We are winding down the school year this month. This is our final month of our COVID Family Faith Formation program. It has been challenging to try to do everything not in person this year. As more people get the vaccine and infection rates decline, we hope to have more in-person programs as the year goes on. This will begin with some outdoor activities.
On Fridays at 10am, there are a group of parents and their children meeting at the Saunders Park upper playground (behind the hospital). This is a chance for the kids to get some fresh air and fun while the parents can have some fellowship. I also visit with parents at the park to hear their concerns and suggestions for families in the parish. On Sundays at the 11am Mass, we have re-started Children’s Liturgy of the Word. This is a program that was only a few months old when it had to be shut down because of COVID. Children ages 3-6 are invited to hear the Mass readings with our adult volunteers, who read from a Lectionary written for children. This allows parents to remain in the pews and focus on the Word while their children are able to hear the Word read in a way that they can understand. There is no registration required, simply come to 11am Mass. At the beginning of Mass, Fr. Connolly calls the children and prayer leaders to the front of church to receive the Lectionary and a blessing and then they process out of church. We are taking advantage of the good weather and meeting in the garden just off of the Gathering Space. We provide carpet squares to sit on. The children pray and hear the same readings that the adults in Church hear, but it is done at a child’s level of understanding. The children return to the pews for the Liturgy of the Eucharist. This summer we are planning some family fun activities outside. Since we re-opened the church last summer, we have not been able to have the social interaction in the Gathering Space after mass that so many of us crave. These activities will be outdoors and allow us all to reconnect with our parish family and friends. Keep an eye on the bulletin and our Facebook feed for more information about these fun opportunities. Happy Mother’s Day- to all the women of the parish!
You do not have to be a biological mother to deserve honor today. All women are all called to be spiritual mothers to the younger generation- whether we have a family relation or not. We are called to nurture, guide, mentor, and pray for our young people. There are many ways you can do this - encouraging young people to attend Mass, giving them a friendly wave when you see them in the pews, discussing matters of faith over the dinner table, teaching them to pray in good times and in bad, serving in a ministry at the parish that serves young people (such as Family Formation, Sacramental Preparation, Middle School Ministry, High School Ministry, Confirmation Preparation, or College Outreach) and always remembering young people and those that work with them in your own prayers. This Mother’s Day I give thanks for all the mothers, grandmothers, aunts, godmothers, and spiritual mothers who help with the faith formation of the children in their lives. I am especially grateful that they have stepped up in this very challenging year. As we inch our way back to “normal” please know that you are still needed. On May 13th at 7pm we will be having a Family Formation Team meeting. If the weather is nice we will meet outside behind Manning Hall, and if it is not nice we will meet in Manning Hall. All parents and any parish teens and adults interested in taking an active role in sharing the faith with the young people in our parish are invited to discuss plans for the summer and next school year. If you are not called to take an active role, please make sure to remember the young people in our parish and those working with them in your prayers. I will be remembering all the spiritual mothers in my prayers. Spring is always an exciting time- with rebirth, renewal, and plans for the future. This year especially- we are on the cusp of a springtime after a long pandemic winter. We aren’t completely done with winter. There are still some challenges remaining, but summertime is finally within view. More people are getting the vaccine and I am seeing more people return to Mass. We have re-introduced Children’s Liturgy of the Word to the 11am Mass. It is so wonderful to see our youngest parishioners receive their blessing and process out to the Mary Garden to hear the Word proclaimed to them!
With the weather getting nicer, having outdoor Team meetings are possible. Weather permitting, there will be a Family Formation Team Meeting on Thursday May 13th. We will not be returning to a traditional classroom religious education program next year. I am hoping that it will not be 100% home-based like it has been this year. I invite all parents to this meeting to learn about the program we are looking at for next year. We will also discuss plans for this summer. I also invite any adults or teens in the parish who are interested in volunteering as catechists or helpers to join us at the Family Formation Team meeting. By coming to the meeting, you are not committing to be a volunteer. This is an opportunity to learn more about plans for next year so that you can discern whether being part of the Family Formation Team is the best use of your talents and time. The Family Formation Team meeting will be May 13th at 7pm in the parking lot behind Manning Hall (rain date will be May 20th at 7pm). We will have folding chairs available, but you may want to bring a camp chair for more comfortable seating. On April 18, 2021 we celebrated our 2021 First Communion Class. Due to the pandemic, we did not do this at a community Mass, as is the tradition in our parish. In preparing for the sacraments of Reconciliation and First Communion this year, we utilized a curriculum called Signs of Grace. Some of the videos used for this curriculum are available on FORMED. Part of the Signs of Grace program also involves parents watching the Forgiven (for Reconciliation) and the Presence (for First Communion) series of videos, also available on FORMED.
What makes this curriculum so exciting is that it refreshes the parents’ understanding of the Sacraments and supports them as the primary catechists for their children. The children have a student guide book and an activity book. The parents can utilize the online platform to go over lessons with their child. Parents also watch the related FORMED adult study videos for each of the Sacraments their child is preparing for. Since we were not able to gather indoors this year for more than 30 minutes, we could not have parent meetings to go deeper into the study videos. Next year, if we are able to have indoor meetings, we will have Forgiven (in the Fall semester) and Presence (in the Spring Semester) study meetings for the parents as well as any adult in the parish interested in learning more about the Sacraments. Do you have a heart for the Sacraments and an interest in sharing that with others? Would you like to find creative ways to help our young people celebrate their Sacraments of First Reconciliation and First Communion? I would like to form a Sacraments Team to help with small group discussions at the parent/adult meetings and to help make these milestones special for the children of our parish. If either of these things interest you (working with parents/adults or working with the children), email me to let me know you want to be part of the Sacraments Team. [email protected] I love seeing the Magnolia trees and daffodils in bloom this month. We are finally coming out of a long cold winter. Now that we are in the last couple months of the school year, it is time to start preparing for summer!
I had been hoping to bring back a Totus Tuus Team this summer for our youth in grades K-12. However, out of an abundance of caution for the Totus Tuus team members and for participating parishes and their communities, the Diocese has decided to not have the Totus Tuus program this year. I appreciate the careful consideration that the Diocese put in making such a difficult decision. While we currently have a low positivity rate in our community, other parts of our Diocese are higher. Add to that the unknown of what those rates will be this summer and the chance that a traveling Totus Tuus Team could potentially carry the virus from parish to parish and the risk is too high this summer. Hopefully we will be able to offer Totus Tuus again in 2022. So what can we do? What have we all been missing this past year? Many of you have told me you miss spending time with your parish family. We reopened for Masses in the middle of last summer with restrictions. Some parishioners have stayed away from church out of caution, some out of frustration with the changes, some have been here all along but haven’t been able to enjoy the opportunity to socialize in the time before and after Mass. We have all missed the connections of the “pre-COVID” time. Last year at this time the church buildings were closed to the public. This year we are open for Mass and outdoor gatherings. This summer I would like to plan some fun family-friendly outdoor activities before and/or after Saturday evening Mass to help reconnect our parish family. Would you like to be a part of this Summer Ministry? Email me at [email protected] to get on the list for notifications for a planning meeting. |
Kelley TanseyFaith Formation Coordinator Archives
June 2021
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