Recently I had a conversation with one of our catechists (she will remain nameless for anonymity sake) about her struggle with getting her kids to attend Mass regularly. She asked them, "Do you know why I think it's important that you attend Mass?" and was shocked that they were not able to answer. After all, since they were small children, she regularly has brought them to Mass, has served as a Eucharistic Minister, and both kids have served as Altar Servers. Recently, she has allowed them to choose which Mass to attend so that they are more empowered to make the decision on their own. She figured that their answers would be obvious and contain at least a kernel of some of these things - that they attend Mass together to learn more about Jesus, to pray for others during that one hour, to strengthen their own relationship with Jesus and be nourished through the Eucharist. But alas, they were not able to answer at all.
Sometimes, we go through life full of assumptions, especially when it comes to the religious practices and spiritual development of our children. I would like to propose now, that we begin thinking about this in a more intentional way. Share with your children what you "get out of Mass", why is it important for you to go? What spiritual benefits do you receive by being part of a community? What do you think about when you receive Jesus in communion? How does going to Church change your life? Share with your kids - evangelize them - if they see that going to mass, being part of a community, receiving Communion, etc. is important to you, it will be important for them too, as long as they understand why. Share with them what you heard in the Gospel or other readings, what you heard in the Homily and ask them to share as well. Challenge them to pay attention for certain things - ask them what color (in the vestments, decor) they will see when they come into church, see if they can pick out the theme of the readings. Invite them to more active participation - model singing and saying the prayers aloud for all to hear.
Going to Mass is the primary way we practice our Catholic faith. Let's practice well so that our faith can grow and be nurtured! Do ask them, "why is it important for us to attend Mass?" and see what they say!
Monday, January 20, 2014
Thursday, January 9, 2014
January GIFT Follow Up
January GIFT Follow Up Email
Thank you for attending our January
GIFT Gatherings: Christian Unity and the Work of the Holy Spirit! If you were
not able to attend the GIFT sessions this month, please click
the link here to download the PowerPoint
presentation from the event. The PowerPoint includes a link to the YouTube
video that Fr. Craig showed for the adult session – Vatican II: Inside the Council, Episode 6 Ecumenism. Also, Fr.
Craig facilitated a discussion about the following situations, if you were not
able to attend the session, consider using these situations and have a conversation
with your spouse, or some friends.
·
#1; Your 16 year old daughter is
dating a 17 year old boy whom you’ve met and like. However, he belongs to
Peninsula Covenant church, and your daughter has gone a few times with him to
the Sunday afternoon services. She says that are more interesting and fun than
Mass. Ione day she comes home on Sunday and announces that she wants to join
that church. What do you do about the situation?
·
#2; Your best friend from high school
is getting married in June and has asked you to be the best man/maid of honor
and you have agreed. At the wedding, which is in a non-Catholic church, the
minister at one point says some prayers over a loaf of bread and some grape
juice and starts passing it around. Do you share in this communion? Have you receive
the Eucharist? Do you still need to go to Mass the next day? What do you do in
this situation?
·
#3; You are married to a
non-practicing Protestant whose church does not perform infant baptism. At the
time of your wedding your spouse agreed that any church you would have would be
baptized Catholic; but now that you first child has come along, he/she is
resisting. Your spouse says that your child should decide on baptism on his/her
own when he/she is old enough to make that decision. What do you do in this
situation?
·
#4; Your sister is married to a
Christian mas whose church believes in a very literal interpretation of the
Bible, including the passage where it says that “wives should be subordinate to
their husbands”. As a consequence, your sister cannot make any major decisions
on her own without getting her husband’s permission. Also, at family gatherings
he often takes every opportunity to criticize the Catholic Church. What do you
do in this situation?
At this month’s gatherings, the
Catechists led the K-4th grade children through chapter 11 in their
books. Please work through the remaining chapters in Unit 4 with them before
the 1st week of February, chapters 10 & 12. The website for the
text is http://calltofaith.osv.com which is where you can download the home lessons for chapters 10
& 12.
The 5-8th graders begin
with a prayer activity & icebreaker. A beach ball with prayer ideas was
tossed around. Each person shared their name and the prayer on the beach ball
when it was tossed to them. We then shared a story about a girl named Carly who
choose to miss the end of the year soccer party in order to go to 5:00 pm Mass
which was being said for her aunt who had passed away. She was nervous about
telling her friends about why she had to miss the party, and explaining her
religious beliefs, but they accepted and supported her decision.
By virtue of our Baptism, we are all
called to be evangelizers – those who spread the Good News (Gospel message) of
Jesus. We also learned that there are
some steps you can follow that will help you talk about God to family and
friends: 1) Pray to the Holy Spirit so that he will
help guide you to say the right words at the right time, 2) Spend time figuring
out what you know and believe about your Catholic faith, 3) Make mental notes
about the questions you still have, 4) Don’t try to sell, but explain what you
believe and why, 5) Ask questions of others to find answers
Finally, we talked about the marks of
the Church – one, holy, catholic and apostolic. Those words we say in the Creed
every time we are at Mass – and what they mean. One – refers to the fact that
we have one Lord, on faith, on Baptism, one Body in Christ. Holy – meaning that
God is her author, Christ her head, and the Holy Spirit her means to holiness,
catholic – meaning universal, the Church was established and exists for all
people regardless of where they are from, and finally apostolic – that the
Church is built on the original foundation of the 12 Apostles and continues
their work.
Other Resources:
Pinterest –
Vibrant Faith @ Home – www.vibrantfaithathome.org
Sabrina’s Blog – Do you children ever ask you faith
related questions that you are just not sure how to answer? Or do really cool
things related to their faith that you want to share with the community? If so,
follow the blog http://faqsfaithandquestiosn.blogspot.com
Attached are the Taking Faith Home
handouts for each week until we meet again on Feb 2nd or 5th for the February GIFT sessions: Celebrating the
Sacraments: Holy Orders
Also – there are several
opportunities coming up for families to celebrate Advent & Christmas.
Please put these on your calendars!
·
Continue collection coins for the Advent
Service Project – Coin Collection for the Working Boys’ Center: A
Family of Families and Casa Damien in Quito. Bring your coins to the February
GIFT sessions. Here is a video about the Working Boys Center: Transforming Families. These are two of the places where our mission trip groups
visit. We will be visiting again in summer 2014.
·
Mark your calendars for a fundraiser PANCAKE BREAKFAST for the Mission Trip
on Saturday, Feb 1st from 8-11:00
am at St. Pius. More details to follow!
·
High School Youth Ministry (HSYM) will meet on Sunday, January 12th from 5-7pm. Meet
at Sancho’s at 5pm, then walk back to St. Matthias for a discussion.
·
Middle School Youth Ministry (MSYM) will meet on Wednesday, January 15th from 6-8pm at
St. Matthias.
·
MULTIFAITH DAY OF SERVICE will be on January
20th. Go to http://tinyurl.com/mlkdayofservice2014
for more information.
·
FIRST RECONCILIATION will be celebration January 18th at
3:30 pm
·
YOUTH BIBLE STUDY will be offered
based on the History Channel series, “The Bible” on Jan 19, 26, Feb 16 & 23rd
from 11:30-1:30 pm in Room 5. All youth are welcome. Parents are also welcome
to attend!
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