The 10 Commandments of Faith Sharing

  1. Everyone shares in the wisdom.
    Faith-sharing is not a class but a sharing of each person’s experience of living in relation to God and with others—which no one knows better than that person. Each person’s relation to God holds some truth about the variety of ways that God can work. The goal is always to grow in our relationship with God and one another.
  2. Everyone gets a chance to share.
    Some people need encouragement to share and nothing helps this more than providing a respectful and supportive group atmosphere in which everyone is accepted.
  3. No one should dominate the dialog.
    If one person’s views or problems begin to take up too much time, the group needs to recognize and remedy this.
  4. Be open to new perspectives.
    People in any group can see the same thing differently depending on their point of view. For life’s challenges and human relationships there is seldom a single solution that suits everyone.
  5. If you disagree, do so with respect and care.
    If you wish to disagree, make sure that you first affirm the other person, then understand what the other has said, and finally respectfully offer your own perspective.
  6. Welcome Jesus in your midst.
    Faith sharing can also be a time to pause, relax, close the eyes and welcome the presence of Jesus. Invite Jesus to sit with you and hear your stories.
  7. Rely on feelings, images, scripture and tradition.
    According to each person’ s own comfort level, share feelings and express them in image and metaphor. Perhaps a certain image will remind you of a favorite parable or scriptural passage. Maybe your images relate to the rich tradition of our Church’s doctors and saints.
  8. Involve collective and individual voices.
    Sometimes faith sharing is faithful praise as well. For inspiration, read a responsorial psalm as a group, but have one person alone read the repeated response.
  9. Focus on a problem.
    Sometimes it helps to get problems out in the open. What problems do you all share? Family or health concerns? Fear of death? Loneliness or depression? Lack of faith? Focus on sin?
  10. Find a solution in Jesus.
    The example of Jesus will offer the best possible way to solve the problems you face. As you reread scripture, how did Jesus work to solve problems by bringing peace and blessings to others?