Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This upcoming Saturday, October 25 th , a group from St. Charles will be heading up to Freehold to participate in an ongoing initiative being run by the NCCL or National Community of Catechetical Leaders. This is really our second year involved in this particular project. And while I’ve written about it previously, I’d like to give an update on how things are progressing.
To help jog everyone’s memory, St. Charles was invited to participate in this national project which is geared toward helping parishes look at and develop new ways to support faith formation in families, starting with the birth of a child and going all the way until they reach the age of 20. It’s ambitious to say the least, and we’re one of only ten parishes in the Diocese of Trenton participating in it. Much of this past year has been taking a look at where we are as a parish; what programs are already in place, asking families what their experience of faith formation is like, and identifying an specific area to focus on for the first major step. It’s that last part that the meeting on Saturday will be centered on; planning out the first part of the overall faith formation enrichment that we’re move forward with. And for us at St. Charles, we’re starting at the very beginning.
For all of us, Baptism is the beginning of a life of faith in the Church. Indeed, you cannot receive any other Sacrament until you’ve been baptized. Luckily, in our parish, there are many baptisms in the course of the year, with the usual average being around 60 or so. It’s great to join with young families just starting out and sharing in their joy as we welcome their child into the faith and into our parish community. But for as tremendous as the actual celebration of Baptism is, there’s an opportunity to look at and develop some better ways to engage these young families before and after the sacrament occurs. Being on the parish side of things, I recognize that a lot of the lead up to the day of Baptism for the parents consists of paperwork and preparation. Now, don’t get me wrong, we need to do such things as get all the information correct and obtain certificates of eligibility and the like. But I also realize that such things can seem to be a bit of hassle on the part of the parents, who just want to get their child baptized.
The goal of the work with the NCCL, is to help bridge the gap, creating a more cohesive experience for the families that have children being baptized, making sure that they are getting strong support and education about the importance of baptism as well as continuing to invite them back and be supported within the parish community, even after the Baptism occurs. It’s an exciting chance to make sure that our parish is serving our families well!
Peace and Goodness,
Fr. Dan
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