God Our Father, you called us to live as a community of believers and to build the BASIC ECCLESIAL C

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God Our Father, you called us to live as a
community of believers and to build the BASIC
ECCLESIAL COMMUNITY in our beloved country
Malaysia. As we gather here for BEC formation,
strengthen and empower us through your spirit,
give us new mind and heart to build your kingdom.
We make this prayer through Christ our Lord,
Amen.Hail Mary
Opening Prayer
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1. IDENTITY

• WHO AM I?
• WHAT DO I HAVE?
• TALENTS - INBORN
• GIFTS - GIFTED
• KNOWLEDGE - ACQUIRED

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2. BEC

• Do I BELIEVE in BEC?
• Do I KNOW what is BEC?
• Do I Know that I am on a MISSION?

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It is not BEC failed, but we have failed the BEC!
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Youth and their dreams
We want a world of
peace
justice
love
harmony
joy
caring
Fun
kindness
acceptance
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3. VISION

• Do I have a vision for my BEC?
• Where do I want to bring my BEC to?
• Where is my BECs destination?

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A people without VISION will Perish (Proverb)
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Lord, we thank you for reminding us who we are,
what is our mission and what course we should
take. We need you to strengthen us, empower us
and move us forward to fulfill the mission you
have given us, to liven up the BECs under our
leadership. To his effect we call upon the power
intercession of Mary our Mother, Hail Mary
Closing Prayer
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WHAT IS OUR VISION AND MISSION?
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• Our vision is
• To be rooted in the communion of the Trinity and
  among ourselves
• To be in solidarity with the whole human family
  and creation
• This vision leads us to living out our vocation
  to be at the service of the Kingdom of God

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• Our Mission is
• To witness through Basic Ecclesial Communities
  founded on Christ and thus to transform our
  parishes into Communion of Communities
• To proclaim and Dialogue with cultures, religion
  and the poor
• For us this means journeying together towards A
  new way of Being Church

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TOWER BUILDER IN THE GOSPEL (Lk. 1428,31)

• And indeed, which of you here, intending to
  build a tower, would not first sit down and work
  out the cost to see if he had enough to complete
  it?

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What are the basic thing we need to build BEC?
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• Some basic Questions
• Where am I in the organization? BEC
• What is my Identity? Baptized Christian Leader
• , What should I do? I should lead this BEC.
• Who are those I am leading? BEC members a
  community.
• Lead to Where? Vision Mission
• How should I Lead?

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How should I lead?

• Know the vision mission
• Faith
• Prayer / WOG / formation etc
• Dispositions of faith My attitude
• Practical
• Organizing Activities gatherings
• Own initiatives

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Understanding BEC
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BEC from the Gods point of View

• BEC a plan of God? Yes God wants Human to live in
  community.

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• In BEC we accept God's grace to become one with
  the Lord and our brothers and sisters in Christ
  as the Father and Jesus are one (Jn 1721). It is
  participating in Trinity unity.

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• BEC is Trinitarian in that we have been baptized
  in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
  "It was in one Spirit that all of us, whether Jew
  or Greek, slave or free, were baptized into one
  body" (1 Cor 1213).

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• Because Christian community is baptismal, it is
  Christian brotherhood and sisterhood. Because it
  is Trinitarian, baptismal, and fraternal, the
  heart of Christian community is "communio", i.e.
  a supernatural communion given us by the Spirit
  (Lay Members of Christ's Faithful People, Pope
  John Paul II, 20).

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• BEC is an "intentional" community It is what we
  see in Jesus' ministry. Jesus intentionally chose
  twelve apostles in whom He invested His life. We
  too should discern our own "twelve," with whom
  the Lord has called us to share our lives in a
  special way. We will love these brothers and
  sisters in deed and truth and not merely talk
  about it (1 Jn 318).

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• Christian community is what we see in the Acts of
  the Apostles. The early Church devoted themselves
  to the apostles' instructions, the communal life,
  the breaking of bread, and the prayers (Acts
  242). Christian community is the daily sharing
  of life in Christ.

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BEC is NOT

• Not a group that merely meets.
• Not merely friendship. You can make friends and
  leave friends, but only God can make brothers and
  sisters, and we are brothers and sisters forever.

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• Not a nuclear family, or even an extended family.
  (Unlike a Christian community, an extended family
  does not usually intentionally plan to branch off
  into new communities and expand in evangelistic
  outreach. Also, an extended family does not
  usually plan for continuity of leadership into
  the next generation.)

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What the Church Teaches

• Pope Paul VI said that Christian communities
  "will be a hope for the universal Church"
• Pope John Paul II has stated that Christian
  communities are a "great hope for the life the
  Church"

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• Pope John Paul II has taught "A rapidly growing
  phenomenon in the young churches one sometimes
  fostered by the bishops and their conferences as
  a pastoral priority is that of 'ecclesial basic
  communities' (also known by other names) which
  are proving to be good centers for Christian
  formation and missionary outreach.

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• These are groups of Christians who, at the level
  of the family or in a similarly restricted
  setting, come together for prayer, Scripture
  reading, catechesis, and discussion on human and
  ecclesial problems with a view to a common
  commitment"

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• Pope John Paul II has also taught "These
  communities are a sign of vitality within the
  Church, an instrument of formation and
  evangelization, and a solid starting point for a
  new society based on a 'civilization of love' "
• (RM 51)

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BECs in the Bible

• All the churches for the first three hundred
  years of Church history were small communities
• Jesus and His apostles

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• the early Church continued steadfastly in the
  communal life (Acts 242).
• The small community based at the home of Mary,
  John Mark's mother, was instrumental in freeing
  Peter from imminent execution (Acts 1212).

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• Lydia, the first convert of the Western world,
  formed a small Christian community (Acts 1615).
• Priscilla and Aquila had the best known small
  Christian community in history. All of the
  churches of the Gentiles owed a debt of gratitude
  to their community (Rm 164-5). Other Christian
  communities were those of Nymphas (Col 415),
  Titus Justus (Act 187), Gaius (Rm 1623), and
  Philemon (Phlm 2).

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What is essence of BEC/ Christian Community?
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John Paul II

• The essence of Christian community BEC is
  baptismal brotherhood and sisterhood. Pope John
  Paul II has called this "communio."
• "This is our highest vocation to enter into
  communion with God and with our brothers and
  sisters"

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Our communion with other baptized believers is

• a "mystery" (18).
• "a living and life-giving communion through which
  Christians no longer belong to themselves but are
  the Lord's very own, as the branches are one with
  the vine" (18).

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• Trinitarian. The Trinity is the model, source,
  and means of our communion with God and other
  Christians (18).
• "present in the Word of God and in the
  Sacraments" (19).

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• expressed above all by the image of the Church as
  the body of Christ (19). "The Church in Christ is
  a kind of sacrament, that is, a sign and
  instrument of intimate union with God and of the
  unity of all the human race" (LG 1).

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• "the integrating aspect, indeed the central
  content of the 'mystery,' or rather, the divine
  plan for the salvation of humanity" (19).

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• "organic," that is, "analogous to that of a
  living and functioning body" (20).
• able to transfer our perspective so that "every
  member of the lay faithful is seen in relation to
  the whole body," and not vice versa (20).

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• "a gift, a great gift of the Holy Spirit to be
  gratefully accepted by the lay faithful, and at
  the same time to be lived with a deep sense of
  responsibility" (20).
• living "in a continual interaction with others,
  with a lively sense of fellowship" (20).

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Why BEC?

• Because we are baptized into Christian community
  (1 Cor 1213), we are already in Christian
  community whether or not we are aware of it. We
  are incorporated into Christian community through
  Baptism.

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• because the Lord created us to need each other (1
  Cor 1221).
• for full power in evangelization (Jn 1721).
• for the full release of the spiritual gifts,
  because the gifts are for the common good (1 Cor
  127).

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• to experience fully Jesus' presence (Mt 1820).
• to hear God fully (Jn 1027).

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for protection (Mt 1812 Eccl 412). for
strength (Eccl 412 Gn 293).
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• for growth in holiness (Prv 2717).
• for exponential growth in power (Lv 268).
• to harvest those who have experienced renewal
  (Hag 15-7 2 Jn 8 Rv 32).

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• to strengthen us against persecution

• to decentralize and organize the parish
  community, to which Christian communities "always
  remain united" (Mission of the Redeemer, Pope
  John Paul II, 51).

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• for authentic love (1 Jn 318). A Christian
  community becomes "a school in which all learn to
  love God, to love the brothers and sisters with
  whom they live, and to love humanity" (Fraternal
  Life in Community, Congregation for Institutes of
  Consecrated Life, 25).

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To obey Jesus (see Jn 1721).
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Review of the Last Formation Results from the
role play
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BEC visits

• With a good /correct spirit / a reaching out
• Take a humble approach
• With open mind
• Be sensitive to the problem of the people.
• Observe their ideology / background / situation
• Organize time of visits
• With a concerned heart / care
• Persevere / persistence / patience
• The Church goes to the people, not people to the
  Church

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Organizing BEC activities

• Know the interest / need of the BEC
• Activities that concerns people
• Know peoples spirituality
• Be open for new ideas
• Focus on the purpose of the gathering
• Make use of celebration, e.g. Christmas Easter,
  etc.
• Make use of peoples gifts
• Reach out to non-comers
• Types of activities prayer, fun, service

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Reflection paper

• You are a facilitator
• Time the gathering
• Follow the given method or have a method
• Do not get carried away with discussions out of
  topic!
• Be creative

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Youth

• Youth Census?
• Best to have their own reflection
• Activities must have fun - Instill values in fun
• Types of activities party / outdoor /
  adventures / dancing / simple
• Create relationships - teach them values of
  friendship/ community
• Make use of their gifts

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The Poor

• Know their need - they may not be poor
• Visitation
• Education
• Counseling
• Other help
• The poor are always there

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Devise 2007 BEC plan
Group Work
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Why should Christian communities be based in a
home?
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A home provides a family setting (see Acts 246),
and both a Christian community and a family are
modeled on the Trinity.
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• The home continues to be Christ's base for
  evangelization and ministry (Mt 1011ff).

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Christian community is the daily sharing of life
in Christ. A home-based community is better
integrated into everyday life and into its
neighborhood.
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• The home fosters the right size for growing in
  brotherhood and sisterhood

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A community based in a home does not require the
super-structure of a large, centralized, covenant
community.
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While a Christian community in our culture needs
to be formal and intentional, the daily workings
of the Christian community must be informal and
not necessitate the amassing of many meetings
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What does nature tell us about Christian
community?
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Many aspects of nature, especially as viewed from
the ecological perspective, show the importance
of Christian community. For example, we can learn
a lesson from geese.
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• "As each bird flaps its wings, by flying in V
  formation, the whole flock adds 71 percent flying
  range than if each bird flew alone.

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• Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it
  quickly gets back into formation to take
  advantage of the 'lifting power' of the bird
  immediately in front.

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• When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back
  to the formation and another goose flies at the
  point position.

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• The geese in formation honk from behind to
  encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

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• When a goose gets sick or wounded or shot down,
  two geese drop out of formation and follow to
  help and protect. They stay until the goose is
  able to fly again or dies."

(A Lesson From the Geese appeared in Issue 97 of
Merle W. Boos' Agricultural Notes from the ELCA.)