Dear St. Pius X families engaged in our Faith Formation ministry,

Please accept my apologies for not providing you with clear communication to this point about the future of how we form disciples at St. Pius X.  I hope this and future communications will help clarify our vision and strategies for living our mission: Love God. Love others. Make disciples. Restore all things in Christ.

When parents bring a child to receive the Sacrament of Baptism, the priest says to them: “In asking for Baptism for your child, you are undertaking the responsibility of raising him (her) in the faith, so that, keeping God’s commands, he (she) may love the Lord and his (her) neighbor as Christ has taught us.  Do you understand this responsibility?”  The parents answer affirmatively, and the child receives the Sacrament.  The Church, represented by the parish community, also promises to support the parents in raising the child.  Then the work of living this responsibility begins.

Recent research into the practice of faith in the United States shows that the primary determining factor as to whether a child will continue to practice the faith as an adult is the witness of his or her parents.  While there are always stories of an individual who came to the faith in other ways, most people learn about Jesus and how to be His follower from their moms and dads.  Every year, when I visit with the children after receiving the Sacraments, this is confirmed by the child’s reaction to the reception of the Sacraments.  Nothing warms the heart more than hearing a child looking forward to receiving Jesus the next Sunday; nothing is more painful than a child who says his or her family does not go to Mass.

While nothing will guarantee that a child will practice the faith as an adult, we need to do better at giving you opportunities to engage with your child in faith.  This fall, we will begin to implement new strategies to live our mission.  These strategies are based on the Church’s rich history of disciple-making that looks to the example that Jesus provides us in the Gospel.  He often takes Peter, James, and John off by themselves to share important moments like the Transfiguration and His prayer in the garden.  He accompanies the Twelve.  He equips and sends off the seventy-two.  He teaches the crowds who come to Him.  

This fall we are inviting our adults, to experience the power of the Good News of Jesus Christ in the Rescue Project. Through small groups and fellowship, we want to offer you an encounter with Jesus so that as you work with your child(ren), you will be able to do so authentically. More information will be shared in Flocknotes, the bulletin and announcements in early August. Sessions will begin on Wednesday, September 2.

As we have begun in the past few years with our Sacramental Preparation program, we will build small faith groups by inviting you to choose one monthly Faith Formation session designed to empower you as parents to be disciple-makers while continuing to form community with our young people.  (The calendar for these sessions will be available in August.)  These monthly sessions will include catechetical instruction based on the year’s topic for parents as well as for school-aged children in age cohorts, small group activities with other families, and activities for an individual family.  Additionally, we will also invite you to participate in family activities at home and at the parish throughout the month.

The preparation for the reception of the Sacraments (First Reconciliation, First Communion, and Confirmation) in the coming year will look familiar, with some necessary adjustments to respond to needs expressed by parents in the past few years.  We will continue to have opportunities to gather and form small groups.  We will add additional sessions for parents to help them better facilitate the small group experience.  We will combine and enhance the retreat experiences for our young people.

Our youth ministry program needs to be revitalized and expanded.  We have a dedicated core group of adult volunteers who excel at building relationships with our teens.  We want to build upon their successes in the past few years while allowing for natural growth in the ministry.

This summer, we will be working on restructuring our formation efforts for our families.  We are seeking to hire a new Mission Team Lead who will work to build teams to lead our efforts to equip and empower you in your discipleship-making efforts as a family.  We will share more information with you in August that includes registration packets with a calendar and more information about how our formation process will look.  

In a recent address to a group of men and women involved in Church renewal, Pope Leo XIV reminded them and us: "The desire to work together for a common purpose reflects an essential reality: no one is Christian alone. We are part of a people, a body established by the Lord."  As unity and mission are the goal of all of the Church’s ministry, our parish strives to walk together in a common desire to Love God. Love Others. Make Disciples. Restore All Things in Christ.  I invite you to continue to pray for our parish community as we adopt these new strategies to live our mission.

In Christ,

Father Matthew Luft

Pastor