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PAPAL VISIT/PCNE (Philippine Conference on New Evangelization)
PREPARATION 2015 FORMATION PROGRAM
PRENOTES:
These are 12 sessions designed as 1.5 hour sessions for small group settings, such as
BECs or church groups and organizations. It will be good to prepare facilitators for
these sessions. It will be good to print it book-form to facilitate use. Please read
through to prepare materials beforehand.
These can also be used for Sunday masses to prepare for the Pope’s visit. Please put
it in appropriate place in the liturgy (before entrance procession? After communion?
Takes the place of the homily?). It will be good to dramatize the ‘LIFE’ part or put in
power point presentation. The ‘Word of Life’ can be done by a layperson; the
Teaching by the priest.
This can also be produced as comics. Maybe the facilitator acts as the main comic
character who guides the readers through the sessions.
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SESSION 1: THE POPE
INTRODUCTION:
Greetings
Opening prayer/song
As we know Pope Francis will visit us in January next year and we wish to prepare for
this visit. As Filipinos, we get very excited when our families and friends visit us. We prepare
very well so that our visitor will feel welcomed and valuable to us. Perhaps the best
preparation we can do is to get to know this very important visitor and to also spiritually
prepare as a faith community because he is the father of our Catholic faith community
around the world. We are blessed!
LIFE:
Let us start to get to know Pope Francis through this simple quiz bee! Let us divide into
small groups and the group that answers the most questions wins!
(Here are some questions that can be asked. Facilitator may add.)
1. Who is the first pope?
2. Name 3 other popes aside from Pope Francis?
3. Pope Francis is the _____th Pope of the Catholic Church.
4. What is the full name of Pope Francis?
5. Pope Francis is from what country?
(It will be nice to award the winning group with a simple gift. End the game by
answering above questions and giving a few more background details about the Pope. His
full name is Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J from Argentina and he is the 266th Pope of the
Catholic Church. The apostle Peter is listed as the first Pope. Other popes you can mention
and that would be popular for people also would be John Paul II, John the 23rd, Paul VI, Pius
XII…)
WORD OF LIFE:
Teaching:
The Pope is the highest spiritual leader of the Catholic Church all over the world. One of
his titles is ‘Pontifex Maximus’, the ‘greatest pontiff’. But the etymology of the Latin word
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‘pontifex’ means ‘bridge-builder’ (‘pons’ + ‘facere’). Following the historical Jesus who has
crossed borders of culture, politics, races, the Pope is indeed a bridge-builder, building
bridges and reaching out to the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed and those who feel
alienated from the church (e.g. the divorced, the victims of abuse, the lesbians and gays,
etc.).Pope Francis has also witnessed to a different kind of ‘maximus’. His greatness is shown
in his humility and simplicity. His first act as Pope is to bow and ask people to pray for him
instead of blessing them. He has also tried to shed off the traditional symbols of “power” of
the papacy and tries to live as simply as he can probably be. (Facilitator can check the
internet for news and articles about the Pope, e.g. in Vatican News or CNN).
Bible Sharing:
Let us allow the Word of God to deepen our understanding of the role of the Pope.
Perhaps the best biblical person to help us reflect is Peter, our first `pope`, the first leader of
the Christian faith community when it started after the death of Jesus. In this bible text, we
see the most important characteristic of the most important leader of the Catholic Church.
(Start with a song...then read the text -John 21: 15-17- twice, from two different versions
or languages. Give some silent moments after each reading. Then ask the following
questions in plenary after some moments of silence...Ask each group to share about the two
questions below. After 15 minutes of sharing, bring the group to share in plenary.)
1. What could be the deeper reason why Jesus is emphasizing this question of love?
2. How would you know that the `shepherding` of a church leader is coming from a deep
love for Jesus?
3. Do you see in Pope Francis this deep love for Jesus? In what ways do you see it?
Praying the Word:
We know that this bible text is not just for the Popes but also for every follower of Christ.
Let us also allow the Living Word to touch us and to challenge us.
I will mention prayerfully and meditatively the phrases from the conversation between
Jesus and Peter. After each phrase, let us have 2 minutes of silence to allow these living
words to speak to us. After 2 minutes, I will invite a few of you to respond - a prayer of
thanksgiving or a prayer of petition. There are six phrases I would repeat.
"Simon, son of John, do you love me?" (2 minutes of silence...some prayer responses)
"Feed my lambs." (2 minutes of silence...some prayer responses)
"Simon, son of John, do you love me more than this?" (2 minutes of silence...some
prayer responses)
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"Tend my sheep." (2 minutes of silence...some prayer responses)
"Do you love me?" (2 minutes of silence...some prayer responses)
"Lord you know everything; you know that I love you." (2 minutes of silence...some
prayer responses).
(End with a closing song.)
LIVE:
Answer the following questions in dyads, after which ask those who are willing to share
in plenary.
1. What has impressed you about this Pope?
2. How has he inspired you as a Christian?
PRAYER:
End the session by praying for the Pope. It will be good to have a picture of the Pope
while people offer up a prayer for him. End with a closing song.
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SESSION 2: THE POPE AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
INTRODUCTION:
Greetings
Opening Prayer or song
January is nearing and the Catholic Church is excitedly preparing for coming of the Pope!
Last session, we started our preparation by getting to know more about the Pope and the
papacy. In this session, we hope to deepen our knowledge about the Pope and we pray that
this knowledge may not only inspire us but challenge us as well.
LIFE:
Share some popular stories about the Pope that came out in the media (e.g. giving
sandwich to and asking his Swiss guard to rest; eating with Vatican employees in the canteen;
washing the feet of women, Moslem, prisoners and disabled during Holy Thursday, etc.).
Read these stories like a news report.
After the “news report”, ask the people if there were other such stories that they know
about Pope Francis. After the story-telling, ask them the following questions:
1) What surprised you about this Pope?
2) What kind of leader/church leader does he give witness to?
Ask people to share in small groups of 3s or 4s. After 15 minutes of sharing, ask for some
answers in plenary.
WORD OF LIFE:
Let us listen to the living Word of God to once again make clear to us what should be the
character of church leaders. Read John 13: 4-17.
It would be good if every person in the group reads a verse each until the whole text is
read twice. Observe a moment of silence to allow the Word of God to take root in our hearts.
Then use the Vigan Lectio Divina Method: Ask people to put a straight line on a word or
phrase that encourages and inspires them and put a broken line on a word or phrase that
disturbs them or that they feel uneasy with. We ask people to dialogue with the Word of God
in this way during 5 minutes of silence.
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After the silence, ask people to share in small groups about the words that encouraged
them and the words that disturbed them. Give 15-20 minutes for the sharing.
In this bible text, we see the most important character of a leader and the only
expectation Jesus has of those who follow him - to lead is to serve and to give witness to
what one talks about.
Teaching:
Following Jesus who gives an example of a leader who lives what he preaches, Pope
Francis in his first Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (Joy of the Gospel) shows how
his words became the mirror of his life of joyful discipleship and humble service.
His love for God and the joy this love brings to him is the opening statement of his first
apostolic exhortation: “The joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter
Jesus!” His warmth and affection, which is part of what has been popularly called ‘Francis
Effect’, must have arisen from this experience of God’s renewing love.
As we have seen in the stories/news reports we shared at the start of our session, Pope
Francis in reaching out to the marginalized and those alienated from the church has
witnessed to a new kind of Church he mentions in EG # 47: “The Church is called the house
of the Father, with doors wide open. One concrete sign of such openness is that our Church
doors should always be open, so that if someone comes there looking for God, he or she will
not find a closed door. The Church is not a tollhouse; it is the house of the Father, where
there is a place for everyone, with all their problems. ”
His simple lifestyle shown also in the way he slowly renews the image of Pope from a
person of power to a person of humble service, also reflects the type of Church he warns us
against in EG #97: ”God save us from a worldly church with spiritual and pastoral trappings!
This stifling worldliness can only be healed by breathing in the pure air of the Holy Spirit who
frees us from self-centeredness cloaked in outward religiosity bereft of God. Let us not allow
ourselves to be robbed of the Gospel!”
LIVE:
Inspired by Pope Francis, think of a person you want to share the joy of the Gospel with
this week. After a few moments of silent reflection, say: It will be good to share with the
person sitting next to you about this particular person. By articulating it to someone, it also
becomes a commitment.
PRAYER:
Let us end our session by giving reverence and showing our commitment to the Gospel
of Jesus that is the source of our joy and hope and courage. The word of God will be passed
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around and as it reaches you, spend a few moments of silence as you show in a gesture your
reverence and commitment to the living Word of God. (Meditative music accompanies this
prayer moment…End with closing prayer and song.)
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SESSION 3: THE POPE AND THE CHURCH IN THE PHILIPPINE
INTRODUCTION:
Greetings
Opening prayer/song
This is our third session to prepare for the Papal visit which is just in two months' time!
In the first two sessions, we got to know more about Pope Francis. In this session, we want
to focus on his visit to our country. Why don't we role play this visit?
Let us imagine: if Pope Francis is coming to the country, what do you want him to see?
LIFE:
Put people in small groups. Give each group 3-5 placards. Ask them to write in the
placards what they want Pope Francis to see, to notice, to observe when he comes to the
Philippines. After 10 minutes of preparation, do the role playing: someone dresses up as
Pope Francis and as he passes by, people will be shouting and greeting him and showing
their placards to him.
After the role playing, ask other questions in plenary:
1. How did you feel about the role play?
2. What kind of things do we want the Pope to notice about our country?
3. How do you feel about these things that we want the Pope to notice about our
country? Why do you feel that way?
WORD OF LIFE:
It is a good time to reflect about the Pope’s visit to the country as we celebrate in a few
days a very special feast of our Church – the Feast of Christ the King. This is a good time not
just to talk about Pope Francis but to enter more deeply into prayer as we focus on the
Leader that Pope Francis follows, the Leader that all of us are following, namely Jesus.
Getting to know Pope Francis hopefully has inspired us even more to love and follow Jesus.
Let us take a text that tells us who Jesus the King is. Perhaps we will recognize in this
text the person of Pope Francis as we have known him as a faithful follower of Jesus.
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Read Matthew 25: 31-46. Read dialogically – one group as translator, one group as Jesus,
one group as ‘people on the left’ and one group as ‘people on the right’. A few moments of
silence…
Praying The Word:
Bring out Manila papers with title placards – ‘hungry’, ‘thirsty’, ‘naked’, ‘in prison’. Ask
people to put cutouts (from newspapers, if facilitator can provide) or draw or write words on
the Manila paper where they find hungry, thirsty, naked, prisoners in our society today. After
20 minutes of doing so, do a gallery walk. Ask people to walk around the Manila paper
collage and silently reflect on these situations in our society.
After a few minutes of gallery walk, a reflection follows.
Let us reflect in a deeper way about these posters. Perhaps, these are not just situations
in our society, but they could also be situations about us. Perhaps we too hunger. We too
thirst for something. We too feel naked. We too are in some sort of prison or another. Let us
reflect in a few moments of silence, where among these situations do we feel we can relate
with?
Let us have a few moments of silence while people walk around. Meditative music helps.
When people have found their place among the posters, reflect…
Let us spend a few more moments of silence where you find yourself in. Why are we
here? How did we get here? What is God teaching us in this situation?
After a few moments of silence…invite people who are standing on the same placard
title to share briefly why they are standing in that place…Share only in groups of 3s or 4s.
Give 15-20 minutes for sharing.
After sharing, ask people to link hands. Ask them to pray silently for the people on their
left, then for people on their right. Then the facilitator finishes the prayer by praying
spontaneously for healing for all. End the prayer with an appropriate song.
Sacrament of Reconciliation (If it is possible…)
Maybe we have also been the cause why some people are hungry, thirsty, naked or in
prison. Let us spend a few moments reflecting on these: Have we been the cause why some
people – in our own family, in our office, in school, in our neighborhood, in our society – are
hungry, thirsty, naked, in prison? Some moments of silence, meditative music helps….
Sacrament of Reconciliation follows…If there is no priest available, perhaps a simple
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ritual of asking for forgiveness can follow.
Teaching:
Our prayerful reflection on this beautiful gospel prepares us inwardly for the Papal Visit
because the theme of his visit is “Mercy and Compassion”. (This teaching is lifted from
“Pastoral letter to Prepare the People of God for the Apostolic Visit of Pope Francis” issued
in the name of the Bishops by CBCP President Archbishop Socrates Villegas).
“The underlying spirit of this Papal visit is the theme of ‘mercy and compassion’. Our
compassionate shepherd comes to show his deep concern for our people who have gone
through devastating calamities, especially in the Visayas. He comes to confirm us in our faith
as we face the challenges of witnessing to the joy of the Gospel in the midst of our trials.
From Pope Francis’ teaching, two aspects of mercy may be singled out: The mercy and
patience of God towards sinners are made manifest in Jesus. “God is there always, always
waiting for us; he never grows tired. Jesus shows us the merciful patience of God.” And “this
patience of God calls forth in us the courage to return to him, however many the sins and
mistakes there may be in our lives.”
Secondly, we encounter Jesus in living out his own compassion and mercy towards our
brothers and sisters in need and poverty, in suffering, loneliness, in hopelessness. “To meet
the living God, we must tenderly kiss the wounds of Jesus in our hungry people, in the sick
and in imprisoned brothers and sisters. Like the apostle Thomas, our life will only be
changed when we touch Christ’s wound present in the poor, the sick, the needy. The path to
our encounter with Jesus is his wounds. There is no other.”
LIVE:
Let us continue preparing for the visit of Pope Francis through our acts of mercy and
compassion. Perhaps the best way also to worship and hail Christ as our King is to imitate
what he did. Can we think of someone we know (or even strangers) who are hungry, thirsty,
naked, in prison and what can we do for them as our way of witnessing that Christ is our
King? Spend a few moments of silence to reflect on our responses…after a few minutes, bring
the group into a closing prayer where the facilitator invites people to pray spontaneously for
other people they want to reach out to or for graces they need to be able to respond to such
a challenge. End with an appropriate closing song.
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SESSION 4: THE POPE AND US
INTRODUCTION:
Greetings
Opening Prayer/song
It is good to end our preparation for the Pope’s Visit during this Christmas Season. Not
only does it give a special flavor to Christmas but the Papal Visit adds excitement to
Christmas! That is why after our final session we will have a little Christmas party!!!
LIFE:
Christmas is always a special time. In our malls, Christmas carols started playing on Sept.
1! Let us start our session by singing Advent songs. Let these songs become the spirit of our
final session. We are awaiting not just the coming of the Pope but the rebirthing of Jesus in
our midst.
Singing of Advent songs/Christmas carols.
WORD OF LIFE:
For our Word of Life, let us reflect on the popular text of the Beatitudes. We recognize
that we are a blessed people not because the Pope will visit us at the start of next year but
because God has been with us throughout the whole year – through our joys and pains,
through our triumphs and failures, through thick and thin.
One person reads the text: Matthew 5: 1-12. As another person reads the text a second
time, placards containing a short phrase (one ‘blessed’ verse) from the text is spread on the
floor (like a map). After doing so, invite people to walk around, stopping on each phrase and
spending a few moments of silence in front of this placard, until they have gone through
every ‘blessed’ phrase.
After everyone has gone through all the phrases, invite people to stand before the ONE
phrase that touches them at this time. Invite people to spend a few more minutes of silence
in front of this phrase so that they can dialogue with what God wants to tell them about this
phrase.
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After a few moments of silence, invite those who are standing around the same phrase
to share why they are there. Share only in small groups of 3s or 4s. After about 15 minutes of
sharing, ask people to pray the Word of God by mentioning the ‘blessed’ phrase that has
touched them and praying about it. After every 3 prayers, sing: “Thy Word is a lamp unto my
feet and a light unto my path…”
Teaching:
The Papal Visit in January 2015 coincides with the second Philippine Conference on New
Evangelization (PCNE). PCNE was conceptualized to put into practice the first apostolic
exhortation of Pope Francis Evangelii Gaudium. The theme of the second PCNE is ‘Blessed
Are You!” Let us reflect on this teaching to celebrate the blessedness of our lives in God as
we prepare spiritually for Christmas and join the Catholic Church in the Philippines as it
prepares to renew our Church through the direction-giving PCNE.
(This teaching is lifted from the concept paper of PCNE 2 written by Cardinal Luis
Antonio G. Tagle.)
“Jesus proclaims eight times what blessedness, full happiness or perfect joy consists in.
He begins his evangelizing ministry by announcing blessedness in God’s Kingdom. Two main
features of the Beatitudes we can dwell on: the Foundation of Blessedness and the Path to
Blessedness.
The Foundation of Blessedness: Blessedness is a fruit of God’s action that Jesus affirms
and promises. Belonging to God’s reign is a good summary of God’s actions that make us
blessed: God will console, will satiate, will be merciful, will give land, will manifest God’s face,
and will call them children. To be blessed is to see, hear, touch and experience God’s ruling
one’s life.
The Path to Blessedness: It is clear that blessedness is a grace, a gift and action of God.
Jesus indicates the path that leads us to God’s blessedness. Poverty of spirit speaks of one’s
needs for and dependence on God, as against self-sufficiency. Mourning is crying with others
as against hardness of heart and egoism. Meekness allows others to grow and live, as
against dominating them. Thirst for justice seeks for right relationships with others, as
against indifference and manipulation. Mercy makes one stop to help a needy neighbor and
to forgive, as against blindness and pride. Peacemaking is taking steps for love to triumph, as
against sowing seeds of hatred. Blessedness involves serious human tasks, responsibilities
and conversion. The path to blessedness is that of freedom to love and serve especially the
least. True blessedness is the freedom promised to God’s children and those who allow
God’s reign in them.”
PRAY:
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Ask people to think of a person – family, friend, neighbor, or stranger – to whom they
could be a blessing during this Christmas season. Share about this Christmas intention to a
small group or to the whole group so that it becomes a commitment. Put our intention into
prayers of petition. Sing a chorus of an advent song as a response to all the prayers,
reminding ourselves that Jesus comes and is born again when we become a blessing to
others.
LIVE:
This is our last meeting to prepare for the Papal Visit. Maybe we could share on what we
can do to prepare individually and as a faith community for the Pope’s visit as well as for the
Philippine Conference on New Evangelization.
Let us share in small groups for a few minutes then go to plenary sharing. End with
closing prayer or song.
End the Papal Formation Sessions by having a Christmas Party!!!
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PAPAL VISIT JANUARY 2015 FORMATION PROGRAM Designed for small group settings at the neighborhood/BEC, chapel, parish, diocesan levels Objectives:
1) To be informed and to know more about the Pope/Papal Visit 2015 2) To reflect at a personal and communal level the meaning and the challenges presented by this Papal visit 3) To experience community dialogue, prayer and solidarity 4) To introduce the 2015 Philippine Conference on New Evangelization ( PCNE)
Session Flow THE POPE (1.5 hour session, end-
September)
THE POPE AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
(1.5 hour session, end-October)
THE POPE AND THE PHILIPPINE CHURCH
(Recollection Format,4 hrs, November, Christ the King)
THE POPE AND US ( Session and Christmas
Fellowship, December, 4 hrs)
Life Quiz Bee among small groups: basic info about the Pope
Popular Stories about Pope Francis, e.g. giving a sandwich and a seat to his Swiss guard, etc.
Role play: The Pope is coming to the Philippines, what do you want him to see? Write in placards...
Singing Advent/Christmas Songs Intro Christmas as blessed time
*Word of Life **TEACHING
*`Do you love me` ...John 21: 15-17 - use silent meditation and response **Office of Papacy
*Jesus washing disciples` feet (John 13: 4-15) - use Vigan Lectio Divina ** Evangelii Gaudium
*Whatever you do to the least...Mt. 25: 31-46) - prayer meeting format or Sac. of Reconciliation ** Theme of Papal Visit : Mercy and Compassion
*Beatitudes (Mt.5: 1-12) - use Text Map ** Theme of PCNE: Blessed are You!
Live What impresses you about the Pope? How does he inspire you as a Catholic?
Think of a person with whom you would like to share the joy of the Gospel this week.
(See Prayer Ritual above) How do you become a blessing to others during this Christmas season?
Prayer Praying for the Pope Bible is passed around in silence, each person having a few seconds to show through a gesture reverence and commitment
(See Prayer Ritual/Sacrament of Reconciliation above)
Take the `blessed` phrase that you chose for bible sharing and place under the crib
