Pope Benedict XVI has proclaimed October 2012 to November 24, 2013 as the “Year of Faith”. As we consider ways to grow and deepen in our personal and communal faith experience it is helpful to seek reliable guides. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has many resources available on their website that can be used. The site is www.archphila.org. Here you will find weekly posts by Archbishop Charles Chaput calling us to a deeper faith.

Archbishop Chaput’s introduction to the Year of Faith:
In leading us into the Year of Faith, which began October 11, Pope Benedict calls on each of us as believers to “rediscover [God’s] joy,” to “radiate [God’s] word,” and to make our Christian witness “frank and contagious.”

Now those are wonderful words, but how do we actually live them? We need to begin by realizing that we’re not being asked to do the impossible – only the uncomfortable and inconvenient.
Benedict is asking us to examine our hearts and our habits of life without excuses or alibis. He’s asking us to tear down the cathedral we build to ourselves, the whole interior architecture of our vanities, our resentments and our endless appetites, and to channel all the restless fears and longings of modern life into a hunger for the Holy Spirit. If you think that sounds easy or pious, try it this week.

Links to other dioceses:

Diocese of Buffalo: www.buffalodiocese.org. Click on Year of Faith button on sidebar.  "Go and Make Disciples".

Diocese of Ogdensburg, go to: http://www.northcountrycatholic.org. Under Top Stories there are three links with Year of Faith info. Their theme is "Taste again for the first time." 



Diocese of Charlotte, for info about the Year of Faith you have to go to their Diocesan News Paper at www.catholicnewsherald.com and click on "Year of Faith" link

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Archdiocese of Phila: www.archphila.org."Proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to all People" 



Archdiocese of NY: www.archny.org.

Diocese of Brooklyn: www.dioceseofbrooklyn.org, Year of Faith is on the home page

Diocese of Baltimore: www.archbalt.org.

Another resource to consider is the reflection booklet from Creative Communications for the Parish (creativecommunications.com). The booklet is entitled: Faith: It’s Your Story. It offers 4 sessions that could be used for a weekly, monthly or quarterly prayer service, faith sharing and personal reflection. Sessions are: Drawn to Faith; Faith Lost and Found; Transformed by Faith; The End is the Beginning.