Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
Look for a Nativity postcard in your mailbox. It is going out in today’s mail. Hidden among the postcards from dentists and realtors, you might find a postcard with a photo collage of a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a rosary, “Breakthrough: The Bible for Young Catholics” and other books on the leafy green background. The postcard says, “Faith Formation 2021-2022.”
The postcard has been sent only to the 410 families with school-age children registered at Nativity. It gives them a heads-up about faith formation starting in August. For those of you who are not getting the postcard, you might be interested to know some changes in Family Faith Formation.
One big change does not look like a change at all: the return to our Sunday Mass schedule prior to the pandemic. The reason for returning to Sunday Mass at 7:30 a.m., 9:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. is not because it was the way we have always done things. It is to make family faith formation a priority.
The Sunday Mass schedule gives us a solid hour on Sunday mornings, from 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. for faith formation. Families find it hard to come to Mass on Sunday and return another day for faith formation. They can come to Mass at 9:00 a.m. and stay for faith formation, or come for faith formation and stay for the 11:30 a.m. Mass.
Another change is that we will offer childcare on Sunday morning during the 9:00 a.m. Mass and faith formation. Parents with toddlers to kindergarten children can put their young children in childcare during the 9:00 a.m. Mass so that parents can get the most out of Mass. What’s more, childcare continues during Sunday faith formation so that the parents can take part in their own faith formation and not be distracted by young children.
Sunday morning coffee and donuts are returning. (In fact, this Father’s Day weekend is the soft relaunch of coffee and donuts in the Parish Center.) Besides giving folks a chance to visit with each other after Mass, coffee and donuts and other goodies attract families. It will be set up so that families are first out the church door after the 9:00 a.m. Mass and first to pick up a donut or snack, so that by 10:15 a.m., parents and children are in the classrooms ready to go.
The faith formation for the children will be based on the Sunday readings. The parents will be taught to use the hand-outs at home. The faith formation for the parents in the Fall will be the Alpha course.
There are new options for faith formation other than Sunday morning, but that’s enough for now. The goal is to give the parents support to grow in their own faith and nurture their family’s faith. Faith formation is for life.
An essential part of the parish faith formation are the catechists. I am so grateful to the parishioners who have been catechists for our children and youth. Their love of the Lord and their love of the children passes on the great gift of faith. Thank you!
Do you have a love of the Lord? Do you find yourself sharing your Catholic faith with others? The Lord may be calling you to be a catechist. Don’t let it ring unanswered. Pick up the phone. Call JoAnn Elder, our Director of Faith Formation, to discern whether or not the Lord may be calling you to pass on the faith to his families.
Jelder@nativity.org or 407-322-3961.
Faithful families start here.
In Christ,
Fr David