National Faith Development Team Working together to share the Good News of God’s Love NAPPDA

Good news….. “They asked each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’” Luke 24:32 “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” Luke 12: 49

1 Corinthians 12: Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

National Faith Development Team “to bring together the good work currently being done in the Irish Church in the area of faith development, to build on this work in a coherent and planned way, to identify gaps in the work and to seek to fill these as efficiently and effectively as possible.” (For Terms of Reference, see SGN, paragraph 144)

Guiding Principles for ‘our’ work as the NFD Team  A desire to surprise ; to proclaim in a fresh and new way the Gospel truth of God’s love for all people.  A desire to attract and inspire by our witness and our joy.  An openness to dialogue and mutual learning with the cultural and personal circumstances of those with whom we work  A rootedness in Eucharistic joy and community inspired by this joy  Prayerful reflection in our work and Spirit-led discernment of what we are being called to do and how we our being called to do it in service of the Gospel.  An openness within ourselves to being converted anew

Working together “As brothers and sisters in faith, we are called to respect one another, to celebrate our successes, to support one another in the challenges, and to challenge one another to seek always that which is best for the building up, in faith, of God’s Kingdom

Elements Structures Networks of support People Culture of the team Program mes and material

Membership  Executive secretaries of relevant Episcopal conference Councils and Commissions, e.g. Catechetics, Education, Pastoral Renewal, Marriage and the Family, Justice and Peace, Communications etc.

Aims and specific focus groups/audiences The NFD team reaches out, through the work being done in our homes, parishes, schools, dioceses, ecclesial movements, associations of lay faithful, and other pastoral settings in a particular way to  Adults  Families, especially parents  Youth and young adults Those on the margins in our society for whom the Good News of God’s care carries particular resonance.

Areas explored:  National Church  Pastoral Renewal  Adult Faith Development  Children, youth and young adult faith development

Some questions:  What for you are the potential ‘new matches’ arising out of the current post- primary (religious) educational reality and how can we ensure we light strong fires from these?  What are the ways you feel we could be working together in a more effective way to share Gospel joy with the young Church?