Faith Sharing Meetings
An Essential Part of the formation in FNM Spirituality
Communion of Life with Christ through Mary
The purpose of the formation of the members of the Families of Nazareth Movement is to help each participant grow in relationship with Jesus Christ and His Mother Mary. This lived experience of “Communion of Life with Jesus Christ through Mary” is nurtured through community at weekly group faith sharing meetings, monthly days of reflection when possible, Lenten and Advent retreats, and summer retreats. Individuals are encouraged to meditate daily with spiritual reading and to seek spiritual direction and confession with priests that serve the FNM when available.
Why Do We Meet Weekly?
By meeting often, a spiritual family is formed. Members help each other by providing spiritual support, accountability and structure in a way that counters the noisy secular world. Participants experience the sense of belonging by creating friendships that grow with time.
Why Do We Faith Share?
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20).
Faith sharing is a recounting of different experiences of our faith and how God is present in our lives. We look at daily events with our “eyes of faith,” also known as the Theology of Events.” St. Paul exhorts us in whatever we do, to do it “all for the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31) because God is always present with us. Recognizing this truth and sharing it with others affirms how much God loves us, building a relationship of trust. Daily devotions such as Mass and praying the Rosary, along with daily events like waking, eating, socializing, working, and sleeping, are infused with a Spirit of companionship. Faith sharing also has the purpose of helping us grow in humility, contrition, and holiness. This is a habit that goes back to the Old Testament: certain Psalms share or recount God’s intervention in the life of the one who prays, all sharing about God’s goodness and power: “You, yes you, O LORD, my God, have done many wondrous deeds! And in your plans for us there is none to equal you. Should I wish to declare or tell them, too many are they to recount” (Ps 40:6). St Paul encourages us to: “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks” (1Thes 5:16-18). He admonishes: “We should not stay away from our assembly, as is the custom of some, but encourage one another.” (Heb 10:25) We support one another to build each other up. The sinful woman at the well told the people in her town about her experience with Jesus: “Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, ‘He told me everything I have done’” (John 4:39-40)
What Is the Nature of Faith Sharing in the Weekly Meeting?
Faith sharing is neither a discussion nor a debate about matters of faith. It is not a place of judgement or a counseling session. By the light of God’s wisdom and truth we look for the manifestations and fruits of God working in our lives, using reliable materials such as Scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, writings of the Saints and trusted authors. It is God’s loving and saving intervention in our lives that is the subject of sharing. The most important aspects of the meeting are humble listening to one another, love and prayer for one another, and confidentiality within the group. The heart of sharing is to give glory to God for the wonderful things He has been doing in my life. God is glorified when I speak of His mercy and kindness. Through this, a sort of spiritual direction takes place. We allow ourselves to be formed in God’s ways as we encounter Him by seeing how He is working in each of us, sanctifying us in our daily events, allowing our individual relationships with Him to grow. Within the group, our thinking is being formed into thinking as God thinks.
How Our Faith Sharing Groups Provide Spiritual Direction
The purpose of reading and meditation on Sacred Scripture, and the texts of the Church and FNM, is to form and conform our thinking and
our desires to that of Jesus Christ. We do not invent God’s ways but rather learn about them while reading and meditating on the spiritual
materials and allowing them to enlighten our daily experiences and our understanding – or our lack of understanding – of them. This is how we let ourselves be formed and directed in my recognizing of God’s ways and responding to Him. Sharing with the group how the texts touch us helps the participants in the meeting see and realize some aspects of the readings which may have gone unnoticed. In this way, all are enriched through sharing. In faith sharing meetings we experience how God is loving, teaching, guiding, and drawing us closer to reliance on Him through the ordinary and often challenging events of our lives.
Through the group, the Holy Spirit through Mary is directing me to see how God’s love, mercy, and help are present and acting in the meeting, as well as in each moment of my life. I learn to allow my struggles to lead me to an ever-deeper dependency and trust in our extravagant Father in whom grace overflows for our every need.
The Format of the Weekly Meeting
The groups meet weekly for one hour. Meetings begin with an opening prayer, a reading of guidelines for sharing, and a joint reading of the
selected trusted materials for meditation. We then remain silent to reflect on what we have read, and to share, if desired, how the reading affects my understanding of the events or situations of my everyday life. The emphasis is not about information, but rather on formation, and my desire to be conformed to Christ.
Faith Sharing: it’s about formation, not information.
Faith sharing is an important part of our Catholic Faith. We are all at different places on our faith journey, but we can each share how God is present in our own life and how He is speaking to us through the everyday, ordinary events we are experiencing. This is why we stress the importance of sharing from the "I."
The faith-sharing time is not a time for discussion, teaching, or advising since we don't know where someone else is in their relationship with God. It is a wonderful opportunity to witness with others how God uses these ordinary events as a means of formation in growing closer to Him.
The following is a list of insights that come with faith-sharing:
When I share from the "I," it is a witness to myself and to others that God is present in my life.
When I share, God can be using me as a messenger of His love and mercy to someone else in the group who is going through an experience similar to mine.
When I listen to someone else who is sharing, I may not even understand what they are talking about, but a day, a week, or even a year later I might have the same experience – which may not have to be as difficult because God has prepared me through the other person's sharing.
Perhaps I can listen and understand what another person is sharing to such an extent that God knows that I have understood what He is saying, and, for that reason, I can be spared undergoing that exact experience.
By listening to the others share in the group, I am assured of God's loving action, and observe how uniquely God loves each of us as His most beloved child.
The grace given to someone who shares becomes a grace for all.
What is important is to attract grace, and this is only possible with the posture of humility.