{"id":6092,"date":"2019-06-03T14:36:38","date_gmt":"2019-06-03T18:36:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/news\/news-2\/catechesis-brings-generations-together\/"},"modified":"2019-06-03T14:36:38","modified_gmt":"2019-06-03T18:36:38","slug":"catechesis-brings-generations-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/news\/news-2\/catechesis-brings-generations-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Catechesis that brings generations together"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

First, let us turn back to Pentecost 2018, when Saint-Bonaventure parish<\/a> went through a pivotal moment. Inspired by Divine Renovation<\/em><\/a>, a book from the well-known author James Mallon, Patrice Bergeron and Elisabeth Boily, the priest and the mission assistant of this parish, greenlighted a renewal project with the help of a small team. Their goal: introduce two new projects. First the Alpha sessions<\/a> and second the \u201cMIGs\u201d (Matin\u00e9es Inter-G\u00e9n\u00e9rationnelles<\/em> \u2013 Inter-generational mornings).<\/p>\n\n

\u201cBringing together the ministries in accordance with the sacraments\u2019 requirements, yet in a new way, was our wish,\u201d Elisabeth Boily explained. Parents with children studying the Catechism were invited to gather monthly. Families were drawn very quickly to MIGs and others followed. \u201cThey did not feel like showing up at times, but they would go back home singing!\u201d, said Elisabeth enthusiastically. On average, 40 to 50 families would come to MIGs before the 11 o\u2019clock Mass on Sunday. \u201cThough I find hard getting out of bed in the morning, this is a good start,\u201d said one participant. Another one added: \u201cThis is a great way to bring fellowship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

MIGs had a dual effect. First, parents started sharing their children\u2019s journey through Catechism. It strengthened the parish as a community, as a result. We all got a greater sense of \u201cwho we are,\u201d brothers and sisters no matter the age. \u201cI got to develop friendships with other parishioners,\u201d said joyfully one participant.<\/p>\n\n

Families would gather once a month, at 9 a.m., to drink juice and coffee, and share croissants. It would give them time to slow down, to talk together. After short words of introduction, there would be music, singing and dancing, shared moments of praise and joy, followed afterwards by an inter-generational activity. They would watch a slide show, make puzzles to find the face of today\u2019s Church, take part of a rally filled with biblical characters encounters\u2026 The facilitators in charge of the small groups did not lack imagination over the year.<\/p>\n\n

Children and adults would then gather separately for an hour to follow their own path.<\/p>\n\n

Often a short rundown would be given to adults to start discussions. Participants showed great appreciation for the testimonies given. Several were deeply moved by Brigitte B\u00e9dard\u2019s own testimony. Auxiliary Bishop Faubert\u2019s speech was unanimously praised. It helped ending the year on a strong note. \u201cI would love for Bishop Faubert to come back and join us at a retreat,\u201d said one parishioner at the end of the last MIG!<\/p>\n\n

After the MIG, people would attend the 11 o\u2019clock Mass and make it more festive than usual. There would be singers, a band, djembe music, and the homily would have a slide show in the background. \u201cThree years ago, about one hundred people would come to Mass; now, we have about 300, all united in thanksgivings,\u201d Elisabeth Boily exclaimed.<\/p>\n\n

As for Father Bergeron, he thought best to hold the MIGs before the Mass in order for parishioners to feel part of the mission. Volunteers soon started showing up at MIGS to give a hand.<\/p>\n\n

It is \u201cmission accomplished\u201d for this parish and its team wishes to renew the experience next year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First, let us turn back to Pentecost 2018, when Saint-Bonaventure parish went through a pivotal moment. Inspired by Divine Renovation,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6091,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nouvelle"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diocesemontreal.wp.vortexdev.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}