Ascension Catholic Church | Small Christian Communities

	Small Christian Communities Welcome to this resource on Reflecting on God’s Word for small groups or for personal use. You will find herein a commentary on the readings for all the seasons of our liturgical year. For purposes of small groups, an agenda format is included which is very easy to follow. Each week’s material contains: Opening prayer Sharing-life question Commentary on each of the three Sunday readings Faith-sharing questions Suggestions for acting on the word during the week Ideally, small Christian communities are made up of 8 to 10 people who meet in homes or at the parish for about 1½ to 2 hours. Parishes have ongoing groups and seasonal groups that meet six weeks in the Fall and six weeks in the Spring (Lent). If you have questions on how to start a small group, please feel free to contact me. This resource is free to any group or anyone who wishes to use it. The best way to return the favor is to tell other parishes near and far, and other interested individuals, about it. If you use the material and like it, please consider letting me know. If you have any suggestion(s) on how it can be improved, I would be happy to hear from you. In Christ, Fr. Eamon Tobin tobin2@live.com 321-254-1595 x3070 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Fr. Eamon Tobin. Born and raised in Kilkenny, Ireland. Ordained to the priesthood in 1972 for the Diocese of Orlando, Florida, where he has since served as a parish priest. Currently serving as pastor of Ascension Catholic Church in Melbourne since 2001. Completed graduate studies at Loyola University in New Orleans and Duquesne University in Pittsburg, where he received a Masters Degree in Formative Spirituality. Published several books on spirituality, namely, The Sacrament of Penance; Help with Difficult Decisions; Prayer: A Handbook for Today’s Catholic; and How to Forgive Yourself and Others. Wrote a series of commentaries for the Sunday readings for all three cycles of the Liturgical Year, a valuable resource used by small study groups in his home diocese and other parts of the United States. Authored 28 articles/lessons on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, available for personal use or for small groups. He is presently working on reading guides for the books of the Bible. Fr. Eamon’s passion is studying the writings of scholars on the Catechism and the scriptures, and drawing on their insights to write user-friendly articles injected with pastoral wisdom and sensitivity gained from 38 years of working in a parish. Commentaries and Readings for Liturgical Years A, B, C Current Season Commentaries The following commentaries are available for SCC use: SCC Summer 2 2010- Cycle C: PDF format Large Print PDF format SCC Summer 1 2010- Cycle C: PDF format Large Print PDF format Resources When writing the materials for Small Christian Communities, the following resources were very helpful. Celebration Publications - Preaching Resources by Patricia Sanchez Foundations in Faith A, B, & C - by Resources for Christian Living - Allen, Texas Preaching the New Lectionary A, B, & C - Diane Bergant - Liturgical Press Living the Word, an annual publication by World Library Publications. Breaking Open the Lectionary, A, B, & C - Margaret Nutting Ralph - Paulist Press. Footprints on the Mountain - Roland Foley T.O.R. - Paulist Press Comentarios en español disponible aquí I am so blessed to be a member of a wonderful Small Christian Community who are good friends and are always concerned about each other, helping each other, and praying for each other. Recently, when I was in the operating room, the last thing I saw before I was put to sleep was the clock on the wall and it read 7:30 a.m. I knew at that moment that everything was going to be okay because I knew my SCC family was at the 7:30 morning Mass praying for me. I couldn’t be more blessed. --Mary Anne Shumaker