|
 Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Welcome to St. Maria Goretti as we
celebrate the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time! We especially welcome our
several new families who have joined us in recent weeks. We are certainly very
glad to have you with us. We are certain that God brought you here for a
reason, and we look forward to working with you to find out what that reason is.
I have several times heard a quotation
that is oftentimes attributed to the Seventeenth-Century French philosopher,
Rene Descartes, that “It is not enough to have a good mind. The main thing is
to learn to use it well.” I like the quotation so much because while it has
great significance for education in general, I firmly believe that it has even
greater significance for religious education. As Church, as a community of
Faith, we all have a great responsibility to authentically pass on our Faith to
our children, our grandchildren, and all of our young people. The fact is that
if the Church is going to exist at all in the future, the time for us to be
doing something about it is right now, through the religious education of our
young people. This has got to be a priority for all of us. We should all be
concerned about it. In the next few weeks, all of our religious education
programs will be starting here at St. Maria Goretti. Our Catholic school opened
this past week. Two weeks from today, our Parish Religious Education program (P.R.E.)
is going to begin. Our Jr. High Youth Group, H.O.P.E. and our High School Youth
Group, T.R.U.T.H. will also be beginning soon. Our Sacramental Preparation
programs for First Reconciliation, First Communion, and Confirmation are also
all starting again soon. We must ALL pray for the success for each one of these
catechetical/formation programs! Our Parish family is betting everything on
these efforts, that we are going to be producing fine, young, Christian men and
women in the next few years, whom are ready to take their leadership roles in
the Church.
I write this week reminding all of our
parents of the special responsibility that they have to raise and train their
Baptized sons and daughters in the Faith. Do you remember those promises that
were made on the day of your son’s or daughter’s Baptisms? You promised to God,
you took on a sacred responsibility, to raise your son or daughter in the
Catholic Faith. Your Parish family stands with you and wants to support you in
that responsibility. All of these programs are here to help you live up to your
Baptism commitments as parents. Please take advantage of them! The Parish
programs can’t do the job on their own. They must be supporting what you are
doing and saying and teaching at home. Working together, we can bring your son
or daughter up in the Faith. Make sure that your child or your children are
signed up for the religious education programs for their grade level now.
Today at Mass, you’re going to hear a
special appeal from our super Director of Religious Education (D.R.E.), the
extraordinary Connie Anderson, about how we are still in need of several
individuals to serve as Catechists for this year’s programs. We’ve already been
reading for several weeks now, how our awesome Youth Minister, Jeff Stankovsky,
has been looking for youth ministers for both HOPE and TRUTH. I’d ask EACH OF
YOU to seriously consider if you couldn’t help out this year. You don’t even
have to have kids to help out. The responsibility belongs to the whole Church!
All of us should be doing something to pass on our Faith to others. I also
firmly believe that there is no better way to learn more about our Faith than to
teach it to others. You want to grow in your Faith? Then sign up to teach a
PRE class or help out as a HOPE youth minister. We need you this year! A
parish of our size should have more than enough catechists. It’s really time
for all of us to step-up and lend a hand. Call Connie or Jeff tomorrow at the
Parish Office to find out what you could do to help out. You won’t regret it.
I promise!
The Girl Scout’s Dinner Dance for Seniors
is taking place next Saturday evening. Tickets for the event are available
again this weekend, after all our Masses. A great time is planned for all, so
we are hoping that all of our Silver Angels will come out and enjoy this
wonderful evening, put on by our own Girl Scout Troop #226.
There’s a LOT going on! This is a great
time of the year. I love it! Have a great week!
In Christ,
Fr. Kevin
There are only two ways to live your life. One
is as if nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is.
|
