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Adult Faith Formation

Overview

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Quotes from Major Church Documents

"Adult faith formation, by which people consciously grow in the life of Christ through experience, reflection, prayer, and study, must be 'the central task in [this] catechetical enterprise,' becoming 'the axis around which revolves the catechesis of childhood and adolescence as well as that of old age.'"- Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us, #5

"Catechesis for adults, since it deals with persons who are capable of an adherence that is fully responsible, must be considered the chief form of catechesis. All the other forms, which are indeed always necessary, are in some way oriented to it." - General Directory for Catechesis, #59

"... to teach as Jesus did means calling and equipping all Christians of every age and stage of life to fulfill their baptismal call to holiness in family, Church, and society - their mission to evangelize and transform the world into a more caring and just society. Ongoing faith formation is essential to accomplish this mission; it does not end at confirmation or graduation but continues until one's death." - Our Hearts Were Burning With Us, #44

The Scriptural Model for Adult Faith Formation

Luke 24:13-15 - the passage of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.

"Now that very day, two of them were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.

He asked them, "What are you discussing as you walk along?" They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?" And he replied to them, "What sort of things?" They said to him, "The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him.

But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place. Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see."

And he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures.

As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning (within us) while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?"

So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them who were saying, "The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!" Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.?

The Major Goals and Tasks of Adult Faith Formation

Goals

  1. Invite and enable ongoing conversion to Jesus in holiness of life.
  2. Promote and support active membership in the Christian community.
  3. Call and prepare adults to act as disciples in mission to the world.

- Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us

Tasks

  • Promote formation and development of life in the Risen Christ
  • Educate toward a correct evaluation of the socio-cultural changes of our societies in the light of faith
  • Clarify current religious and moral questions
  • Clarify the relationship between temporal actions and ecclesial action
  • Develop the rational foundations of the faith
  • Encourage adults to assume responsibility for the Church?s mission and to be able to give Christian witness in society

- The General Directory for Catechesis

The Six Dimensions of Adult Faith Formation

  1. Knowledge of the Faith
  2. Liturgical Life
  3. Moral Formation
  4. Prayer
  5. Communal Life
  6. Missionary Spirit