| Take me: to other places on this web site: to the Home Page of PastoralPlanning.com to the Resource Center for lifelong faith formation to "Getting Started" with lifelong faith formation |
| Take the other steps See a list of all 14 steps You're on Step One Step Two: Step Three: Step Four: Step Five: Step Six: Step Seven: Step Eight: Step Nine: Step Ten: Step Eleven: Step Twelve: Step Thirteen: Step Fourteen: |
| Key Links Just Faith A site which supports a parish program to teach in depth about just living. LiveSimply From CAFOD in England, the people who began the movement for simpler living. Catholic Relief Services A powerful agent of change in the world, also leading the US implementation of this movement. Common Hope A non-profit agency working to end poverty in the third world by establishing there a middle class. |
The First Step Make a Commitment! Begin with the prayer by opening the file on the right. Let the Spirit of God be your Guide. |
| Step One: Commit yourself to walk this walk. The commitments we make in life shape how we live and what we do. The commitment to follow the steps of this pathway will have long lasting effects in your life. You will come out at the end having learned ways to live more simply. Such "simple living" reduces stress and creates an overall sense of well-being. You will also come out at the end of this journey with a strong sense of solidarity with the people of the world who are suffering from poverty, war, sickness, and famine. These people will become your sisters and brothers in the course of this journey. |
| For group use when teaching this step to others Invite those in your group to read together and reflect on the words of Paul VI, the Catholic leader who in 1967 published "On the Progress of the Peoples of the World," a brilliant pastoral letter calling the world to balance and harmony - to living simply, sustainably, and in solidarity with the world's poor. To find it on-line, click here. For an abridged version of this document, created for discussion use in groups, click here to download the file in PDF format. |
| Prayer to assist you with this step Click here to print this or use it on your screen. Open your heart and prepare to take this step. |
| Read more deeply about learning to listen to God in prayer and about learning to "drive the speed limit" in life. See the e-books offered on the left side of this screen. |
| You will also find at the end of this process that you can live a lifestyle in today's world in which you consume less and which is sustainable. Such a "sustainable lifestyle" will mean changes in your current way of life, but as you gradually adopt practices of sustainable living, you will be surprised at how possible it is to enjoy life while also supporting the earth itself. Throughout these steps, we invite you to use Listening Prayer to come to know more clearly that way of life to which God is calling you. Download this process for Listening Prayer and become familiar with it as part of your beginning here. And be open to both hear God's voice in your own depths and to clarifying and discerning that with others. So this is your commitment. Are you ready to learn how to live more simply, sustainably, and in solidarity with the poor? If so, go on to step two. |
| Tell us your story! What commitments have you made? What difficulties have you faced? What has worked for you as you chose to live more simply? How have you adjusted your lifestyle to one that is more sustainable? In what ways have you grown to be in solidarity with the poor of the world? Click here to send us a note and we'll share your story with others. To send us a video, song, pictures, poetry, or other media, simple attach it to an e-mail and send it to this address. |
| On the Side... Take a little time as you begin this journey to visit the LiveSimply website, for which there is a link below. |
Please consider making a donation to support the work of this web site. We get by with a little help from our friends. Click on the candle to contribute. Thanks! |
| Two powerful resources Click on the cover to buy the book. A New Look at Prayer: Learning to Listen to Your Inner Guide by Bill Huebsch This carefully written e-book helps you recognize your own inner voice which leads to "right living." Driving the Speed Limit: Learning to Live Simply, Sustainably, and in Solidarity with the Poor by Bill Huebsch This e-book provides you with a road map (almost literally) to help you make choices which are both satisfying and in support of the common human good. |
