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Love is all...
What is in this month's folder:
I am opening this month's meeting blog with a quote from St. Pope JPII for a couple of reasons. One, his feast day is October 22. Two, one of our region's parishes has completed a monument and reflective garden in the heart of Utica. Holy Trinity parish erected the monument last fall.
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The statue is very unique in that it is the only monument of St. Pope John Paul II with the image of Pope John Paul II signature engraved into the monument. Father John Mikalajunas, pastor at Holy Trinity, had the privilege of concelebrating Mass with Pope John Paul II in his private chapel in 1997, 1998 and 2000. In 2003, Father concelebrated in St. Peter’s Square with the Pope on the occasion of his 25th anniversary in the Papacy, as well as speaking with the Pope in St. Peter’s Square on October 15, 2003.
See more about Holy Trinity and the monument at http://www.holytrinityutica.com/wp/
It was so appropriate that the "Hearts on a Mission" event would have fallen on the feast of this most loved Pope. His writings include the apostolic exhortations "Catechesi Tradendae" (On Catechesis in our Time),"Familiaris Consortio" (On the rose of the Christian Family in the Modern World", the encylical "Evangelium Vitae" (The Gospel of Life), and many other beautiful writings (See https://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en.html), many of which relate directly to our ministry.
Unfortunately, "Hearts on a Mission" had to be cancelled. But, our mission continues. Our hearts continue to beat in the dynamism of love that Jesus shares with us. We are loved by our God, and we take that love to others. It is a faith built on relationships with God and with each other, which is why I chose the quote at the beginning of this blog.
This month's prayer reflects on that love and the heart of the catechist, as each of us IS a catechist. So let us pray. See the prayer attached. The "Creed", is a a reflection of what a Catechist is, so when you get to that part, it is on the second document. Feel free to share this with your catechists.
"October Prayer" and "A Catechist is..."
See more about Holy Trinity and the monument at http://www.holytrinityutica.com/wp/
It was so appropriate that the "Hearts on a Mission" event would have fallen on the feast of this most loved Pope. His writings include the apostolic exhortations "Catechesi Tradendae" (On Catechesis in our Time),"Familiaris Consortio" (On the rose of the Christian Family in the Modern World", the encylical "Evangelium Vitae" (The Gospel of Life), and many other beautiful writings (See https://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en.html), many of which relate directly to our ministry.
Unfortunately, "Hearts on a Mission" had to be cancelled. But, our mission continues. Our hearts continue to beat in the dynamism of love that Jesus shares with us. We are loved by our God, and we take that love to others. It is a faith built on relationships with God and with each other, which is why I chose the quote at the beginning of this blog.
This month's prayer reflects on that love and the heart of the catechist, as each of us IS a catechist. So let us pray. See the prayer attached. The "Creed", is a a reflection of what a Catechist is, so when you get to that part, it is on the second document. Feel free to share this with your catechists.
"October Prayer" and "A Catechist is..."
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Faithful Citizenship
Included in the packet at the CL meeting were samples of the bulletin insert sheets from USCCB titled, The Challenge of Forming Faithful Citizenship" parts I and II ( two separate 2-sided bulletin inserts. You can download for free from USCCB or order packs of 100.
Part I Bulletin Insert (pdf for week 1)
Part II Bulletin Insert (pdf for week 2)
Order bulletin Inserts here. (order printed copies for your parish)
Part I Bulletin Insert (pdf for week 1)
Part II Bulletin Insert (pdf for week 2)
Order bulletin Inserts here. (order printed copies for your parish)
Easternecho.org Site Map
At this point in our meeting, I gave a complete tour of the eastenecho.org website, just incase you haven't surfed around the site. Take some time to explore the site and all that it offers. Drag the url (favicon) down to your bookmark bar for quick and easy access. Use the following paper to guide you through the website.
| eastern_echo_promo.pdf |
Office of Faith Formation, Syracuse Facebook Page
Follow our FaceBook Page! The Diocese Office of Faith Formation has a FB page that posts ideas, resources, prayers, links, events and more! Office of Faith Formation, Syracuse is on Facebook! Distribute this flyer to your catechists and others in your parish so they can connect with our office, too!
| office_of_faith_formation_facebook_page.pdf |
Young Hearts on a Mission: Life Outside Your Comfort Zone
The Regional Youth Committee has been working collaboratively with parishes and the Good News Foundation. We are THRILLED to announce that we have 18 parishes that are sponsoring the regional youth event that is opened to ALL parish youth. 'Looking Outside Your Comfort Zone" will be held on Sunday October 23 from 4-6pm at Notre Dame High School. Bring your students! No registration required, just bring your attendance sheets to check in your students. Let Anne Elacqua (aelacqua@syrdio.org) know that your parish will be attending, and you will have a check in table set up ready for you. Three young speakers and a service project (collection of non-perishable food items for the Veteran's Outreach Program.
We also extend a HUGE thank you to Sr. Anna Mae at Notre Dame Jr/Sr High for providing the gymnasium for free to our youth, including the janitorial services. This is extremely generous and greatly appreciated by all.
Coming up... Keep FEBRUARY 12, 2017 marked in your calendars for the next regional youth event. Details will come soon.
The Regional Youth Committee is headed by:
Dick Vetere- dvetere@syrdio.org
Rick Hensel- rhensel@syrdio.org
Anne Elacqua- aelacqua@syrdio.org
Cheryl Smith- csmith@syrdio.org
Attached here is the large flyer and the half sheet student invitations.
We also extend a HUGE thank you to Sr. Anna Mae at Notre Dame Jr/Sr High for providing the gymnasium for free to our youth, including the janitorial services. This is extremely generous and greatly appreciated by all.
Coming up... Keep FEBRUARY 12, 2017 marked in your calendars for the next regional youth event. Details will come soon.
The Regional Youth Committee is headed by:
Dick Vetere- dvetere@syrdio.org
Rick Hensel- rhensel@syrdio.org
Anne Elacqua- aelacqua@syrdio.org
Cheryl Smith- csmith@syrdio.org
Attached here is the large flyer and the half sheet student invitations.
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Statistical Reports - Request for Excel Version
Congratulations to Peggy Rhyde, St. Mary's in Hamilton for the FIRST STATISTICAL REPORT IN this year!! A very close second place to MaryLou Lauchert, St. Mary's in Clinton which was handed in two days later! Excellent work!
Don't forget the due date is November 1st. If you have questions about how to complete the form, please find the review in the Weekly Updates: Statistical Reports - How to complete it
Also, there has been requests to repost the excel version. So here it is. You will need to download & save it to your computer first. Then open it to complete. You can then email it to me as an attachment.Otherwise, use the pdf found in the files tab on this website or make a copy from your CL handbook.
Don't forget the due date is November 1st. If you have questions about how to complete the form, please find the review in the Weekly Updates: Statistical Reports - How to complete it
Also, there has been requests to repost the excel version. So here it is. You will need to download & save it to your computer first. Then open it to complete. You can then email it to me as an attachment.Otherwise, use the pdf found in the files tab on this website or make a copy from your CL handbook.
| stat_report_excel_template_dbversion.xlsx |
Wine and Wisdom at St. Mary of Mt.Carmel/Blessed Sacrament
October 19th.... WEDNESDAY, this week! At Mt. Carmel/Blessed Sacrament - WINE AND WISDOM. See Flyer
| will_the_real_mary_please_stand_up.pdf |
Ongoing Ministry Development
There are many ways to continue to enrich your knowledge through ministerial development workshops, courses and conferences. Here are just a few:
- Dayton's Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation (VLCFF). Many courses of various lengths and credit. Upcoming is the Autism in Faith Formation, a five week course beginning Jan 15. Peruse the course catalog and schedule to see all the learning opportunities coming up. Note that our diocese does have a membership for reduced cost. When registering, it will ask for your membership affiliation. Choose "Diocese of Syracuse."
- Mid Atlantic Congress (MAC) held in Baltimore, MD. Feb 16-18, 2017. This is an all-ministry conference for catechists and leaders, youth ministers, RCIA teams, pastors, pastoral council leaders, finance departments, sacrament preparation and more. Visit the website at midatlanticcongress.org Group rates are available. If you are interested, please complete this quick pre-registration form to be added to the group rate. There may be carpooling available. You can also apply for the $500 scholarship grant available for all catechetical leaders.
- National Conference for Catechetical Leadership (NCCL). A very ministry specific conference for parish catechetical leaders and diocesan leaders. It is also recommended that you become a member of the NCCL even if you aren't going to the conference. Membership provides you with a quarterly professional magazine, weekly updates, discounts on materials and resources as well as the discount for the conference. Membership is $75 and should be part of your professional development line in your parish budget. Click here to join NCCL. The upcoming conference will be located in Dallas, TX. May 22-25. Spend a few extra days to join the tours! Visit NCCL.org for more info. Again,$500 scholarships are available.
Discussion based on Families at the Center of Faith Formation
A very good discussion was shared using the "pre-meeting" sheet. Many questions were raised about "intergenerational approaches" to faith formation, how scope and sequence is integrated, how diocesan guidelines would be implemented, and how parents can be more engaged in the decision-making process. Empowering parents was a key point that seemed to keep entering the conversation as we looked at possibilities. You can continue to reflect on this using the sheet sent last week. Continue to add your thoughts. We can come back to this sheet again in the future.
| family_symposium_part_1.pdf |
Sophia's Solutions: Where the Wisdom of the group supports one another.
This was a new addition to our meeting. We all have situations that arise and sometimes we seek help to try to solve issues and problems. Sometimes these issues are common or similar in one another's parishes. So, using the wisdom of the group, let's help each other.
What I did was took a situation and "bleached" it of names, dates, type of leader, etc so that it became generic. Then, I shared it with the group. Attached here is the first issue of "Sophia's Solutions". You can share your wisdom for providing a solution in the comments area below.
What I did was took a situation and "bleached" it of names, dates, type of leader, etc so that it became generic. Then, I shared it with the group. Attached here is the first issue of "Sophia's Solutions". You can share your wisdom for providing a solution in the comments area below.
| sophias_solutions_.pdf |
This Month's Complete Folder
Share your insights or comments below or email me at aslaven@syrdio.org
