Transcript Slide 1

See Anew: Just Living
A New Perspective
See again! Look closely.
Perspectacles.
We are indebted
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Catholic Agency for Overseas
Development - CAFOD
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Great Britain
Launched
And to Catholic Relief Services here in
the U.S.
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Joy of the Gospel
LiveSimply
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Network of Catholics & others
Challenge us to
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Live more simply
Sustainably
In solidarity with the world’s poor
Encourage others to do the same
Teach about this in your parish
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Joy of the Gospel
The plan today
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How can we deal with the stress
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of our complex lives?
of all the troubles with the environment?
and of our knowledge of the suffering
people of the world?
How can we help others?
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The answer?
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The Joy of Just Living
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Joy of the Gospel
Perspective
Based on this book
The Joy of the
Gospel:
Group Reading Guide

Twenty-Third
Publications
The Joy of Just Living
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Set of online resources
All on one landing page
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A landing page is a location on a web site
where all the various elements of a product
are found
14 “steps”
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Prayerful
Shared or alone
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Joy of the Gospel
The Joy of Just Living
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In response to Pope Francis’
monumental apostolic exhortation
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The Joy of the Gospel
2013
Some really important
& tough
questions for us
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Pope Francis
His agenda for the church
from
The Joy of the Gospel
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Joy of the Gospel
Two quick points
First, regarding this whole
idea of JOY
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Joy
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Not an emotion
Not the same as “feeling happy”
Joy is knowledge that comes only
through faith
What do we know?
What does faith teach us?
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Faith allows us to “know” that…
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Light is stronger than darkness
Love is stronger than hate
Peace is stronger than violence
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We can see through to the end
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There will be resurrection
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Life is stronger than death
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We know…
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Self-giving love
Giving ourselves and our stuff
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for the benefit of the poor and vulnerable
is what leads to true and deep joy
Clinging to our stuff leads to
unhappiness and isolation
Second
Regarding this whole idea of
quoting the Pope all the time
Just to be clear
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The leadership of Pope Francis
But remember:
The Church is not the Pope alone
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It is
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Pope Francis speaks for us
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His word is being received well
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the People of God
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Joy of the Gospel
Pope Francis
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Reflects the truth and goodness which
is within us all
We receive his words gladly
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Because they seem so true to us:
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Mercy and compassion
A heart for the poor
The call to draw near to Christ
A desire to bring people together
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Now
A quick biography of
Pope Francis
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His family
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Born December 17,
1936
Oldest of 5 children
His dad a railroad
worker
His mom stayed at
home
Middle class folks
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Joy of the Gospel
Quick biography
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Taught literature, psychology and
philosophy
Trained as a chemist
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Brief stint as a nightclub bouncer
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Joined the Jesuits
Ordained in 1969
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What is an Apostolic Exhortation?
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A form of papal teaching
Usually a response to a synod of
bishops
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In this case Pope Francis mentions a synod
But moves on to a wider agenda
Written in personal terms
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Very much in Pope Francis’ own voice
Stresses the major themes of his papacy
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What are the questions
Pope Francis asks
in The Joy of the Gospel?
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Joy of the Gospel
The call
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Live more simply
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What prevents this?
The call
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Live in ways that are
sustainable on the earth
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What prevents this?
The call
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Live in solidarity with the
poor & suffering
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What prevents this?
This is all connected to
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A brilliant Encyclical Letter
From Pope Paul VI
in 1967
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Populorum Progressio
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On the Progress of the Peoples
of the World
Let’s take a quick look
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What do people want?
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Freedom from poverty
Security
Enough to eat
Good health & insurance
A steady job
Less oppression
Education
Article 6
This is reasonable
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What people want is reasonable
And we believe it’s also what God wants
for every human being
But inequality is so widespread
It’s hard to see it any longer
We rich
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We’re so comfortable
So well fed
So secure
We’re like the Israelites in Egypt
We can’t see that we’re in slavery
And we want to remain where we are
Urgency!
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The seriousness and
urgency of these
teachings must be
recognized without
delay.
(Populorum 3)
We must make haste.
Too many people are
suffering. (Populorum 29)
The voice of a prophet
Knowing as we do
that development
means peace these
days…
what person would
not want to work
for it with every
ounce of their
strength? (Populorum 87)
Justice, not charity
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You are not making a gift of what is yours to
a poor person,
but you are giving him or her back what is
theirs.
You have been using things that are meant
for the common use of everyone.
The earth belongs to everyone, not to the
rich.
(Populorum 23)
Radical call…
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We must all examine our consciences
Are we prepared to support projects
designed to help the needy?
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Are we prepared to pay higher taxes
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From our own resources?
To expand public works of development?
Will we pay more for goods
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So foreign producers are paid fairly?
A high calling
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The person who has the
goods of this world
and sees their brother
or sister in need
and closes their heart
to them,
how does the love of
God abide in them?
(1 John) (23)
The fall of 1983
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Guatemala
Santa Tomas
A woman with a
bushel of corn
The rain was
coming…
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Ten days later…
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Back in Minnesota
Driving out of St Peter
Up a hill on Hwy 99 over to New Ulm
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Large farm truck
Filled with corn
…on the road
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a bushel or two of corn?
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We forget
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We forget how rich we really are.
We think of ourselves as being middle class
Having modest homes
A couple of cars
A closet full of clothes and shoes,
 Yes,
 But we do give to Good Will regularly…
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We need a new perspective
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Look at what you own
See it for what it really is!
For example,
the kitchen in our house…
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Slideshow
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Food
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Nearly everyone we know has enough to eat
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80% of people worldwide
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live on less than $10 per day
24,000 children die each day of starvation or
illness that could be prevented
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We spend about $79 million on weight loss programs
per day in the United States
Most die in rural villages, unseen
Many have siblings who have also died
27% of children are underweight or stunted
Data: UN Children’s Fund
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Slideshow
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Health care
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When we’re sick here, we go to the hospital.
10.6 million children worldwide die before age 5
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Equal to all kids in France, Germany, Greece and Italy,
combined
2.2 million children die each year because they
are not immunized
When combined with lack of food, this is a real
killer.
Data: UN Children’s Fund
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Slideshow
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Water
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Nearly every home in the US has a flush
toilet and clean drinking water
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In the middle ages
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You turn on the tap and water comes out
No toilets or clean water
In one village…
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2.6 billion people live like this
Data: UN Children’s Fund
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Slideshow
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Education
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Everyone here goes to school
72 million children ages 4-12 were not in
school this year
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57% were girls
Many children drop out to work in order to
support their family
Schools have few or no books
Data: UN Children’s Fund
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
How to help
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Catholic Relief Services
Catholic Charities
Common Hope (commonhope.org)
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Local initiative to help the poor
CommonHope.org
Building a middle class in Guatemala
Creative solutions are what +Francis wants us
to search for
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Vatican II Center
Do you need numbers?
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80% of resources are used by 20% of
the people
We eat more than twice what we need
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we’re fat!
$60 billion trying to lose weight!
Water – 2.6 gallons per day in the
developing world
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for us: one flush
Pope Francis
A poor church,
for the poor
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Joy of the Gospel
Ready & Willing
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We must be ready and willing to take the
part of the poor
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to love them and include them in our
economic systems (#186-215)
in a word, to be a poor church, for the poor
(#198)
to reject “the new idolatry of money” in the
world (#55-58)
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Joy of the Gospel
A church for the poor
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We pay close attention to every move
in the stock market,
but when our sisters and brothers lay
dying in the streets
it’s not really news any longer.
The Joy of the Gospel 53
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Joy of the Gospel
What does Pope Francis want?
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He wants us to examine our consciences
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He wants us to get to work on helping the
poor & vulnerable
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Don’t be too easy on yourself!
Learn to love them
Receive them as we would receive Christ
He wants us to support public policy that is
“inclusive of the poor”
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What does Pope Francis want?
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He wants the church itself to move away
from sumptuous display
He wants clergy to be “out in the streets”
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To reach out to all
To live simply
As a model for all of us
“Being named a cardinal is not a promotion
but a call to greater service.”
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We need to exercise!
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Yes, grace is with us
And yes, God can do all things with us
BUT on our part…
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We must cooperate with this grace
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Spiritual exercises help us
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They guide us to a lifestyle
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They create a pattern of HOLY
living
The Joy of Just Living
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14 exercises
To be shared or used
alone
Leading to a change in
how we live
An open heart for the
poor
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Joy of the Gospel
The Joy of Just Living
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Each exercise has an
opening prayer
Invites you to SEE what is
around you
No judgments
Simply take it to the cross
PastoralPlanning.com │ The Joy of the Gospel
The steps in
The Joy of Just Living
1. Commit yourself to walk this walk!
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Become familiar with our teachings
Listening Prayer
2. Determine your own Core Priorities, your
personal choices in life, love, and work.
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Write a personal statement
3. Do an inventory of everything you've got.
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Very Challenging
We provide the worksheets
The steps in
The Joy of Just Living
4. Examine your commitments in life: which
connect to your core work?
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We are soooooo busy!!
5. Be conscious of what makes you happy.
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We have an inborn sense of direction
6. Be aware of people whose basic needs are
not being met in today's world.
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Meet the poor and suffering – study!
The steps in
The Joy of Just Living
7. Know what you consume.
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And what you throw away
8. Be conscious about your money.
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Tough exercise
9. Meet the actual Earth!
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Get your hands dirty
The steps in
The Joy of Just Living
10. Do a "media & communications audit“
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Ease out of media…
11. Choose ways to reduce consumption.
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Making commitments
12. Purge your stuff: closets, drawers & attics.
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Give from your own best things
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Without replacing them
The steps in
The Joy of Just Living
13. Become aware of what you plan to
buy next.
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We all have an internal list
Mindfulness is the key
14. Join with others in this process.
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There is strength in numbers
Make this a parish process
To get started
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Go to
PastoralPlanning.com
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On the home page
 Find the blue menu on your left
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Click on
SPREAD THE JOY
A small town…
A wise old woman
Some young folks
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The LiveSimply prayer
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Compassionate and loving God
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you created the world for us all to share
a world of beauty and plenty.
Create in us a desire to live simply
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so that our lives may reflect your
generosity
Prayer, continued
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Creator God,
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you gave us responsibility for the earth
a world of riches and delight.
Create in us a desire to live sustainably
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so that those who follow after us
may enjoy the fruits of your creation.
Prayer, continued
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God of peace and justice,
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Create in us a desire to act in solidarity
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you give us the capacity to change
to bring about a world that mirrors your
wisdom
so that the pillars of injustice crumble
and those now crushed are set free.
Amen!
Based on this book
The Joy of the
Gospel:
Group Reading Guide


Twenty-Third
Publications
Booths 146-150