for the ceremony to begin. The significance as we were reminded is in receiving a call from the Church gathered as the people of God to be of service. Our answer of “present” signifies our acceptance of the call to be ordained. You might introduce this prayer by asking everyone to be still for a few moments and imagine they are hearing a call from Jesus himself to step forward and accept his invitation to be a disciple, to be holy, even to be a saint as in truth we are all called to be.
Sharing Our Good News As usual an opportunity to see what group members did or thought about doing following last week’s session.
Exploring the Catechism We are focusing on commandment ten: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.” You will notice in that very first paragraph why I suggested reading that particular section in the USCCA. I think it is worthwhile to suggest underlining that sentence which reads: “The tenth commandment is about the intentions of the heart.” As the USCCA points out, money is not the root of all evil but as scripture says “the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Tm 6:10). We certainly have had evidence of what greed can do to a country as well as the world economy and perhaps your group has talked about such issues already. You might remind the group about our Gospel readings from Matthew’s summary of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Those beatitudes are presented as the path to discipleship as well as happiness. Greed or an over attachment to any “thing” can be an impediment to finding real happiness in letting love for others be our primary affective force, turning us outward from self.Read more by clicking on this link: DEACON AL LAABS SUPPLEMENTALS - Download files at the end of that page.
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