SPRE,D

SPECIAL RELiGIOUSDEVELOPI\GNT
2956 SouthLowe Ave. Chicago,Illinois 60616
Archdioceseof Chicago
312-842-1039 www.spred-chicago.org

May 2011 Volunae92 Nr:mber 5

During our Spred sessionlast night, we celebratedall the growth that had taken placein
our little communif of faith. Teenswith intellectualand developmentaldisabilitiescan
fear the changesthat adolescencebrings. Somefear it will changelife for them and so
they hang on to being children whereasothersare afraidthat the changesof adolescence
will never happen. Sowe just oelebratewherewe arein our growth! Familiesalsofearthe
changesthat adolescencebrings so we all celebratethat we have made it this far, right
now! Then this moment fadesandwe enjoythe memoryof that morrent.

Last night one of the girls worked with perfumesduring the preparationfor catechesis.
Each little bottle captureda whole world 0f scent.Yet once inhaled,the strengthof the
perfume evaporatesand onecan only enjoy the scentthat iingers.The momenthaspassed.

At litugy we often enjoy the scentof varioustlpes of incense.As we ilhale, the spaceis
changed,w a1s{lansformed. We experienceserenitya:rdpeacebut as the solid incense
burns,there is nothingleft. The perfi-rmelingers. We arereadytopray,"Lord let myprayer
rise beforeyou like incense."

Sundaywe will have our Spredfamily litwgy. We play music and all will sing togetherto
grve praise.When the last note dies,the music fades away. We never captureit againin
exactly the sa:neway, but we have been changed.

Everyday we live with the impennanenceof life. Becauseof the fundamentalanxietythat

changesbting we respondin variousways. Sometry to deny changeandhangon for dear
life to what is now. Others seemto relax into change. Whether we fight it, fear it, or
welcomeit, changejust keepscoming. We beginto realizethatjust aswe getonepieceof
our lives in place,anotherslips beyondour control. We beginto figure out that we cannot
ever completely get it all together

Sometimeschangeis comparedto a pilgrimage. Therearepilgrimagesto Rome, Jerusa-

lem, Santiagode Compostelaaswell as Chartres,Lourdes,Lisieux.... A pilgdmagebegins
with a hope anda promise. lhis is a gift givenfrom i:r front of us, from beforeus, from the
light that shinesaheadof us on our path. Ttris promise sustainsus as the hardshipsand
disappointmentsrain down on us.

We may hit a fork in the road and we haveto decideif we will stumble ahead,trusting in
the gracethat calls us forward or turn offthe road in disappoinhnentandbitterness.
We basically haveto decideif we want the hardshipsto work for us or againstus. If we
want the hardshipsand changesto work for us, we haveto keepour eyeson the light on
the hiil. Then we can take one step at a time. We keep the dreamalive. We celebrate
eachstepthat we take to get closerto our goal.

The surprise always is that our arrival at the end is apt to alter everything. Nothing is
exactly the way we pictured it. As this throws us off balance,there are still wonderful
surprisesand more on the way, so we stiil have to wait for the future to unfold.

Sincethe very first steppatiencehasbeennecessary.We cannotleaptoward the goal of

our pilgrimage but we go forward tittle by little. And we do it with others if we really
want to succeed. Othersare also bound to have worries differentfrom ours as well as
gifts that are different so there is mutual patience.

A11this comesto mind as Spredis part of the ChicagoArchdiocesanmovementcalled

Renew My Church.

This movementis startinga processto re-imagineour parishlife. 391 parisheshavebeen

gatheredtnto 97 groupings.lryThesegroupingsare still a work il progress.New ideas
and ilsights are bound to alter thesepatternsbut at least they are a start.

To the delight of the leadersin Spred,there are Spredgroupsn 62 of the 97 groupiogs.

Many groupingshave more than one Spred center. At the presenttime, there are 140
centersoperatingwith 15 more in planning stagespreparingto open. There are over
1,000Spredvolunteercatechists.

What might the changesbroughtaboutby Renew My Church meanfor Spred?

Vision We sharethe vision of this fuchdiocesanpilgrimageinto the future. We seethe

re-groupingsof parishesas an effort to have parishesbecomemore vibrant, welcoming
and more in mission to others. While we stumbletowardthis goa1,we know that what-
everhappenswill bring graseandwe will never get it all togetherto our satisfaction.But
we want to rememberthat Spredhas asseststo contributeto this process.

Mentalitv Spredis imbued with a mission to welcomethosewho are marginali-edand

often forgotten. This spirit of compassionand care is part of the goal of Renew My
Church and so Spredhassomethingto contributeto this conversation.

Spredalso accompaniesindividuals and families. "The churchwill have to initiate ev-

eryone--priests,religious,ffid laity--into the "art of accompaniment"which teachesus to
remove our sandalsbeforethe sacredground of the other(cf. Ex 3:5). The paceof this
accompanimentmust be steadyandreass*iog, reflectingour closenessand our compas-
sionate gazewhichheals,liberatesandencouragejs growthin the Christianlife....Genuine
spiritual accompanimentbeginsandflourisher itith. contextof serviceto the missionof
evangelization."(z) Eachpersonwith a disabiiity in Spredhasanotherpersonasa helper
or sponsorto be with them in their growth of faith and eachSpredgrouphasa coreteam
to accompanythe whole community of faith.
Srrerlwnrlrqi.' a collaborativespirit. In arryciuder of parishes,there are catechistsa:rd
pfrvs Yrvlfu 'lI

friends with their familes from the general area- The leadersraeet to fi.gureout which
parishwi11takeresponsibilf for all the litfle children ia the are4which paish will focus
in the teens,which one wii-l work withyou:rg adults andwhich oneswill accompanyadults
v/ith iirteliectuala:rd developm.entalilisabildes. As people sffi f.oq one ageto the next
one,from.oneparishcenterto another,Spredmembersareremarkablyresilient. Th.y shift
roles,logations,environments,and resourcesin an everwidening network

Spred.catechistsare i:rcreoiblygenerouswiih their fime, talent, and treasure.Th-y know

that the easiestway to becom.epoor is to have a family m-emberwith a disabilif, so the
catechistsstepforwrld with untold generosif.

Method Spred.1du1tvolunteersmeetto pray beforeeveryinteractionwith thosewho

havevaious d-isabilities.It is only this regular prayer togetherthat mai:rtainsthe vigor of
the commrinif of faith. The prayer form usedbegins by focusing on every.day Li-feevents
andlead-sto a discoveryof the presenceof God at work in our everydaylives. The process
is basedon the belief that on our pilgrimug. God is besideus aswell asbeforeus. At the
'Tn
conclusionof our SpredFamily Liturgies we sing: Jesuswe wallg with Jesusbeforeus
we wa1k,with Jesusbehindus we walk, with Jezusaboveus we walk, yrith Jesusaboutus
we walk.It is finjshedi:r Jesus."(l)

Promam Spredrelies on a core team in eachcommunity of faith. Th.y accompany

all the helpers/sponsors as well as thosewith various disabilitiesi:r orderto managethe
needsof all. Eachgroup movesforward oCy as fast as the slowestmember. It is required
to be ableto be self awareandto be ableto work well in a team. Spredhas tbreerequire-
lrenis to exist.
'We
Space Spredneedsspace. do not usetexLbookswith our friendswho seldomread,but
we needa spacethat canbe "read" assacredandwelcoming.As parishesaregroupedand
re-groupedthe Spredcommu:rityof faith has to be rememberedas needi:rgspacethat is
annronriateto their needs.

Time Snredalsoneedstime. W'ejust cannothunyour friends.We do onethilg at atime

j-!u" vurvg L

zt anacethatnieasesthe slowestone. This is actuallya gift for all who leamhow pleasant
eventsandfriends are when there is tir:eeto enjoy them.

People There nee,dsto be enoughpeople to manageall the personalneedsand $oup

needsin a welcoming and coherentway-
'W.e
areenjoyirg and celebratingthe growthin Spredat tLe ptesentmoment.Thefuturewill
zurelybtiog changesto the Archdiocese,to all the parishesandto all the Spredcommuni- /IT THE
ties of faith, but we wilL move togetherinto the future and eioy all the surprises.

Sr.MarvThereseHarrington LIGHT
SpredChicago

1 RenewMv Church - ArchdiocesanGroupingsposted lu:lary 2017

2 PopeFraacis,The Jov of the Gospel.Evargelii Gaudiunr-Libreria Editice Vaticala, Vatican City, 2013
: Ian Cata:raqIn BeautyWe'Wallc-@asedon theNavajoNightPrayer) GlAPublications2012
 SPRED CALEI\IDAR
PlardnsMeetins Vicariateitr Deaneries
CE
Vrcariatei DeanervAB. C. SpredCenter,Inwe Ave Tues.May 30
SLlrancisdeSales/IakeZurich Wednesday May 17 VrcariateIV DeaneriesB. C-E
lDeanedesDEF
V:.cariate StVhcrlFerer/RiverForest Mor- May 22
SLJohntheEvalgelisUSheamwood TuesdayMay 23 VicariateV DeanervAB. C
VicarialetrDeanedesAE.F StCajetadCticago Wed.May 17
StNicholasrEvastan:. WednesdayMay 24 VicariateVDeaneryD E
'Wed-May
B. C.D
VrcariateII Deaneries StAlphonsus/kmom 24
Sr VncentdePauVCbicago MofiayMay 22 VicarialeYlDeaaeries.dB. D
\tcaiate IIIDemeriesA B VicariateMeaneries A Sf AndLasing Thrns.Jrmei
St.Joh Bosco/Chicago Thrsday May 25

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