JOURNEY with Christ

“And you became imitators[c] of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the holy Spirit, so that you became a model for all the believers”

1 Thessalonians 1:6

JOURNEY with Christ evenings are at the heart of the JOURNEY process. The ideal is to meet on a regular basis (weekly if the retreats are offered twice a year; every other week if the retreats are offered annually.) It is best not to have long gaps between meetings in order to facilitate the growth of the team and the sense of community. Each session is designed to last about three hours with a full team of 24 people. Times listed in the agendas are approximate.

The purpose of these evenings is to continue personal spiritual growth for each team member, develop a sense of discipleship in a community of love and service, and prepare specific ministries for the next retreat weekend.

JOURNEY with Christ helps us to become more fully the people that God calls us to be. We grow in our own spirituality in order to treat others the way God wants us to treat them. We grow in fellowship to show how God wants us to love each other. Our model of faith and love will mean more to the retreatants on the retreat weekend than any prayer or witness talk. We must be open to the Holy Spirit working in us and through us, and we must commit to the team and the process.

Team members should bring Bibles and name tags to each meeting. Each session follows a similar format:

  • Bible Enthronement

  • Theme reflection

  • Sharing God moments

  • Witness presentation and review

  • Ministry preparation and review

  • Assignments for next meeting

  • Scripture reflection and shared prayer

  • Team prayer

Additionally, the Continuation Committee may recommend the teams in formation attend an instructional Mass and/or Reconciliation during the JOURNEY with Christ period. Individual teams may supplement JOURNEY with Christ meetings with chapel time, praying the rosary and Adoration. Teams may also get together for social activities. JOURNEY with Christ culminates in the set-up meeting immediately prior to the weekend.

A description of the key elements of a JOURNEY with Christ meeting is provided below.

Bible Enthronement

Each session begins with a ritual called Bible Enthronement (cross, bible, Christ candle), which you experienced on your retreat weekend.  During the Second Vatican Council, the meeting of Bishops from all over the world held in Rome from 1962 to 1965, the Bible was solemnly enthroned every morning at the opening of their sessions. Through this liturgical ceremony the bishops reminded themselves that they could only effectively PREACH the Good News if they first LISTENED to God’s Word. Since then, in many Church gatherings like Congresses, Conventions Workshops, meetings, retreats and recollections, the first activity has been the Enthronement of the Bible.

Theme Reflection

Each JOURNEY with Christ segment has a theme, which coincides with the themes at the retreat weekend. Suggested Scripture passages spotlight and support the theme. Each theme builds on the other, helping integrate and unify the JOURNEY with Christ formation process. Themes allow for us to view prayer, our faith and Scripture from a new perspective. Themes encourage conversation and provide an opportunity for team members to reflect on how God is working in their own lives. The twelve themes for JOURNEY with Christ, which are described later, are:

1.       Commitment

2.       Shared Ministry

3.       Renewing Your Faith Life and Evangelization

4.       Finding Grace

5.       Growing in Holiness and Prayer as Relationship

6.       Supporting Each Other

7.       Serving the Community

8.       Reconciliation

9.       Living the Eucharist

10.   Listening to the Word

11.   Unconditional Love

12.   Discipleship and Spiritual Growth

The focus of each JOURNEY with Christ meeting will be the opportunity to reflect on the theme, to provide time for you to learn from your experiences during the retreat weekend and in your daily life. The retreat weekend was not a time of reflection. It was more of an evangelistic event, a time to hear and open oneself to the enkindling of the Holy Spirit, a personal faith experience. The retreat weekend was an acceptance or a renewal of an invitation to friendship with the Lord. It was a time to commit or re-commit to that friendship. Unless we take time to reflect at the JOURNEY with Christ meetings, we will not gain the essential insights which give our experiences the power to change us. Without a time for reflection, the experience of faith will fade.

While scripture is one important component of JOURNEY with Christ, the meetings are not intended as Bible studies. Through various activities, JOURNEY with Christ calls us to know Jesus, not just to know about Him. To know your faith is to know Jesus. To be committed to your faith is to be committed to Jesus. Faith involves both a relationship and its expression. Faith requires your action.

Theme reflections are typically given by the Spiritual Guide, the Journey Leader or other members of the JOURNEY community. The hope is that these reflections will draw on the person’s experience of prayer, discipleship and reflection. These themes are expanded upon in Witness and JOURNEY with Christ Themes.

Sample Theme Reflections

God Moments

”The blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.”

Matthew 11:5

It is not always socially acceptable to talk about God, to share the good news of how God is working in our lives. Once we have become adept at noticing God’s presence, we are sometimes reluctant to share that with others.

Talking about God is not the only thing needed for effective evangelization and community formation, but it’s a good first step God is living and present in us today and we can emphasize that presence by sharing examples from our own lives.

The Gospel is, literally, good news. We should want to share that with others. Unless this good news is shared with others, the kingdom of God will remain hidden. Community faith sharing builds relationships which are the fabric of community life. Community faith sharing helps us see farther than the immediate reality of this world. Sharing how God is present in our lives helps us see through the falseness of secular values.

We share the good news of how Jesus is working in our lives, the “God moments” that happen all around us if we stop and pay attention. We get better at this with practice, by praying and sharing with our team. The fresh and vital things God is doing in our lives is nourishment for the community.

Sharing is not without risk. Love needs intimate knowledge to grow, and knowledge comes when we are willing to let another person know us as we really are, and trust we will not be rejected. That takes trust and faith. In the beginning of formation, some team members may be hesitant to share beyond the surface. Others may overshare. By trusting in the Holy Spirit and through weekly practice, the team will work toward creating an environment where people feel free to share.

Witness Talks

The most effective way the Gospel is proclaimed during JOURNEY with Christ and on the retreat weekend is through the witness of each team member. Witness arises from a life that reflects on God’s love for self and community and on how God works for good in everyday life. We are each called to bear witness to Jesus and His message. 

As team members, we are all called to give witness to our life in Christ. While some will be called to proclaim the word by giving witness talks on the retreat weekend, others will be called to give witness through leading table discussions or through their service, such as Sacristan, Liturgist or Weekend Coordinator.

A witness is a person who has seen something firsthand and can tell others about it. As a witness for the retreat weekend, you are not being asked to comment on the Church’s theological teachings or teach a class in spirituality. You are being asked to give a firsthand account of your relationship with God in the person of Jesus Christ. In a message on evangelization, Pope Paul VI said, “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.”

To be able to give a firsthand account of Christianity, we must know the Christ. Our witness flows from the experience of knowing and loving Jesus. We share how we know Jesus and our relationship with Him. The power of a witness is in showing how grace can work in imperfect people. God in his miraculous mercy works in all of us. Witnessing requires honesty and vulnerability, allowing others to see and hear Christ through us and the ordinary experiences of our lives that have been touched by God’s grace.

Throughout JOURNEY with Christ, those who have been discerned as witnesses will share their stories with the team. The team provides feedback and in the spirit of this review should be one of love and fellowship. This review is not a time for grammatical feedback or public speaking critiques.  The themes can be found in Witness and JOURNEY with Christ Themes.

Ministry Preparation

During every JOURNEY with Christ, some time is set aside for ministry and weekend preparation. This is a small portion of the JOURNEY with Christ meeting as the focus should be on personal spiritual growth and developing a sense of discipleship and community.

Most of the “work” of preparing for the retreat weekend will happen outside of JOURNEY with Christ meetings. The set-up, the menus, the materials can all be discussed and prepared by the coordinators assigned to those areas in collaboration with the Journey Leader and the Continuation Committee, where appropriate. Input from the team will be solicited when needed (for instance, invitations and Agape letters). More details can be found in the Ministry Preparation section.

Scripture Sharing

Then He opened their minds to understand the Scripture. Luke 24:45

Scripture is the source of our renewal and our opportunity to listen to Jesus as he speaks to our hearts. We must have a listening heart and allow the Word to enter into our hearts and minds. We close each formation session by going back to the Word of God.

We must prayerfully ask the Holy Spirit to help us hear the message of the Gospel, to open our minds to understand Scripture. By sharing our experience of hearing Scripture, we break open the Word for each other and hear the message more fully.

Shared Prayer

Before you made your retreat weekend, people were praying for you. The team that gave your retreat prayed for you. Alumni of the program prayed for you. Parishioners prayed for you. Your pastor prayed for you. During your weekend retreat, there was a focus of prayer for you and candles were burning.

Prayer is simply a heart-to-heart conversation with one who loves us. Prayer can be individual or can be shared. True Christian prayer leads to deeper conversion and to community. Prayer is a true openness to God, a willingness to follow when the path is not clear.

Through prayer, we draw closer to Jesus and welcome him into our lives. And when He makes His home in me and when I live that, others will know that He is in me and that my life is in Him.

If we pray always, Jesus will always be with us. By sharing our prayer, we remind each other of God’s love for us. And if we spent every moment of our JOURNEY with Christ meetings in prayer, we would have wonderful retreat weekends.

Shared prayer may be a new experience. We may be more comfortable with our private prayers. Shared prayer allows us to lift up our hearts together and speak out in faith. During the retreat weekend, this was done after the personal sharing of a witness. During JOURNEY with Christ, shared prayer typically follows Scripture readings.

Shared prayer is not limited to the entire team. The Spiritual Guide and Journey Leader will assign “prayer partners” for the duration of JOURNEY with Christ and through the retreat weekend. Prayer partners should meet outside of JOURNEY with Christ meetings to share prayer, for their families, for the retreatants, for their team and for the parish.

Prayer partners are typically paired based on discerned ministries:

  • Spiritual Guide – Journey Leader

  • Witness – Table Leader (six pairs)

  • Sacristan – Liturgist

  • Weekend Coordinator – Materials Coordinator

  • Invitations Coordinator – Agape Coordinator

  • Kitchen Coordinator – Physical Arrangements Coordinator

The addition of co-coordinators or assistant coordinators may suggest different pairings. If there is an uneven team number, the Journey Leader would pair with someone other than the Spiritual Guide. More background on the role of prayer during the retreat weekend can be found in the Ministry Preparation section.

Small Group Formation

JOURNEY does not end with the retreat. Once formation has been completed and the retreat weekend finished, participants will continue their journey with Jesus by discerning where they are being called next during Living a New Life in Christ.  Whatever direction that takes, it is important to find community for support, to provide accountability and -- most importantly -- to experience Matthew 18:20

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.”

Small groups can have many benefits: 

  • To to help people develop a personal connection with Jesus and increase the desire to follow Him in daily life 

  • To create a sense of belonging and friendship within the larger church community 

  • To develop accountability and guidance for our words, thoughts, actions

  • To help each other discover our mission:  discover how and where God is calling us to serve Him

During the formation session on Discipleship, the team will discern someone to lead the team as an ongoing small group following the completion of the retreat weekend. This person will be responsible for selecting a regular day and time for small group sessions, and for initially planning the group’s activities. Over time, it is hoped that other members of the small group will lead discussions, prayer and meditations.

Information on small groups will be shared during the formation session on Unconditional Love. Team members will hear the information above and will be asked to pray about a call to serving as the leader of the team’s small group.

Discernment for this ministry occurs during the last formation session on Discipleship. The Spiritual Guide will remind the team about the importance of small groups for ongoing faith development. Then the Spiritual Guide will ask who feels called to this ministry. If more than one person feels called, the Spiritual Guide will ask for affirmations from the team, similar to the process used for discernment during Evening with the Holy Spirit. After prayer and affirmations, the Spiritual Guide will ask one person to accept the call to lead small groups.

Witness and JOURNEY with Christ Themes

Witness talks focus on specific themes that, woven together throughout the course of a retreat, demonstrate the power and glory of God working in our day-to-day lives. Because the themes are interrelated and are part of a bigger story, it is important to focus on the theme of the witness, not any one person’s personal story of salvation. Our stories lead to the mystery of God’s role in our lives. We tell our stories with a sense of wonder as we recognize God’s plan and that we are part of something bigger than just ourselves. The story is not about me, but about what Christ has done for me and how I have responded.

The weekend retreat features 10 witness talks. Four are pre-assigned: the pastor or designee (Reconciliation), the Spiritual Guide (Finding Grace), the Journey Leader (Discipleship) and a teen witness from the parish (Serving the Community). The other six witnesses (Renewing Your Faith Life, Growing in Holiness, Supporting Each Other, Living the Eucharist, Listening to the Word and Unconditional Love) are discerned during Evening with the Holy Spirit.

The overall theme of the retreat weekend is the central role of Jesus Christ in our personal lives and the life of the parish. All witness talks are variations on the theme of God’s love for us, and how the Trinity works in our lives.

The first witness talk focuses on personal change, establishing that the purpose of the retreat weekend is to change hearts and minds. The focus on Renewing Your Faith Life provides the opportunity for retreatants to reflect on the importance of change or conversion, in big or small ways. That talk is followed by the Spiritual Guide reflecting on Finding Grace, living our new life in Christ every day.

This renewal and conversion should be more than a weekend experience. The witness talk on Growing in Holiness provides examples of how we must continue to renew our lives in Jesus, an ongoing journey to grow in our relationship with Jesus.

The witness talk on Living the Eucharist precedes Mass and focuses on the healing power of the Eucharist. The Mass celebrates our need to worship as a community. Our new life in Christ cannot be lived in isolation. The witness talk on Supporting Each Other illustrates God’s love through our family and community. 

These five witness talks should encourage retreatants to look at their own lives and their own need for change and conversion, setting the stage for Reconciliation. This witness talk ideally is followed immediately by the opportunity to experience the sacrament of Reconciliation.

Serving the Community looks beyond the immediate faith community and allows someone who has been served to share experiences of serving and loving as Jesus did.

God’s word is food for the journey, and it is important to feed and form ourselves on a continual basis. The witness on Listening to the Word provides experiences of how the word of God nurtures and sustains spiritual growth. The community also provides tangible evidence of Unconditional Love. This witness reflects on how God loves us and responds to our individual needs. Retreatants then experience this tangible love through Agape letters of encouragement written by family, friends and the community.

The final witness talk is on Discipleship. Assured of God’s love for us and strengthened by the community, we are called to follow him. The witness talk reflects on personal experiences of saying “yes” to God.

The specific witness and JOURNEY with Christ themes are listed on JOURNEY with Christ Weekly Themes.

JOURNEY with Christ Weekly Agendas

The JOURNEY With Christ Weekly Agendas provide guidance for each of the 12 JOURNEY with Christ meetings. The agenda length is based on having 24 team members in the formation group. The length of time for each session can be adjusted based on the team size. JOURNEY With Christ Weekly Agendas.

JOURNEY with Christ Weekly Assignments

This information can be printed off as handouts or copied and pasted into emails to the team. JOURNEY With Christ Weekly Assignments.