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In a time of increasing concern about young adults’ reduced engagement in traditional organized religions, including Orthodox Christianity, it is vital to understand possible causes and ways to address them. The hypothesis of this thesis is that many factors are influencing parents to provide less intense and consistent Orthodox faith nurture than they themselves had received. This may, in turn, weaken the commitment of the next generation of young adults. The goal of the present work is to arrive at a deeper understanding of the attitudes, practices, and needs of contemporary Orthodox parents as they relate to faith nurture in their families, and to consider ways that parishes and the resources of the Orthodox jurisdictions in America could assist them. To this end, a literature review was undertaken, surveying relevant quantitative findings for both the overall American population and Orthodox-specific samples, significant writers in the Orthodox Holy Tradition, and experts in religious education and parenting. Drawing upon insights from these sources, the thesis hypothesis and related questions were then tested by means of primary research, which generated interview data from parents in an American Greek Orthodox parish and a comparison group in Greece. A consistent finding from the literature review is that parents play an important role in children’s faith development and the formation of religious identity. However, most Orthodox jurisdictions in America have not offered support explicitly focused on this role. Commentators point out that religious education in America has tended to emphasize information transmission to specific age constituencies, mainly children and youth. This departs from the holistic quality of traditional Orthodox education and has unintentionally caused parents to view themselves as ancillary to faith development. The interviews, in conjunction with quantitative results discussed in the literature review, support the hypothesis that today’s children are receiving less consistent Orthodox faith nurture than their own parents had experienced. Even among parents who express a strong desire to foster the love of God and the Church in their children, there are significant gaps in knowledge, motivation, and practice. Most participants shared specific needs for additional support. Results of this data analysis indicate that parents could be assisted most by efforts which help them strengthen the family as a faith nurturing system, repositioning and supporting parents as leaders in faith development. Suggestions for a strategic Orthodox initiative on family faith nurture (either inter- or intra-jurisdictional) are offered, along with recommendations for parishes and parents. The overall objective is to help the “little church” build spiritual capacity for the “great Church,” and for the family to ennoble its calling by being united not only in natural relationship but also in shared love of the Lord and the desire to do His will. If the family is the child’s first Church, and if the Church is to become the child’s true family, family and Church must work together to ensure that children develop the experiential basis and the relational strength that are needed to launch their journey toward theosis, drawing ever closer to God. This is what nurturing Orthodoxy today must mean.
The Catholic Voyage
Priests and Religious as Fruits of the Family2016 •
Find my article on Priests and Religious as fruits of the family in the Journal series above
What is Initiating Into the Christian Mysteries all about? Initiating into the Christian Mysteries contains the two parts in the implementation process of Christian Formation: Part I. The Escuela Catekumenal; and Part II. The Escuela Beatitudinal. The Escuela Catekumenal is the school of Christian faith, suited to those who wish to study about the Christian faith, especially those converts from other religions, the indecisive, lukewarm and far-away members who are determined to join the Church. The study of the faith is being made in the atmosphere of the Catechumenate reintroduced into the life of the Church by Vatican Council II in its document, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). The Catechumenal Program being undertaken by the Escuela Catekumenal ends with a final rite in the renewal of Baptism or of the Baptismal Promises, as the case may be, celebrated during the Paschal Vigil, and with a 50 day post-baptismal catechesis centered on the sacrament of the Eucharist. The Escuela Beatitudinal is the school of Christian life, instituted for those who wish to pursue further the instructions in the Christian life. It is open to all the baptized members or the faithful of the Church. The program has two components: 1) EDUCATION: Education in the way of becoming a servant of Yahweh by studying the teachings contained in the Sermon on the Mount, especially, the Beatitudes; and 2) TRAINING: Training into the three important states or vocations of Christian Life: i.e., marriage, ministry and mission. Why initiate? In order to make education and training in the Christian Faith and Life a gradual experience in accordance with the natural stages in the processes of growth, Christian Formation is done in the atmosphere of initiation. This kind of formation is in consonance with the law of Evolution or Hierarchy. How the initiation is going to be done? The stages of Evangelization, Pre-Catechumenal, Entrance to the Cathecumenate, Election and Renewal of Baptism are the components of the Initiation in the Faith; while the three grades of Illumination, Beatification and Sanctification are the components for the Education in the Christian Life. Who are the persons involved? A. Beneficiary – Members of other religious sects, the indifferent, lukewarm and far-away members, who are determined to leave their group in order to join the Church. B. Instructors – Those members of the church who have already matured in the Faith and had themselves undergone the stages of the growth in Christian Formation. When? Initiation will start in the Pre-Catechumenal Stage, although the call to join the community is done in the Evangelization or kerygmatic stage.
This essay is a sequel to a previous article on “The Object and Means of Catechesis in Contemporary Philippine Catechetical Magisterium,” published in the preceding issue of East Asian Pastoral Review. The first part presents concrete examples of catechetical programs and manuals that seek to apply the principle of integration expressed in Philippine magisterial documents, especially in the National Catechetical Directory for the Philippines of 1984 (NCDP) and its 2007 revised edition, the New National Catechetical Directory for the Philippines (NNCDP). These manuals under study are used primarily for family, parish, and school catechesis, respectively. The second part of this essay provides some recommendations directed towards the further improvement of catechesis in the Philippines.
This paper articulates the challenges facing the persons-with-disabilities (PWD) ministry within the Catholic Church, both local and universal. It further explores possibilities that the Church may consider looking into so that She may be a more inviting, healing, and reconciling community of faith, where a "culture of encounter" thrives. In the first part, we discern some cultural patterns of our Filipino spirituality and in so doing identify some characteristic of PWD ministry. We then present five major patterns of Filipino popular spirituality: the spirituality of the body, the spirituality of the many and the spirituality of celebration (Alejo), the spirituality of narratives and the spirituality of imperfections (Legaspi). My working thesis here is that if indeed the Filipino is inherently spiritual, then our Filipino PWDs share these typical Filipino spiritual characteristics too, individually and socially. In the second part we will affirm the fact that our Filipino spiritual culture already possesses vast grounds that are ripe for cultivating the "culture of encounter" that Pope Francis exhorts us to. We re-assert the fact that our own Filipino PWD socio-spiritual life is so ready to receive this "culture of encounter." The concluding part offers some practical considerations and/or recommendations to facilitate the work of planting the "culture of encounter" and the subsequent stewardship of these "gardens of encounter." These will ascertain that these initial fervors will not remain as concepts nor archived documents labelled as "Acts and Decrees" but be translated into the very fabric of the life of the Philippine Catholic Church where the "culture of encounter" with Christ perpetuates.
This article was written for an edited volume that was never published. It has not been revised since 2002.
Within Orthodox Christian literature, there exists a void of study and articulation regarding the authentic historical and theological understanding of the parish as a communion of persons whose personal sanctification creates a unity of essence, will, and activity in the image of the Holy Trinity. Without this understanding, parish communities cannot with full deliberateness and consciousness pursue the fullness of their salvific purpose as theandric arenas for love of neighbor unto socio-cultural sanctification. This void of study and articulation is rooted in two identifiable historical factors: 1) Parish communities developed in such a completely natural and synergistic manner with the historic family and secular social community that no need existed for its documentation; and 2) After 1500 years of stable synergy, the Industrial Revolution and the so-called Age of Enlightenment systematically destroyed the natural family and socio-cultural community thereby robbing the parish of a healthy societal context and potentially reducing it to a remnant parochial structure easily supplanted by various false communal identities. This study submits that only in the rediscovery, redefining, and actual practice of the parish community’s true essence in the image of the Holy Trinity, and its inherent need to manifest Trinitarian attributes (i.e. persons in true communion, proximity, and unconditional love), can the parish community experience the union of its will and activity in fulfillment of its true purpose, character, and identity. An experience deeply necessary in North American Orthodox Christianity today.
SCCs Website
Building the Church as Family of God: Evaluation of Small Christian Communities in Eastern Africa2020 •
Today there are over 180,000 Small Christian Communities (SCCs) in the Catholic Church in the nine AMECEA countries in Eastern Africa. This book treats the following 16 headings: • “SCCs in the Historical Perspective of 54 Years (1961 to 2015) in the AMECEA Region.” • “Quantitative Evaluation of the Growth of SCCs in the AMECEA Region.” • “Qualitative Evaluation of the Growth of SCCs in the AMECEA Region.” • “Three Case Studies of SCCs in Eastern Africa.” • “How SCCs Promote Reconciliation, Justice and Peace in Eastern Africa.” • “SCCs’ Contribution to the Praxis and Theology of the Church as Family of God in Eastern Africa.” • “Evaluation of the Impact of SCCs in the AMECEA Region.” • “Evaluation of the Influence of AMECEA’s SCCs in Africa and Around the World.” • “The Future is Now: Using the Internet to Promote SCCs in Africa and Around the World.” • “Promoting the Missionary Outreach of SCCs in the AMECEA Region.” • “SCCs’ Involvement in the New Evangelization in Eastern Africa.” • “SCCs Promote Family and Marriage Ministry in Eastern Africa.” . How SCCs Are a New Way of Being/Becoming Church in Eastern Africa." • ”How SCCs Are a New Pastoral Model of Church in Eastern Africa.” • “Future Challenges, Priorities and Actions for SCCs in the AMECEA Region.” • “General Conclusions: The Way Forward.”
International Journal of African Catholicism (IJAC)
Small Christian Communities (SCCs) Promote Family and Marriage Ministry in Eastern Africa2015 •
The nine AMECEA Countries participated in the III Extraordinary World Synod of Bishops on "The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization" in Rome from 5-19 October, 2014. In Eastern Africa Small Christian Communities (SCCs) were part of the consultation process and answered 11 of the 39 questions in the poll. Research on the 180,000 SCCs in Eastern Africa reveals that SCCs elect lay ministers/animators/coordinators for specific groups such as couples (married and engaged), youth and children and for specific pastoral ministries such as Catechesis, Justice and Peace, Religious Education, Sacraments and Spiritual/Religious Formation. A SCC is a communion of families. The SCC is an important support group for families and promotes a family culture. The SCC is both a place and a path for the pastoral care and evangelization of families and marriages. This praxis of SCCs in Africa is contributing to the development of the theology of the Church as Family of God. Now SCCs in the AMECEA Region are preparing for the XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the "The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and in the Contemporary World" to take place in Rome from 4-25 October, 2015 The meeting will ”seek working guidelines in the pastoral care of the person and the family.” We are challenged to continue to explore how SCC members and others can accompany families and couples who are wounded. This is the Ministry of Compassionate Accompaniment. This is part of the imperative for all Catholics to go to the margins of society to serve the poor, migrants and those without hope. Pope Francis also emphasizes the importance of welcoming, listening to and accompanying young people today. After the October, 2015 Synod of Bishops itself there will be an ongoing process involving collegiality and subsidiarity. There will be follow-up meetings and various commissions related to pastoral solutions to the challenges of family and marriage. Ongoing discussion and decision-making will take place on the local level through national episcopal conferences. Pope Francis is expected to issue a Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation with an ongoing plan of action that includes concrete pastoral solutions. SCCs help to promote this family and marriage ministry.
Buana Pendidikan: Jurnal Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan
Pelaksanaan Pembelajaran Braille Pada Siswa Tunanetra DI Kelas DI Taman Kanak-Kanak SLB a Ypab Surabaya2019 •
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<i>Cassia tora</i> Linn Cream Inhibits Ultraviolet-B-Induced Psoriasis in Rats2012 •
Classica Cracoviensia
Consonant Alliteration in Lucan's "Pharsalia", Books I–V2018 •
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics
Exporters’ Preferences over Import Protection Instruments when Markets are Volatile2016 •
Groundwater for Sustainable Development, Elsevier
Multi-contamination groundwater risk assessment based on integrated OSPRC framework considering receptor and consequence components2024 •