GOD’S INVITATION — FOR OUR TIMES
Becoming Prophets
PREPARATORY DOCUMENT FOR THE SYNOD ON SYNODALITY (2021-2023)
“TO PLANT DREAMS, DRAW FORTH PROPHECIES AND VISIONS, ALLOW HOPE TO FLOURISH, INSPIRE TRUST, BIND UP WOUNDS, WEAVE TOGETHER RELATIONSHIPS, AWAKEN A DAWN OF HOPE, LEARN FROM ONE ANOTHER AND CREATE A BRIGHT RESOURCEFULNESS THAT WILL ENLIGHTEN MINDS, WARM HEARTS, GIVE STRENGTH TO OUR HANDS.”
Pope Francis
WITH URGENCY AND TRUST
VISION
The School for Prophets aims to hear and heed God’s voice from within the tumult of this time. Practicing the prayer, study, and silent receptivity exemplified by the prophets, school-participants will examine the world as God sees it, and discern ways to speak God’s truth, for both what is needed and possible.
…The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
“The spirit of the lord is upon me
Because he has anointed me and sent me
To bring good news to the poor,
To release the captives,
To restore sight to the blind,
To unburden the oppressed,
To declare a Jubilee of the lord’s favour.”
Luke 4:17-19
- SEES WHAT IS NEEDED, WHAT IS POSSIBLE, AND WHAT IS GOOD
- WITNESSES TO GOD IN WORDS AND EXAMPLE
- EMPATHIZES WITH SUFFERING HUMANITY
- WORKS FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
- EMPOWERS THE POWERLESS
- INCLUDES THE MARGINALIZED
- SPEAKS FOR GOD TO THE PEOPLE, AND FOR THE PEOPLE TO GOD.
ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL “THE PROPHETS”
WHAT DOES A PROPHET DO?
SEEING AND SPEAKING ANEW
AIMS OF THE SCHOOL FOR PROPHETS
To prepare young Christians — individually, and as a community — to exercise more fully their Baptismal commission to serve as prophets to our world, and our Church.
Specifically:
- To grow in friendship with Jesus
- To learn from the example of prophetic figures in the bible and the Christian tradition
- To enhance the capacity for a life of witness to Christ — personally, and as a community
- To nurture the capacity for prophetic contemplation
- To develop a way of prophetic discernment
- To undertake both critique and creative visioning of our times through the lens of Catholic
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Situating the prophetic task within the threefold Baptismal commission and appreciating its scriptural foundations.
Gain a methodology for prophetic enquiry and application based on the Beatitudes from Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount (5: 1-16).
Familiarity with the history and developments of Catholic Social Teaching to engage the prophetic dimension of its core principles.
Identify persons in the scriptures or in Church tradition who can serve as spiritual mentors for one’s own prophetic calling.
Interpret and respond to the signs of the times using the keys of contemplation, discernment and proposal
Collaboration and innovation within a prayerful supporting community for one another’s prophetic mission and growth in the virtues for prophecy
Skills and processes for voicing prophetic questions or insights in a dialogue that sets the human horizon for prophetic inspiration—and agitation.
Key Features
Inspired by Scripture and the Living Tradition: The curriculum draws on the experience of biblical prophets and saints from the Carmelite tradition. The Carmelite values indispensable to the prophetic commission – solitude, silence, community prayer, contemplation, collaborative work, presence, listening, discernment, welcoming, and integration – are at the heart of the programme.
Applying Prayerful Enquiry: The programme encourages a prayerful engagement with current social reality, fostering critical thinking from a spiritual perspective that addresses causes, and not simply effects.
A Participative Model: The residential weekend gatherings and frequent on-line sessions allow for building relationships and confidence in a community growing and learning together how to witness the movements of the Holy Spirit at this time.
Catholic, Ecumenical and Inter-disciplinary: Prophets operate at the boundaries between the religious and the social. This requires gathering input from a wide spectrum of sources, contemplating and processing these within the rich guidance of scripture and tradition, and making God’s presence and desires alive in the world.
Communal Emphasis: Learning and growing together in our prophetic calling and encouraging one another in the demands that prophetic truth-telling engenders.
Led by a Religious and Lay Team: Programme facilitators bring their insights and lived experience as lay and religious members of the Church to enrich the conversation with course participants.
Creativity—Inspired and Inspiring: Prophets not only tell truths that in God’s name must be spoken. They also conjure the latent potential for healing, wholeness, and holiness that reside in each human person created in the image of God.
DATES AND DETAILS | 2022-2023
| Session | Dates | Venue | Curriculum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction | Nov 7 | On-Line | The Prophetic Vocation - Then & Now |
| 1 | Nov 11-13 | Residential | Introduction to the Biblical Prophets |
| 2 | Nov. 28 | On-Line | Encountering Jesus As Prophet |
| 3 | Dec. 12 | On-Line | Prophetic Qualities, Attributes & Challenges |
| 4 | Dec. 26 | On-Line | The Beatitudes As Prophetic Template |
| 5 | Jan. 13-15 | Residential | Prophetic Prayer: Heeding Silence |
| 6 | Jan. 23 | On-Line | Reading the “Signs of the Times” |
| 7 | Feb. 6 | On-Line | Discerning Prophetic Gifts |
| 8 | Feb 20 | On-Line | Forming a Prophetic Community |
| 9 | March 10-12 | Residential | Finding One’s Prophetic Voice |
| 10 | April 3 | On-Line | Catholic Social Teaching, Applied |
| 11 | April 17 | On-Line | The Ethical Art of Prophetic Questions |
| 12 | May 1 | On-Line | Receiving & Serving the Holy Spirit |
| 13 | May 15 | On-Line | Prophetic Contributions to the Church & Beyond |
| 14 | May 26-28 | Residential | Commissioning |
Details
COURSE STRUCTURE AND FLOW
- The programme is designed as one ninety-minute on-line session every two weeks, along with four essential residential gatherings.
- On-line programme will begin on November 7th, 2022.
- Residential programs are scheduled for:
- November 11-13
- January 13-15
- March 10-12
- May 26-28
- Each ninety-minute on-line gathering will involve 30 minutes of prayer, 30 minutes of instruction or guided reflection, and 30 minutes for questions and dialogue.
- Participants will be invited to reflect with lessons learned about our current reality, to practice heeding the Holy Spirit in prophetic interpretation.
- Commissioning will occur on May 28th - Pentecost Sunday 2023.
- Prophetic lessons and insights from the programme will be complied by participants (in a creative manner to be determined by them) to begin together the process of dissemination and dialogue.