I recently was asked to do a presentation on Small Christian Communities (SCC), due to the fact that the person doing the presentation had to leave out of town on an emergency (everything is OK).  I agreed to do it even though I knew very little about the topic.  I knew that SCC's were mentioned in the Natl Plan for Hispanic Ministry as a means of evangelization, but I really did not know much else. Or so I thought.


It turns out that many of the church documents around SCCs (from Evangelii Nuntiandi and onward) speak of the importance of these small groups for the Church as a whole.  I belong to the the Cursillo Movement and one of the things that is stressed is the need for perseverance in our "Fourth Day" (life) and that coming together as a group reunion is a means to persevere. As I reflected on it I found that I had indeed persevered through the help of my group reunion!


SCCs are not bible study groups, they are groups that come together to be leaven for the church and society.  Studying the bible is a part, but it also includes the realization that we are to be transformed by the Word in order to help transform the world. We are to help bring about justice.  We are to care for our brothers and sisters (Matthew 25).  In fact our Pope Benedict (then-Cardinal Ratzinger) said, in the document from the Congregation for the Doctine of the Faith, "Instruction On Christian Freedom and Liberation":  There is no gap between love of neighbor and desire for justice….The evil inequities and oppression of every kind which afflict millions of men and women today openly contradict Christ's Gospel and cannot leave the conscience of any Christian indifferent.


As our bishops said in their document "Communion and Mission" 


"Small church communities offer an important and unique means of formation for the new evangelization. They strengthen their members to persevere in their faith and mission, providing both inspiration and practical support. To be involved in the new evangelization, however, requires that members of such communities be as ready for engagement with the world outside their community as they are for deepening their relationships within it. "


Let us look into forming small Christian Communities in our parish, not only because our Church is asking us to do so, but because it is for our own good and the Church!