JustFaith Program in the Diocese of Owensboro

Just Faith – A Journey into Compassion

What is our vision of what church is about?  What is the church’s mission?  Might it be bigger than what we currently personally imagine?  Might you and I be called to experience more of God and greater loving care of one another?

Just Faith offers us an immersion into a fresh new way of thinking about our faith in God, and love for our neighbor.  It does this in the context of time spent with a community of fellow believers in study of scripture, Catholic social teaching, prayer and service.  Conversion takes time, and if we will give this experience a chance, then our attitudes about faith in God and love of neighbor can change.

Jack Jezreel, the founder of Just Faith, describes the program as an effort to provide a formation experience that leads to transformation.  This process seeks an expanded capacity for love for all, but especially for those in need.  The program is not primarily about education, but formation and transformation.  Just Faith seeks transformation through the reading of many books, videos, guest speakers and discussions over a 28-week period.  The program helps us make our way from a “partial love” of our families and neighbors and work associates, to a love extended to the larger world.  Just Faith seeks to provide a number of expressions that lend us to make the work of caring for our neighbor possible with a heart filled with passion, commitment, energy and insight.

There are a number of aspects to Just Faith.  First it happens in a small community of faith.  Often the most profound and significant growth for adults frequently happens in the context of a small faith community.  Why?  It is because as people struggle with the meaning of the gospel in context of a supportive community, they are helped to respond with a greater love and a deeper faith toward those in need.

Second, Just Faith is long.  Our spiritual journey takes time.  Conversion and change of heart take time.  To respect this process we must allow enough time for it to happen.  To change we need a context and a time frame for it to happen.  Just Faith takes very seriously the dynamics of conversion and allows us the time and context for the change to occur in us.

Third, Just Faith takes its cues from the Gospel and Catholic Social Teaching about what it means to be a person of faith.  The program is about the study of Justice and Compassion.  It is about how persons are transformed by their engagement with those in need.

Fourth, Just Faith takes the time to introduce us to Catholic Social Teaching.  This rich tradition of the teachings of our Popes and Bishops has been called the best kept secret of Catholic teaching.  The program seeks to make this teaching more widely known and encourages participation in living it.

Finally, Just Faith is about enriching us in the love of God and our neighbor.  In the Gospel we are offered abundant life.  This is less about the length of one’s life, but more about a quality of life.  Our lives become enriched by what God is committed to:  the care and well being of every son and daughter of God.  For we are each made in the image of God.  In self-giving we discover who we are.  We discover what it means to be human.  In the discovery we find satisfaction and contentment we would never had anticipated.  These can prove richer and more satisfying than any other possibility for a life.

The longest journey begins with a single step.  Perhaps each of us can take that step of enrichment by learning more about Just Faith and beginning the faith journey.  For more information about the program, please call the Diocesan Office of Social Concerns at 683-1545.