Dear Parishioners,
 
Since I first arrived here at Saint Clare, I have noticed that this parish is special. It is a joyous parish that embraces all who walk through our doors. It is truly a family. Our motto could not be more accurate: Where Faith and Family come together. It has been a great joy to become part of this family, sharing in your joys and your sorrows, through frustrations and excitements.
 
Recently, I have been preaching about catechesis and faith formation because it is extremely important for our life as Catholics and our relationship with the Church. Their relationship is not inconsequential to the health of our parish, for is it from the experience strong and religious families that we come to learn to love our faith. Unfortunately, as a result of decades of poor catechesis, we as the Church have failed our families in training you – the parents - in the faith and fostering it in the home. This is a failure on our part that each passing year shows more and more of an effect on the life of the Church. Even though we look good on paper, I still see families on the whole having trouble engaging with the faith in their daily lives. So, what do we do about it?
 
I want to focus on creating opportunities for our parishioners to authentically encounter the Lord rather than subjecting them to hoops to jump through. It saddens me when our faith is viewed as a checklist and not a way of life, I believe that we can aim higher. We here at Saint Clare want to answer the Gospel’s call to us, echoed by the Second Vatican Council’s Universal Call to Holiness, to grow together as a tight-knit community where no one’s name is unknown.

We are now on a course to introduce Family Catechesis in the Fall. This form of catechesis is a growing and successful trend in parishes across the country and it is an answer for the times in which we now live. While we are growing in many ways here at Saint Clare and enjoy increasing numbers in parish registrations and faith formation programs, we need to see this transfer to Mass attendance and the life of the Church. It is good that our programs continue to grow, but it is just as important that these students learn to embrace their faith in a way that will sustain them into adulthood. For instance, out of the seventy young people who received the Sacrament of Confirmation earlier this month, I did not see more than a third attend Mass over the next week. There’s a disconnect here that I want to have fixed. And I want it to be fixed for you, not me.

It is for this purpose that our current Director of Faith Formation, Vincent Marcantonio, joined us from his previous work in parish revitalization to help us and it is how I have decided it is best to proceed. I have the fullest confidence in his vision and his counsel. I believe that with him at the helm of our Faith Formation programs, we will be able to foster true dialogue and re-envision faith formation as a place where family and faith truly comes together. This is a gift that I want to offer to you for the good of your souls and that of your family.

Rather than focusing on “religious education” which ultimately treats our faith as something to be memorized and repeated, Family Catechesis focuses on creating the right environment for families to explore and discover the joys and beauties of the Faith together. It is not a place of tests and quizzes, nor of “Catholic Guilt”, but an environment for us to encounter Christ Jesus through the teachings of our faith.

In this model, small groups of families will meet – all of them – from babies to parents. Maybe these will be people you’ve waved to at Mass but never knew the names of, maybe they’ll be the families of teens your child is in youth ministry with, maybe they’ll be friends you’ve known forever, maybe they’ll be families you’ve never even seen before! But we believe – and as research across the country has shown – that after even a couple sessions our parish will begin to stronger and more tightly-knit families.

In order to better prepare for this new program and receive feedback, we are excited to announce two Town Hall meetings, open to all members of the parish. The first will be 2:30-4:00 PM on May 23rd in Room 3/5, the second will be 6:00–7:30 PM on May 26th in Room 3/5. Both will be available to participate in remotely on GoToMeeting. We will begin by introducing the program, success stories, and methodology behind it. Then, the floor will be open to discuss any and all concerns and questions. 

We are here at the parish waiting to talk to you – please don’t hesitate a moment to get in contact with us to learn more or share how we can help you. If you have further questions or would like to join remotely, please contact Vincent at vmarcantonio@stclarecc.org.