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Pathways to Discipleship

Pathways to Discipleship: Loving Jesus

Session 1: God is Love

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Heavenly Father,

You seek me with a longing love and rejoice in finding me. Your merciful love removes sin, guilt, and shame from my heart, making it for love alone.

Teach me to live in Your love. I invite You to make Your home in my heart

and help me to know You are always there.

Help me look at You with humility, gratitude, and trust, so I may fully receive

Your love. Fill me so completely with Your love that it spills out and I cannot help but share it with others.

Amen.

Opening Prayer

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Pathways to Discipleship introduces the essentials of living as a Catholic disciple, organized around 12 habits that guide our spiritual journey.

Pathways to Discipleship

We learn from the practical examples of:

Jesus through the Gospels
Saints and “Blesseds”
Everyday Christians

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Pathways to Discipleship

Encounters Jesus through prayer
Encounters Jesus through Scripture
Encounters Jesus through worship and sacraments
Seeks personal and communal spiritual growth
Lives Christian virtues, glorifying God in everyday life
Forgives others and asks for forgiveness
Serves others through acts of mercy
Welcomes visitors and newcomers
Prays for others
Shares faith and encourages others in their spiritual growth
Shares resources generously with the Church and others
Opens oneself to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, even beyond one’s comfort zone

12 Habits of a Disciple

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“Come, follow me”�Mt 4:19

“Make me to know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths.” Psalm 25:4

“By this everyone will know that you are� my disciples, if you love one another.” �Jn 13:35

“Go…and preach the gospel” �Mt 28:19

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Pathways to Discipleship

Three ways to get Pathways to Discipleship

Spotify

PDF download

Note: Download�Pathway 2: Loving Jesus

Purchase book�amazon.com

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Pathways to Discipleship

Pathways to Discipleship: Loving Jesus Sessions

God is Love
Loving God
Loving Neighbor
Becoming Love
Divine Mercy
Carrying Our Cross
Pathway Two Milestone Experience

There are 7 sessions
Pre-read or listen to the session material before the meeting. If you are unable to do this, come anyway!
Sign up to share a snack for a future session

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Pathways to Discipleship

Tips for a Fruitful Discussion

† Give attention to honesty, openness, and respect for other people’s viewpoints and feelings.

† All discussions should be kept confidential within the group.

† Participation should be at each person’s comfort level.

† Before sharing a second time, allow others time to contribute to the conversation.

† Remember that listening is just as important as sharing.

† When prompted to speak, you may have received a message from the Holy Spirit, for you or others in the group. Please consider sharing.

† Keep the discussion focused on the spiritual (e.g., avoid straying into politics)

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�Session 1 – God is Love�

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Pathways to Discipleship

Pathway Two, Session 1 help us to learn how to live the fifth habit: Lives Christian virtues, glorifying God in everyday life.

Our hope is that we will:

Grow in awareness of the Good News of how deeply and completely God loves each one of us.
Live more fully in God’s merciful love

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Pathways to Discipleship

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Pathways to Discipleship

God is Love

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The Greeks had different words to describe love:

Eros – emotional attraction
Philia – brotherly love
Agape – love that desires only good for the other

Agape love is the love Jesus shares with us, unconditional love that brings us together in communion

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Pathways to Discipleship

What is Love?

Painting by Randy Friemel

FriemelFineArt.com

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Pathways to Discipleship

God’s Love for Us

“So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them;male and female he created them.”

Gn 1:27

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Pathways to Discipleship

The Sower

Vincent Van Gogh

Luke 8:5-8

The Parable of the Sower and the Seed

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Jesus Shows Us God’s Love

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Jesus’ example teaches us…

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God is not distant and uncaring
God is always with us, ready to bring peace to our lives
God lifts our shame and gives us freedom
God’s love for us is not dependent on our actions, good or bad. His mercy is unending!

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Pathways to Discipleship

Take a moment to reflect on the video. What is your response to the testimony? Share your thoughts with the group.
Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (Jn 13:34). Share a time when you have witnessed or experienced agape love.
“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope” (Jer 29:11). What are some ways God shows his love to his children?
Which Gospel passages in the text about God’s love stood out to you? Share any ways you found Jesus’ words or actions surprising or inspiring.

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Blocks to God’s Love

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Pathways to Discipleship

Focusing on our unworthiness
Negative self-talk
Scrupulosity

St. Paul reminds us:

“I can do all through Christ, who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13)

We can pray for an increase in trust to counter these attitudes

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Pathways to Discipleship

Trust in God’s Love

St. Paul wrote:

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

(Rom. 8:38-39)

We cannot earn or lose God’s love. It is pure gift.
Accepting God’s love allows us to grow in trust:

“I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mk 9:23)

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Spotlight Disciple: St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897)

St. Thérèse is in the spotlight today because of her example as a disciple who truly glorified God in her simple, everyday life. She was a young Carmelite sister who aspired to be a saint and humbly asked God to teach her how to grow in love and holiness. She exemplified a total trust and surrender to God, the poverty of spirit Christ preached in the Beatitudes. Although her life was short, she taught us that, in God’s eyes, we are deeply valued as his beloved children.

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Pathways to Discipleship

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Blind Bartimaeus left behind his cloak, his only possession, to follow Jesus. By contrast, the rich young man was unwilling to relinquish any of his possessions to follow Jesus and went away sorrowful (Mk 10:17-22). What are some things that may hinder or block experiencing Jesus’ healing love and following him?
What does it mean to you to trust? What makes trust challenging? How might we grow in a deeper trust in the Lord?
How does St. Thérèse’s “Little Way” of absolute trust and surrender to God and her example of doing all things with love, give us confidence and guide us in our daily lives as followers of Christ?

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Practice Together

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Pathways to Discipleship

The Litany of Trust was written by Sr. Maria Faustina Pia, SV of the Sisters of Life. Pray the Litany of Trust aloud together in your group. It may be easier to have one person speak each petition with all the others speaking the response.

Your session materials include the text for the Litany of Trust.

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Discipleship Next Step

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Resolve to spend time alone in the loving presence of God on a regular basis.

Here are some ideas:

Spend time in silence in front of a crucifix, reflecting on God’s love of you. Consider how Jesus chose to suffer and offer his life to save you.
Meditate on how much Jesus Christ wants to be in relationship with you; how he wants to offer healing. How ready are you to open your heart fully to him? What might be hindering a closer relationship with him?
Pray often with the words: “Jesus, I trust in you.”
Meditate on St. Teresa of Calcutta’s letter, “I Thirst for You” (in your materials).

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Reminders for Next Week

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Read or listen to Session 2: Loving God before our meeting next Monday.
Thank you to those who brought snacks! Please consider signing up to brings snacks to share for next time.
If you have any trouble obtaining or accessing the written or audio versions of the materials, please ask us for help.

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Closing Prayer (A Morning Prayer by St. Thérèse of Lisieux)�

O my God! I offer Thee all my actions of this day for the intentions and for the glory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I desire to sanctify every beat of my heart, my every thought, my simplest works, by uniting them to Its infinite merits; and I wish to make reparation for my sins by casting them into the furnace of Its Merciful Love. O my God! I ask of Thee for myself and for those whom I hold dear, the grace to fulfill perfectly Thy Holy Will, to accept for love of Thee the joys and sorrows of this passing life, so that we may one day be united together in heaven for all Eternity. Amen.

St. Thérèse, pray for us.

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Pathways to Discipleship