My brothers and sisters in Christ,
"Then Jesus approached and said to them, 'All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age'" (Mt. 28:17-20).
Thank you for your prayers these first few months in my new role as Parochial Administrator of St. Mary Magdalene. It is a great blessing to be able to serve you in this capacity! I know that many of you are curious about Religious Education (RE) in light of Jayne's relocation to OH. We wish Jayne well and thank her for her years of dedicated service to our parish. At this time, I want to write to you today about St. Mary Magdalene's Religious Education program. Religious Education is actually a topic that I am very passionate and excited about. Growing up, my mother was always involved in RE either as a catechist, or more often than not, the coordinator/director of RE programs. Her influence and example of ongoing formation and discipleship continues to inspire me to this day. Needless to say, a lot of my mother's influence has rubbed off on me as I to share a love of educating people in our rich Catholic Faith and forming them to be disciples of Jesus Christ. It is a rewarding experience.
That being said, I wanted to expand on my announcement this weekend about some of the changes to our RE program. In order to assist the busy lives that many families have in today's culture, we are in the process of streamlining the Family Formation program, which includes Religious Education for children, Sacramental Preparation for children, and the Parent Sessions. We look forward to serving your family and leading you closer to Jesus Christ and His Church. The changes include:
Weekly classes:
Sacraments integrated into grade level classes:
6th grade catechesis incorporating into our EDGE program:
Little Lambs will stay as it currently is meeting on Wednesday/Thursday mornings! Thank you dear children for joining us and I look forward to seeing you all!
Additionally, with the incorporation of sacramental preparation into these weekly classes, that means that there is no longer a need for additional week- end sessions! Preparation will be done on Tuesday/Wednesday nights. For those receiving Confirmation, we will also offer a preparatory retreat during the spring semester. This retreat will give those to be confirmed the opportunity to pray on and contemplate the role of the Holy Spirit in their life as a Catholic Christian witnessing to Christ and His Gospel on a daily basis.
This is a big change and while change is never easy, when we keep our eyes fixed on Christ, He will guide us through everything, "The One who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new'" (Rev. 21:5). In conclusion then, I would like to say thank you to all of our catechists, aides, parents, and children who have been, are, and will be part of our Family Catechesis here at St. Mary Magdalene.
God Bless,
Fr. Chris Axline
Contact Tom Perna, our Director of Family Catechesis, with questions about these changes: tom@smarymag.org.
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