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Evangelization sessions to enhance knowledge

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
(Email Katie)

Parishioners of the Diocese of Sioux City looking to learn more about Vatican II documents and the Catechism of the Catholic Church are encouraged to attend teaching sessions at Trinity Heights.

“The Vatican documents are so relevant that we should know them,” said Mark Thomason, director of catechesis, evangelization and RCIA for the diocese. “The Catechism is awesome. We are trying to help people be able to break into the documents more and give them the confidence on how to do that themselves.”

The sessions will be presented by the Office of Evangelization for the Diocese of Sioux City. They will be held at 6:30 p.m. at Trinity Heights, 33rd and Floyd, in Sioux City. Each session will last about an hour and a half.

Two sessions will focus on parts of the Second Vatican Council documents. The first session will be held April 21 and will discuss Dei Verbum, on Divine Revelation, and Lumen Gentium, on the church. The second session on April 28 will look at Sacrosanctum Concilium, on the Sacred Liturgy, and Gaudium et Spes, on the Church in the Modern World.

“It depends on what kind of depth you want,” said Thomason. “We are going to cover two documents each session.”

He pointed out that out of all the councils together, Vatican II wrote more than all the previous 19 councils.

The other two sessions will look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church. At the May 5 session, Thomason will talk about The Profession of Faith and The Celebration of the Christian Mystery. On May 12, the topics of Life in Christ and Christian Prayer will be discussed.

“I am going to teach progressively,” said Thomason. “The Catechism has four pillars, so we are going to do two pillars the first session and two the second. The Catechism is a huge wealth of knowledge.”

He said that although he will teach in progression, someone could attend one of the sessions and learn a lot.

“These aren’t fad documents. These are cornerstone documents,” said Thomason. “Don’t be afraid. Just come up and give it a shot. Come for whatever you can, for as long as you can.”

The sessions are geared towards Catholic adults, high school age on up.

“Anyone who wants to know the tools on how to use these documents better and the core elements of the documents are invited,” said Thomason. “This is an opportunity for everyone. Invite your friends and family.”

While Lent is traditionally the season that Catholics give up things or try to do extra things, Thomason mentioned that Easter is a good time to do that as well.

“I hope to make this information accessible,” he said. “Once you learn how to read it, it is really very interesting and very fascinating. These are the core elements of how we spread our faith. Sometimes Catholic adults don’t spread their faith as much because they don’t feel they are equipped to.”

He added that it is important for Catholics to keep growing in knowledge about their faith.

“At Mass it will be more interesting,” said Thomason. “Your devotion will grow better. Your spirituality can get deeper. This is how you get to know God better, so you can love him better. We can love our neighbors better by knowing about God himself.”

Sessions were also held last year centered on the popes. Based on feedback Thomason received, the format has been changed.

“I had requests from people who attended last year to do something again,” he said. “We are trying to do them every Tuesday for a month. That way people can come consistently or they can come in for one or two.”

There is no cost or registration for the sessions.

For more information, contact Mark Thomason at (712) 233-7536 or visit www. scdiocese.org or www. trinityheights.com.