Lectionary-Based Publications

SUNDAY BY SUNDAY, for both adults and teens, is a four-page weekly that invites readers to the regular spiritual exercise of reflecting on the Sunday scriptures together. The material is suitable for a SCC, RCIA or a scripture study group and has four component elements: prayer, a pamphlet of commentary on the Sunday scripture, community sharing, and concludes with a call to service and justice. For teens the series offers the lectionary based The Spirit Program. The series can be purchased in annual or smaller units or simply in a seasonal package (Advent and Lent). Call 800-232-5533 or through the website: www.goodgroundpress.com.

Exploring the Sunday Readings is a four-page monthly publication that includes scripture reflections, faithsharing questions and a call to make a faith response for the particular Sunday. The approach is simple and direct with no frills. To order call Twenty-Third Publications at 800-321-0411 or visit their website www.twentythirdpublications.com.

Ministry Center for Catholic Community has a variety of excellent publications for faithsharing among small groups and parish adult formation. The lectionary-based materials include Advent and Lenten resources. They also offer bible- sharing resources for the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Their series Putting Faith into Practice covers work and leisure, Catholic spirituality, and Catholic social teaching. Contact the center at 206-763-6222.


RENEW International publishes the IMPACT series for the growth of SCCs. Each publication offers a faith-sharing
time with a rich diversity of topics designed to raise consciousness, deepen spirituality and instill action. Consider
purchasing a sample packet to get an overview of all their current resources.


You will find an excellent introduction to SCCs in a four-part video series called Parish Core Communities: Renewing
the Face of the Earth. Viewers explore the mission of SCCs through a historical overview and examine the relevance of SCCs to the Church in the 21st Century. The videos also highlight the major responsibilities of the parish core community and provide guidance for developing structures, a planning process and support materials for the ongoing pastoring of SCCs. A video guide provides brief summaries of the content of each video and offers faith-sharing questions that enhance the usefulness of the series. Suggested readings from the book Small Christian Communities: A Vision of Hope for the 21st Century are also included in the video guide.


Prayer Time, which covers all three cycles of the Liturgical Year, is appropriate for all groups because it is well suited to a short faith-sharing time period.


Share the Word presents devotional articles and scriptural material for personal or communal sharing, reflection and growth. Each edition provides guidelines, commentary and questions for faith-sharing all the Sunday scriptures in the liturgical cycle. The tone of its publications is evangelization as the essential component of our Christian life. For the weekday readings, a short meditation is offered to enrich the sense of the scripture. The devotional is available through Paulist National Catholic Evangelization Association by calling 202-832-5022 or visiting their website www.paulistpress.com.


Living Liturgy: Spirituality, Celebration and Catechesis for Sundays and Solemnities is a treasure for faith-
sharing in and of itself because it offers the entire text for the Sunday readings along with a commentary on the
scriptures and catechetical instruction. Living Liturgy provides a practical and prayerful means to reflect on, celebrate and live the paschal mystery. Each liturgical cycle is completely redone annually. To order call the Liturgical Press at 800-585-5450 or visit their website at www.litpress.org.

St. Louis University
This website offers many different perspectives on the Sunday readings. One of the perspectives offered is “The
Perspective of Justice.” Select the Sunday from the home page, select “Spirituality for Sunday” and then “The
Perspective of Justice.”


Center of Concern
The Center of Concern offers reflections on the Sunday readings from a justice perspective. The resource also offers questions for faith sharing groups.


Peace Connections
This website has peace and justice reflections for the Sunday readings for all three cycles. The documents are
available in Microsoft Word or pdf format.


8th Day Center for Justice
The 8th Day Center offers a downloadable guide for reflection “Toward a Spirituality of Justice.”


AT HOME WITH THE WORD – Sunday Scriptures and Scripture Insights
Useful for meditation on the Sunday scriptures by yourself or with others. Appropriate for every Sunday of the
Liturgical Year, it provides the three scripture readings and psalm as well as insights into the readings and
suggestions for reflection. Contact: Liturgy Training Publications www.ltp.org.


SHARING GOD’S WORD THROUGH THE YEAR – A Guide for Small Groups of Young Adults – Cycles A, B & C
Sharing God’s Word Through the Year helps young adults reflect on the Scripture and relate them to daily life in a small faith sharing group. It uses the Gospel readings from each Sunday as a springboard for reflection. A short historical-cultural commentary helps young adults understand the context of the Sunday readings. Each Sunday includes a story written by a young adult on the meaning of the gospel theme. The questions for discussion and sharing along with the action suggestions are geared to the needs and issues of people in their twenties. The binder is fully reproducible and ready to use in a variety of settings.
Contact: Center for Ministry Development 203-723-1622 www.cmdnet.org.

TOPICAL ISSUES

Prayer and Spirituality

CONNECTIONS: A Spirituality of Life and Work: A Paulist Ministry
A small group Paulist program designed to enhance the spirituality we live in the real world. The process is open to
use by Catholics and other Christians who want to help each other become more conformed to the image of Jesus
Christ. Contact: 512-452-7566 www.landings-international.org.


DISCIPLES IN PRAYER – A Resource for Faith Sharing
A resource helpful for private prayer, small faith-sharing groups, for all those at various stages of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, or for anyone who takes delight in understanding the Word at the center of Catholic faith and teaching. Contact: Oregon Catholic Press 503-281-1191 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Vatican II

Vatican II: Act II – An Adult Discussion Program. Rev. Robert L. Kinast’s four-part series guides the convener and
participant in the faith-sharing group whether seasonal, ministerial or SCC through documents of Vatican II. There is an abundance of material for nourishment and growth allowing participants to move beyond a level of personal
comfort and into new areas of ministry. The four titles in the series are: Work, Living in God’s World, Families, and
Called to Holiness. The latter is typical and explores the theme of spirituality as lived out in everyday circumstances
and families using the bible and liturgy to respond to God’s call to holiness. To order call the NPLC at 212-431-7825
or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Bible Study

EMMAUS JOURNEY – A Catholic Bible Study from the Word Among Us Press
This set of booklets incorporate reflection on Scripture passages around various important topics of personal
spirituality and discipleship. Each discussion topic is presented and reinforced by references to valuable Catholic resources. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it www.emmausjourney.org.

Catholic Social Teaching/Social Justice/Peace

Sharing the Tradition, Shaping the Future is a five-booklet series structured for faith-sharing on the basic themes
of Catholic social teaching. Its purpose is to enable adults to enter into and grow in awareness of the social justice
tradition of the Catholic Church. Topics include: Sharing Experience, Sharing the Tradition; Shaping the Future:
Family, Community and Participation; Dignity of the Human Person; Preferential Option for the Poor; and Solidarity
with the Poor. To order contact the USCCB Publishing Services at 800-235-8722 or visit their website at
www.nccbuscc.org/cchd/index.htm.

St. Andrew Society
A six- week Scripture study on hunger. You can order hard copies at a cost, but it is a free download from the
website. The website has other information about hunger and about gleaning programs and wasted food in our
country.

Just Faith
This is a year-long program modeled on the RCIA to empower people of faith to develop a passion and thirst for
justice. There is also a JustFaith II program which is aimed at skill development at justice work and advocacy.

Justice Walking
This is the youth and early college age version of JustFaith.

Catholic Campaign for Human Development
CCHD has five faith sharing booklets available for a nominal cost. The titles are Sharing the Tradition, Shaping the
Future; The Call to Family, Community and Participation; Dignity of the Human Person; Preferential Option For and
With the Poor; and Solidarity with the PoorEach booklet contains selected Scripture readings, reflections, focus questions and suggested group actions. They are available both in English and Spanish.

Dominican Justice and Peace Workbooks
The Peace and Justice Commission of the Dominican Order has produced five workbooks to assist their brothers
and sisters, and all concerned, to become more aware of the resources, the stories and the techniques for pursuing
justice and peace issues in our day. It is easier to navigate the text using the individual books rather than
downloading the whole file which needs to be unzipped.

Spirituality of Justice Reflections: Thirty Daily Reflections with Pope Benedict XVI
This is just one of the many resources from the Education for Justice website. Although this resource is mainly
intended for personal reflection, it could be easily adapted for use by a group.

Surefish- Act Justly
This contains an Act Justly I and II which can be downloaded. Each is a six session Scripture study linking the
scriptures to justice issues. There are also prayer resources on the website.

Mennonite Central Committee
These peace studies are meant for group sharing. There are samples on the web page, but the actual materials need to be ordered. The cost is minimal. They also have peace prayers available online.

Missalette with Faith-Sharing Content

Living with Christ: Your Daily Scriptural Companion - The familiar pocket-sized monthly missalette format of daily
readings is retained but is enriched to move readers more deeply into the eucharistic liturgy through faith-sharing
questions, starter prayers, saints biographies, and more. Each monthly edition has two weeks of material for faith-
sharing groups. To order call Bayard, Inc. at 800-572-0788 or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Catechism of the Catholic Church with Faith-Sharing
Why Catholic? Journey through the Catechism offers a concrete approach to adult faith formation based on the
Catechism of the Catholic Church employing the methods of adult learning theory. The faith-sharing approach will
help deepen a participant’s Catholic identity. To order contact RENEW International at 888-433-3221 or visit their
website at www.renewintl.org.

Saints

Faith-Sharing with a Saint: CD-Based Study of a Saint Scripture Sharing – Journey of the Sacred Series – St.
John of the Cross: Session Guides for Small Faith Communities (G-5625). This CD is one in a series on saints. It
offers six sessions that highlights the spirituality of St. John of the Cross, the great saint and Doctor of the Church.
The set comes with a booklet of song lyrics as well as the music CD (CD-520) and offers a change of pace to faith-
sharing communities. To order call GIA at 800-442-1358 or visit their website at www.giamusic.com.

Faith-Sharing for Young Mothers
MOMS: Ministry of Mothers Sharing creates an awareness of the inner sacred self while teaching new ways to inspire,encourage and affirm each other. Through the process of personal and spiritual growth, women have the opportunity to clarify their values, claim their own giftedness, and bring new strengths to their family relationships and to the Christian Community. The experience triggers a growth in faith and engagement in the life of the Church. For more information contact the national M.O.M.S office at 651-748-4089 or visit their website at www.osb.org/spm/moms.html.

Family and Intergenerational Faith-Sharing
Family Faith Communities offers a process and place for families to form relationships with other families who share a common faith tradition, explore the presence of God in their daily lives, learn more about our Catholic faith in an intergenerational setting (all ages gathering together), and to have some fun. The book provides ten gatherings with accompanying activities to help begin a faith family community experience. These gatherings explore themes important to Catholic Christians. The outcome is relationships beyond the immediate family circle and a lot of fun. The child in you will grow! To order call Good Ground Press at 800-232-5533 or visit their website at www.goodgroundpress.com.

Discipleship
Reaching Jesus: 5 Steps to a Fuller Life by David Knight. The author maps out a new path to a fuller life in Jesus
Christ. He offers readers a clear and compelling guide. Those who choose to follow will know where they are, what
steps they have already taken and what steps they need to take in order to arrive at the abundant life Jesus came to give. Reading the text is energizing and will lead individuals and groups to reflect on the challenging questions and steps needed to deepen the walk with the Lord. You will want to read more of David Knight’s publications after
reading Reaching Jesus. To order contact the St. Anthony Messenger Press at 800-488-0488 or visit their website at www.americancatholic.org.

Reconciliation: The Unfolding Mystery of God's Mercy and Love, by Claire Colella, Rory Cooney, Joseph Favazza
New Berlin, Wisconsin: Liturgical Press, 2007.



Adapted from the diocese of Rochester Spirit Alive!

http://www.rochesterspiritalive.org/documents/SmallXianCommunityResources.pdf