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Faith development is about developing an approach to life -- a
lifestyle dominated by values and concerns that resemble God's
values and concerns. This isn't something we just
"learn". It isn't primarily intellectual, and it doesn't
stop when we are confirmed or finish school. It requires time,
effort, ongoing study and prayer. It includes emotional, social and
practical components, and must be exercised until our faith is
internalized and sets the tone for everything we dream or do. At
that point our faith starts to "exercise" us; Faith
governs our lives.
Faith development is a life-long
pursuit. It challenges the values the world promotes so brazenly and
so successfully that we don't even notice how much these
"worldly" values shape our desires and behavior:
values like our need for entertainment, "success",
getting a deal, competition, being "right", demanding
our rights, and purchasing isolation from disquieting problems. Faith development reorients us toward others, valuing
compassion over power, generosity over acquisition, affirmation over criticism. It
suggests that we find an alternative to the
fast lane of life and use our energy to do what we are created to do: to love life, to thank God for the
opportunity, and to share our love with others.
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| Four Focus Areas
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Just as pursuing a better look and perfect health requires effort, faith
development involves spending some time, motivating ourselves,
acquiring the "how-to" knowledge, and working out
("practicing" our faith) -- possibly with the help of a personal trainer (a spiritual director). The first two buttons,
Spiritual and Education, point out some resources in the areas of prayer and
learning about our faith. Since the stress of modern life drains us
of so much hope and energy, our call to faith demands that we find a
less frantic, more connected way to live. Faith cannot flourish unless we have some
time and quiet. Simple
Living suggests a few ways to begin.
The sacraments provide us
especially rich points of contact with the life of God. The
sacraments are ways to nurture our faith life (especially
Eucharist), to restore it after periods of neglect (reconciliation),
and to mark major signposts along our journey toward God (baptism,
confirmation, marriage or ordination, and anointing). Sacramental
Preparation explains how to prepare yourself or your
children for celebrating a sacrament. [top]
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Vocations |
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Deciding what our vocation is, and how best to serve
God with our individual
talents, skills and abilities is a very personal decision, yet one
that is also made within our community of faith and with the support
and encouragement of others.
The Vocation Office of the Diocese of Hamilton
offers this web site as a
resource for all those who are thinking about their own vocations,
or who are
supporting others in a process of discernment.
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