Preparation for the Convocation
Consider offering some of your Masses for its fruitfulness and for the other leaders you have yet to meet.
In addition to personal prayer, remember that an important way to prepare spiritually and strategically for the Convocation is by meeting in small groups with other delegates and with other Catholic leaders in your community. To assemble these small communities, consider:
• Who are your main collaborators? Who is already working alongside you in the work of ministry in and with the Church?
• Who might the untapped, potential collaborators in your community be? Consider those in other ministry areas; those at the diocese or parish; those in apostolic movements; those in religious communities; those in academic institutions and higher education; Catholic business and community leaders; emerging( young adult) leaders or people in other cultural families or other generations who may have new perspectives to bring to the conversation.
• Read and discuss how parishes can make use of the USCCB Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis statement, Living as Missionary Disciples: A Resource for Evangelization, especially Part 2,“ Developing a Pastoral Plan for Missionary Discipleship.” Find the document online at: http:// www. usccb. org / beliefs-and-teachings / howwe-teach / new-evangelization / index. cfm.
As you gather these people together in preparation for the Convocation, reflect on the following:
• What does your landscape look like? What is your local mission field?
• Who is not being reached by the existing efforts of church communities in the area? Who is not in the pews? Who is not in church leadership? Who is struggling on the margins of your local area? Who does not have the
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