Dear School Leaders,

Please use your log in to review and access any materials available for your consideration:  CIC Foundation and CIC Level I: Catechetical Certification – My Catholic School

20-21 Fall CIC Foundation LOCAL Retreat Toolkit – Task 3: MORAL FORMATION – adapted from Open Wide Our Hearts- the enduring call to love; USCCB Pastoral on Racism.

Friday, October 16, 2020 was originally designated archdiocesan day for the CIC Foundation LOCAL Retreats but with the implications of Covid-19 and all schools working tirelessly to open schools appropriately, this date has been released and adjustments have been given to allow each school FLEXIBILITY in meeting their local Catechetical certification and renewal requirements during the 20-21 school year.  This year, the school leadership can consider any of the CIC retreat toolkits to fulfill the requirements.  Some school leaders might want to return to an earlier CIC Retreat toolkit and reapply the learning because of new staffing and/or needs of the community at this time. The CIC local retreat format will be also flexible – 5 hours -via in-person, online or hybrid, or over time through a series of one hour sessions. This decision can be made as your school applies for clock hours using pdEnroller.

20-21 Suggested CIC Foundation LOCAL Retreat – Task 3: MORAL FORMATION – Open Wide Our Hearts – the enduring call to love

Due to the national outcry for eradicating racism, our thought partner is the Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center (IPJC) in Seattle. The Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center acts for justice in the church and in the world. IPJC is sponsored by twenty-two religious communities and collaborates with Catholic, ecumenical, interfaith and other organizations in carrying out this mission.

IPJC has developed an excellent retreat format for the USCCB’s pastoral letter on racism, entitled Open Wide our Hearts- the enduring call to love.  It is a four-session process of faith communities focusing on: 1) Invitation to Conversion 2) To Do Justice: Live in Right Relationship 3) To Love Goodness, and 4) To Walk Humbly with God.

Embedded in the colorful IPJC retreat booklet is the facilitator guide, the guidance for the 4 sessions, resources including: Racism Legislation and Resistance Timeline, Undoing Racism- Discerning the Call, the USCCB Pastoral, Open Wide Our Hearts, One Asian American’s Voice, White privilege and what to do about it, Endnotes/Resources. Please note: To experience this retreat fully, this retreat is intended for an 8 hour experience so local scheduling and flexible delivery is important due to the size of your school.  You may want to provide or ask each participant to bring a journal for the individual reflection times.

Supplemental Racism Resources: Special thank you to our school leaders and our CSLA librarians for sharing additional resources that could be helpful over time. click here

TO ORDER: Each booklet is $5.00. IPJC is located in north Seattle so you can place an online or phone order and go pick up the booklets or have them mailed to the school. Please secure one booklet for each participant so they have the full content and can review back to the retreat sessions and resources at any time. Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center  1216 NE  65th, Seattle, WA 98115  phone: 206-223-1138

CLOCK HOURS: a). Use pdEnroller for a one day live/virtual retreat experience. or b). Use pdEnroller for a series of hours for your live/virtual retreat experience.

Suggested Retreat Outcomes:

• Consider individual and systematic racism, why it is sinful, and our call to conversion.
• Consider our call to transform our institutions and society into one that respects the dignity and rights of all peoples.
• Read and reflect upon the USCCB pastoral letter, Open Wide Our Hearts.
• Consider with open hearts the experience of being white in America and the privileges that come with it; and the responsibility wot work to end the injustice in our systems of education, housing, incarceration, and employment.
• Consider the invitation to Open Wide Our Hearts to our brothers and sisters and commit to “walk humbly with God”
• Reflecting on this retreat experience, consider implications, opportunities, and actions for the local school community.

WHEN YOUR CIC RETREAT EXPERIENCE IS COMPLETED:
Please ask your teachers complete the brief state evaluation form through pdEnroller and also the 2020 Fall Moral Formation CIC Local School Retreat OCS Evaluation can be found here. We would value the feedback and would share insights with our thought partner, IPJC.

Blessings always,
Sandy Barton Smith at sandra.smith@seattlearch.org

Kristine Moore, Administrative Aide at kristine.moore@seattlearch.org