|
 Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Merry Christmas !!! We continue to celebrate the Octave
of the Feast of Christmas (the eight days of celebration of a major Feast Day)
and this weekend we are celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family. Today we
remember the Faith and the love that was shared by Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in
that “holy household” of Nazareth. We pray in a special way today for all
families. It is no secret that the institution of the family is under severe
attack today. It is harder than ever to live selflessly in a family as we begin
the Year of Lord, 2010. We also pray this weekend for our Parish family. It is
here that all of our individual families and households first come together as
Church. We pray that we love and take care of each other. We pray that even as
a Parish, that we live together selflessly. You can’t be selfish and really be
a member of ANY family. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph certainly taught us that
two-thousand years ago!
I wanted to make you aware of a new ministry here at St.
Maria Goretti that is being offered in collaboration with our Deanery, the
Carmel Deanery. The new ministry is to help strengthen marriages and it is
called “The Third Option”. It is no secret that our Parish has suffered
greatly because of several tragic divorces. Many have been hurt. And any time
any one of our individual families experiences the loss of divorce, it hurts us
all. We’ve got to all keep praying for strong marriages, even those of us who
aren’t married. And as a Parish, we continue to strive these marital challenges
head on with on-going formation for Catholic married folks. It is my sincere
hope that The Third Option will become another important tool in keeping
marriages together and strong. We also have our annual fall Marriage
Conference, we have a marriage ministry team, and we have connections to both
Retrouvaille and Marriage Encounter here at the Parish. We want to make sure
that we are providing opportunities for all married couples to keep their
marriages strong, and bring healing and reconciliation when it is needed.
The Third Option is a skills-based group program that
helps participants build stronger, more fulfilling marriages. Each 14-session
cycle covers a comprehensive set of tools that couple can use to develop better
understanding, sensitivity, and trust while learning more effective
communication skills. Many married couples consider just two options when
tackling challenges within their marriage: his way or her way. The Third Option
stresses and prepares couples to approach their marriage with a “third” way,
that seeks to be beneficial to both. The skills developed in The Third Option
are helpful for any marriage. Couples attending the sessions range from those
on the brink of divorce, to those yearning to make a good marriage even better.
No marriage is “too good” or “too bad” to benefit from The Third Option.
Our own Diaconate-candidate John Etter is one of the
individuals who have made possible the bringing of this new program to our
Deanery. The Third Option meets on Thursday evenings from 7:00 to 9:00 PM at
St. Theodore Guerin High School on Gray Road. Attendance at the session is
strictly confidential. Even the room location at the high school is discrete
with private entrance. For more information on The Third Option, you can call
327-324-8446 or go online to
www.carmelthirdoption.org
. Don’t wait. Your marriage needs to be a priority right now.
We congratulate our seminarian Clayton Thompson who is
going to be receiving the Ministry of Lector this coming Thursday evening at
5:30 PM at a special Mass at St. Mary’s in Muncie for the Holy Day. This coming
Friday is a Holy Day of Obligation. This is one of Clayton’s first public steps
on his path to ordination to the priesthood in 2013. Thursday evening, Clayton
will become an “official” lector of the Catholic Church. It is the Feast of
Mary Mother of God. Here at St. Maria Goretti we will be having Mass also at
5:30 PM on Thursday evening, New Year’s Eve, and then again on Friday morning,
January 1st, the actual
Feast Day, at 10:00 AM. Please plan now for when you are going to be going to
Mass for the Holy Day.
I hope that you are continuing to have a wonderful
Christmas 2009! We need to treasure these days. Enjoy all of this with your
loved ones! God bless you all!
In Christ,
Fr. Kevin
The Holy Scriptures are our letters from home. |
