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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This is a very busy weekend around St. Maria Goretti!
Our first-year Confirmation candidates had their Day of
Recollection yesterday and will be recognized as candidates at
our 4:30 PM Saturday evening Mass. The Holy Name Society is
having their annual Fall Kick-off tonight at 7:15 PM with the
Colts on the big-screen in the Stuart-Gadus Fieldhouse. And
T.R.U.T.H., our high school youth group, is having their annual
Kick-off tonight also, immediately following our Sunday evening
5:00 PM Mass. There’s a lot going on. Summer vacation is
over. It’s the weekend AFTER Labor Day. Let’s hang on and
enjoy the ride!
Our Parish Religious Education Program ( P.R.E.) for our
children in Pre-School through Eighth grade also begins this
weekend. And as it does, ALL of us need to be praying for this
important ministry. Twice every Sunday morning and again on
Monday afternoons, armies of some of the most dedicated and
committed people from our Parish family, will get together as
Catechists to pass on our Faith to our children and our young
people. This is a labor of love for these folks, but all of
them deserve our prayers and support, especially as they begin
their new year this weekend. I am so proud of our Religious
Education program. Our Catechists try to really pass on the
best of our Catholic Faith in an energetic and meaningful way.
And this program is huge! There’s a reason why it takes an army
of people to make this work, and it is because there are close
to six hundred of our young folks in P.R.E.! This is a great
tribute to the parents of these students also. Every single one
of our young people should be receiving religious education!
Today, what we don’t know about our Faith, can get you in a
situation where you can lose your Faith. We must faithfully and
authentically pass on Catholicism to our young people. It is
the best thing that we can possibly do for them. I thank all of
the parents who have signed up their sons and daughters for
religious education. I promise you that we will do the best
that we can for each of them. From the bottom of my heart I’d
like to thank each one of the Catechists this year, both those
who are re-enlisting and doing it again, and also those who have
stepped up and come forward to teach for the first time this
year. Our whole community is grateful for each and every one of
you! May God bless and reward you always!
And of course, all of this, our entire program is once
again under the very capable direction of Connie Anderson, our
Parish Director of Religious Education ( D.R.E. ) who works
tirelessly year round for the good of our program and to
maintain a high standard of quality of religious education for
all of us here at St. Maria Goretti. Connie is such a blessing
to all of us! Thank you, Connie, for all that you do! We pray
for you, for your family, and for your intentions this week as
we begin another great year!
This weekend reminds all of us that we need to keep
growing in our Faith. When is the last time you read a good
book about the Catholic life? When is the last time you came to
an Adult Religious Education class or presentation? When’s the
last time you went to the St. Philip Neri Oratorio? We’ve got
to keep feeding our souls and our minds! There’s so much
interesting material to cover. A lifetime is just too short!
St. Augustine wrote that same thing, just different words. The
more you learn about our Faith, the more you realize there is to
know AND the more connections you make with other areas of life
and theology. Roman Catholicism is such an awesome tapestry of
tradition, faith, prayer, service, holiness, and a holder of the
complete deposit of Faith down through the ages. No where else
are you going to find this much richness in anything else that
we do as human beings. Man, is it ever great to be Catholic!
The more we learn, the more all of us realize this.
Next weekend, we’ve got another special opportunity for
growing in our Faith, this time, for the ladies. St. Maria
Goretti is proudly hosting our third annual Catholic Women’s
Conference next Saturday. It’s still not too late to attend.
Please see the details listed inside this bulletin to find out
how you can attend, and bring a friend. It is going to be a
really great day. Ladies, hopefully you can join us!
Well, I gotta go. There’s too much going on to sit here
typing away at this thing. Have a great week and keep growing
in YOUR Faith.
In Christ,
Fr. Kevin
Change is inevitable, except
when it’s from a vending machine.
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