Any Way Saturday
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isaiah visits poor neighborhood of shreveport LA
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City-building effort of the People of Praise
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Several years ago, the People of Praise [an ecumenical Christian covenant community] sought the Lord for direction. The issue was one of 'what to do' and 'where to do it' - the result is a 'miracle' on Yale Street and the surrounding neighborhood in the Allendale section of Shreveport Louisiana. It is in one of the poorest areas in the northern part of the state.

Each Spring and Summer since 2002, over a hundred high-school age, and college age, and older adults, flock to the heat of this overlooked area of the city and perform work for the residents - they fix, repair, paint, build new. Additionally, this is not just a 'good thing' to do on spring break or summer vacation, a number of families from People of Praise branches around the country have actually moved into the neighborhood permanently.

This past year, a couple of young men who were working and living there from the People of Praise wrote their own version of a passage from Isaiah. It became so popular that a local pastor used it as a jumping-off point for his Sunday service.

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[ 6:21 ] ... and I think it is worth every second



'CLICK' on the > above and marvel at the Lord's handiwork
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Read more about Allendale here.
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duh ... gee, i didn't know that
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Adult formation, or more specifically 'continuing formation, is a hot topic these days in most parishes. Some parishes are good at promoting and providing substantive formation opportunities. Some parishes are good at the providing, but fall short on the promoting. Some parishes do neither very well.

The results, good and bad, are usually plainly evident. Just jump around the blog-o-sphere awhile and you'll see glaring examples of both. Look around you in the pews on Sunday. Even there you will see a variety of participation in, or attendance at, the weekly liturgy - good and bad. And where bad prevails, the priests are sometimes as much in the dark as are the folks in the pews.

Our Bishops need to do a much better job in priestly formation and continuing formation. From there it may trickle, or flow, down to the people in the pews. For example, what about the holding of hands during the praying of the Lord's Prayer - do they do that in your church? Does it seem to be almost 'required'? Does the priest do it, too?

There are many other opportunities to see us at our ignorant worst, not just at mass. What about our understanding of most contraceptives acting as an abortifacient? Do people even know what the issue is?

We can go on and on and on. The reality is that we all need good opportunities to learn the facets of our church's teachings - the teachings of Christ.
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Would you care to share things you see in your parish that are good and/or bad. What do you see that suggests formation is lacking? What does your parish do that is good? Share your observations so we all benefit and perhaps help things get better where we reside and worship.
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