Dear Parishioners:
By our Baptism, each of us becomes a child of the Father and a disciple of Christ through Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Each Christian, no matter what age, is a called to on-going conversion in holiness and love as a disciple who lives as an apostolic witness. Christ now calls his disciples, through their words and works, to radiate His light as salt to preserve and as leaven to raise up what is true, good, and beautiful in our broken but blessed world.
Our Faith Formation Program seeks to assist parents in their own on-going formation and apostolates through catechesis 1) to deepen faith, 2) to increase cooperation with and participation in the grace of our Liturgical and Sacrament worship, 3) to advance prayer toward authentic mediation and contemplation, and 4) to enable them to fulfill the missionary mandate—as priest, prophet, and king in Christ—to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt. 28: 19-20).
This life as missionary disciples—as contemplatives in the world but not of the world—is nurtured and strengthened within holy marriage and family life, wherein parents serve as the first evangelizers and primary educators of their children. The Faith Formation Program, therefore, assists parents to establish families as domestic churches for the evangelization of our world, beginning at home and in our neighborhoods. And for those who are not married or parents—whether a child, teen, or adult—the program provides a means to grow in holiness of life and love, in truth and freedom, so as to contribute to building God’s Kingdom and to convert the Culture of Death into a Culture of Life.
May each of us, through the precious Gifts of Christ’s Flesh, Blood, and Holy Spirit—nourished and strengthened through Confirmation and through frequent reception of Reconciliation and Holy Communion—be set ablaze with the life of Christ and of the Holy Spirit, fulfilling Jesus’s desire: “I came to cast fire upon the earth, and would that it were already kindled!” (Lk. 12: 49).
Yours in Christ,
Father Jack Durkin
Pastor