Dynamics of Faith with John Lajiness

1. THE DYNAMICS OF FAITH
Catechist
Formation
Topic #9

2. GOAL: TO RECONSIDER HOW WE CATECHIZE
BY BROADENING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF…
What is Faith?
How Does Faith Develop?
How to Encourage Faith?

3. OPENING PRAYER
MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am
following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you
always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave
me to face my perils alone.
- Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude

4. WHAT IS FAITH?
Faith in the Scriptures:
 Take the verse that your group has been given
 Read it aloud
 Answer the accompanying question

5. WHAT WE‟RE COVERING TODAY
What is Faith?
How Does Faith Develop?
How to Encourage Faith?

6. WHAT IS FAITH?
Etymology of Faith:
 Hebrew: To hold close as a child in a
parent‟s arms
 Latin: credo – to give one‟s heart to
 Anglo-Saxon: to hold dear; to prize;
derived from German vorlieben – to
fall in love

7. WHAT IS FAITH?
“By faith, man completely submits his intellect
and will to God. With his whole being man gives
his assent to God the revealer. Sacred Scripture
calls this human response to God, the author of
revelation, „the obedience of faith.‟” (CCC 143)
Faith is our response to God‟s revealing himself
to us
 Personal Adherence (fides qua)
 Assent to the whole Truth God has revealed
(fides quae)

8. CHARACTERISTICS OF FAITH
Grace – “Faith is a gift of God, a supernatural
virtue infused by him” (CCC 153). Grace must
move in the heart of all before they can accept
God
Human Act – As much as we need Grace for
faith, it is also still a free act of our will. We have
to consciously choose to submit to God.
Necessary for Salvation – We cannot have
intimacy with God or salvation without faith

9. God We
Initiates Respond

10. Grace
Faith
Sin

11. CHARACTERISTICS OF FAITH
Faith seeks understanding (St. Anselm)
It is certain because it is founded on
Truth
 Can seem difficult because we are imperfect
 Certainty rests on God who is perfect
Faith and Reason
 “Though faith is above reason, there can
never be any real discrepancy between faith
and reason. Since the same God who reveals
mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the
light of reason on the human mind, God
cannot deny himself, nor can truth contradict
truth.” (Vatican I, Dei Filius 4)

12. WHAT WE‟RE COVERING TODAY
What is Faith?
How Does Faith Develop?
How to Encourage Faith?

13. BRAINSTORM
If faith is our “yes” to
God, then what is it that
keeps most young
people in our culture
from saying yes?

14. WHAT IS FAITH DEVELOPMENT?
Faith Development theories and
schemas seek to put language
around the different stages of
faith which we all encounter
that are impacted largely by how
we are developing as people
Grace builds upon nature

15. WESTERHOFF‟S STAGES
Experienced
Affiliative
Searching
Owned

16. CATECHESIS AND FAITH DEVELOPMENT
 The goal of catechesis is to create an
environment where an active and
conscious faith is stirred up “which seeks
to put the person in communion with
Jesus Christ.”
 Catechesis is mean to inspire and
integrate faith…not only a cognitive
function, but one of the whole person
 Catechesis is meant to give direction and
meaning to each stage of human
development and leads ultimately to full
identification with Jesus (NCD, #174)

17. WHAT WE‟RE COVERING TODAY
What is Faith?
How Does Faith Develop?
How to Encourage Faith?

18. ENCOURAGING FAITH
Pick one of the “needs” of faith we
discussed earlier and come up with
three ways you or your parish could do
to try and fill that need

19. 4 SIMPLE WAYS TO ENCOURAGE FAITH
Prayer

20. 4 SIMPLE WAYS TO ENCOURAGE FAITH
Stories
encounters

21. 4 SIMPLE WAYS TO ENCOURAGE FAITH
Mentor

22. 4 SIMPLE WAYS TO ENCOURAGE FAITH
Call Forth
Gifts, Not
Fill Slots