In the life of a parish, there are going to be good days and bad days. The good days include sacramental events such as First Communions and Confirmations. Bad days might force us to deal with troubled children, angry parents, or upset pastors. If we want to celebrate the good things and rise above the negative, the Virgin Mary might be an example for us to pattern ourselves after. Throughout her life, Mary no doubt […]
Talking with other faith formation ministers about young adults (defined by the bishops as ages 18–39), I often hear these comments: They are just not at our parish. I never see young adults. They never show up. As both a young adult myself and as a person who ministers to and with young adults, I could not disagree more with these comments. I know young adults are showing up in our parishes. The question is: […]
Thanks to so many of you for responding to my request to send in descriptions of what your parish is doing to help people grow in the first of the Six Tasks of Catechesis: Knowledge of the Faith. Here is a brief summary of what some folks are doing: Ladies’ faith-sharing group (meets three times monthly to discuss Scripture) Weekly Scripture study (some on the Sunday Scripture readings; some on books of the Bible; some Lectio […]
In his Urbi et Orbi message for Christmas 2013, Pope Francis said: I take up the song of the angels who appeared to the shepherds in Bethlehem on the night when Jesus was born. It is a song which unites heaven and earth, giving praise and glory to heaven, and the promise of peace to earth and all its people. I ask everyone to share in this song: it is a song for every man […]
We take the week of Christmas and the following week off from faith formation classes. That means we might have one or two classes during the Christmas season—and those after the world has already moved on past trees and tinsel. How do we teach children the importance of the Christian understanding of Christmas when the timing seems a bit awkward? I try to do so by using the last class before Christmas as a project […]
All too often, adult faith formation is approached as “CCD for Grownups” with settings that are little or no different than academic classroom settings for children. In reality, adult faith formation can and should take many forms. One opportunity that is often overlooked is that of the local pilgrimage. As Catholics, we learn not only from Scripture but also from our Tradition. One of the great ways of learning from our Catholic Tradition is to visit […]
Over the past six weeks, I’ve shared a series of posts on how to host small faith groups in the parish, with an eye toward Lent. Special thanks once again to St. Barnabas Parish in Chicago for sharing the inner workings of their successful experience, Companions on the Journey, for our benefit. Here, in one convenient space, is everything you need to implement small faith groups in your parish! How to Host Parish Small Faith Groups […]
Jesus was often surrounded by large crowds, clamoring to hear the Teacher speak. But Jesus first was only known to a small group, the Apostles. After the Resurrection, the Disciples continued spreading Jesus’ message to other small groups—the Philippians, the Ephesians, the Corinthians—and the tradition of small groups of devoted followers continues to this day. That’s what we’ve been focusing on with the series on how to host parish small faith groups. The series strengthens […]
We are all called by God to be saints. Every year, I strive to teach the children in my parish third grade religious education class that they are included in that call. I explain that the saints were not perfect; they were regular people who sometimes messed up. The difference is that saints changed their lives to live as disciples of Jesus. The saints are examples for us in how to follow Christ. That’s a tall […]
This is the last post in our series on how to host small faith groups in your parish. I have been drawing on the successful experience of St. Barnabas Parish in Chicago, which gathered over 200 parishioners to participate in small faith groups last Lent. Today we look at what must be done throughout the season of Lent to sustain the small groups and suggest some post-Lent follow-up ideas. Week Before the First Sunday of […]
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