Faith Formation
Faith formation is a life-long process of growth in prayer, relationship with the Lord, and knowledge of his teachings as articulated by the Church Jesus founded. In order to be good stewards in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others, we must know our Catholic faith and be ready to joyfully share it with others. Faith formation is not primarily for our own personal spiritual enrichment but to equip us to share our faith effectively so that it can transform our culture.
- Faith formation is for all Catholics of all ages.
- Parents are the first to form their own children in the faith. Our faith formation must equip parents to be stewards of the Gospel.
- Catechists and Catholic school teachers of all subjects have a special role to play in handing on the faith to our children and youth and preparing them to be evangelizers. Our faith formation must prepare them to hand on the faith to our youth in such a way that our youth are committed to the mission of being stewards of the Gospel.
- Our Catholic schools are an effective infrastructure for formation in the faith. To assure that this valuable infrastructure is available to us Catholics and others for generations to come, we must do all we can to make them available, accessible, and affordable to all Catholic parents and their children.
- All Catholics are called to shine the light of faith on family life, the economy, business, health care, education, and political life. Faith formation of all adults must equip them to effectively be stewards of the Gospel in all of these venues and many others.
- The death and resurrection of Jesus, and his continued presence with us in the Eucharist and the Church, is to be the center of our faith formation, so that it will not be ourselves we preach, but Jesus Christ. The Word of God and the Eucharist must be presented as true encounters with the risen Jesus, encounters that can transform lives and cultures.
Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet
A Year of Reading the Bible; November 2020 through November 2021
The Gospel's - Liturgical Year B
A playlist with the entire liturgical year can be found on this YouTube channel.
All the readings for daily and Sunday Mass are available to you in the MyParish App. Download now to your smart device.
All the readings for daily and Sunday Mass are available to you in the MyParish App. Download now to your smart device.
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Unlike any other Bible podcast, Ascension’s Bible in a Year Podcast for Catholics follows a reading plan inspired by the Great Adventure Bible Timeline® learning system, a groundbreaking approach to understanding Salvation History developed by renowned Catholic Bible teacher Jeff Cavins.
Tune in and live your daily life through the lens of God’s word! Started January 1st! If you’ve struggled to read the Bible, this podcast is for you. Ascension’s Bible in a Year Podcast, hosted by Fr. Mike Schmitz, guides Catholics through the Bible in 365 daily episodes starting January 1st, 2021. Each 20-25 minute episode includes:
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2021 Novena celebrating the Feast Day of Saint John Vianney
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Every year, the parish community prays together a Novena to the patron of our church, St. John Vianney, on the 9 days leading up to his feast day on August 4. You may pray this novena anytime by downloading the handout below.
In 2020, the annual novena was published in a playlist on our parish YouTube channel with our pastor Fr. Peter leading the prayer reflections.
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The Compelling Story of the First Christians
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Acts is the story of how a few Christians, empowered by the Holy Spirit, were chosen to bring Christ and the Good News to the ends of the earth. They faced secular forces, internal strife, and hostile crowds, and despite all of this, they brought the kingdom of God to a broken world and the love of God to the hearts of men.
Acts: The Spread of the Kingdom traces how the gospel witness spread outward in waves from Jerusalem, and reveals how the seeds of Church structure and authority took root. Presenter Jeff Cavins shows how the joys and struggles of the early Christians in living the life of Christ apply to us today. Acts: The Spread of the Kingdom will help you to see your place in the Church as a disciple of Christ. Registration deadline: August 9, 2021 Study starts on: September 20, 2021 Days and times: Mondays at 9 a.m. or Thursdays at 7 p.m. Meets once a week for 20 weeks until February 2022 For more information, contact Fran Vierra (see registration form) |
A Powerful Study on the Life of Jesus Christ
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The marvelous treasures of the Catholic Faith—the Eucharist, Mary, the saints, and the Creed—are all centered on a single figure: Jesus Christ. Jesus is more than a historical or theological figure. He is our Savior, our Redeemer, our Lord, and our God. While many of us already know a lot about him, how well can we say we really know him? Filmed on location in the Holy Land, Jesus: The Way, the Truth, and the Life is a new and fresh look at Jesus—who he is, what he is really like, what he taught, and what he did for our salvation. This encounter with Christ will inspire and empower you to center your entire life on him as you come to know and love him in an ever-deeper and more intimate way.
Registration deadline: Closed on December 22, 2020. Study starts on: January 25, 2021 for 10 weeks Days and times: Mondays at 9 a.m. or Thursdays at 7 p.m. or self-directed home study For more information, contact Fran Vierrra (see registration form) |
On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Pope Francis released an Apostolic Letter about Saint Joseph and has declared a “Year of St. Joseph” which will be observed from December 8, 2020 to December 8, 2021. The letter, Patris corde (“a Father’s heart”) is released on the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of Saint Joseph as patron of the Universal Church.
The Pope writes:
After Mary, the Mother of God, no saint is mentioned more frequently in the papal magisterium than Joseph, her spouse. My Predecessors reflected on the message contained in the limited information handed down by the Gospels in order to appreciate more fully his central role in the history of salvation. Blessed Pius IX declared him “Patron of the Catholic Church”, Venerable Pius XII proposed him as “Patron of Workers” and Saint John Paul II as “Guardian of the Redeemer”. Saint Joseph is universally invoked as the “patron of a happy death”.
Now, one hundred and fifty years after his proclamation as Patron of the Catholic Church by Blessed Pius IX (8 December 1870), I would like to share some personal reflections on this extraordinary figure, so close to our own human experience. For, as Jesus says, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Mt 12:34).
My desire to do so increased during these months of pandemic, when we experienced, amid the crisis, how “our lives are woven together and sustained by ordinary people, people often overlooked. People who do not appear in newspaper and magazine headlines, or on the latest television show, yet in these very days are surely shaping the decisive events of our history. Doctors, nurses, storekeepers and supermarket workers, cleaning personnel, caregivers, transport workers, men and women working to provide essential services and public safety, volunteers, priests, men and women religious, and so very many others. They understood that no one is saved alone… How many people daily exercise patience and offer hope, taking care to spread not panic, but shared responsibility. How many fathers, mothers, grandparents and teachers are showing our children, in small everyday ways, how to accept and deal with a crisis by adjusting their routines, looking ahead and encouraging the practice of prayer. How many are praying, making sacrifices and interceding for the good of all”. Each of us can discover in Joseph – the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence – an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble. Saint Joseph reminds us that those who appear hidden or in the shadows can play an incomparable role in the history of salvation. A word of recognition and of gratitude is due to them all.”
Read the full text of the letter here.
The Pope writes:
After Mary, the Mother of God, no saint is mentioned more frequently in the papal magisterium than Joseph, her spouse. My Predecessors reflected on the message contained in the limited information handed down by the Gospels in order to appreciate more fully his central role in the history of salvation. Blessed Pius IX declared him “Patron of the Catholic Church”, Venerable Pius XII proposed him as “Patron of Workers” and Saint John Paul II as “Guardian of the Redeemer”. Saint Joseph is universally invoked as the “patron of a happy death”.
Now, one hundred and fifty years after his proclamation as Patron of the Catholic Church by Blessed Pius IX (8 December 1870), I would like to share some personal reflections on this extraordinary figure, so close to our own human experience. For, as Jesus says, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Mt 12:34).
My desire to do so increased during these months of pandemic, when we experienced, amid the crisis, how “our lives are woven together and sustained by ordinary people, people often overlooked. People who do not appear in newspaper and magazine headlines, or on the latest television show, yet in these very days are surely shaping the decisive events of our history. Doctors, nurses, storekeepers and supermarket workers, cleaning personnel, caregivers, transport workers, men and women working to provide essential services and public safety, volunteers, priests, men and women religious, and so very many others. They understood that no one is saved alone… How many people daily exercise patience and offer hope, taking care to spread not panic, but shared responsibility. How many fathers, mothers, grandparents and teachers are showing our children, in small everyday ways, how to accept and deal with a crisis by adjusting their routines, looking ahead and encouraging the practice of prayer. How many are praying, making sacrifices and interceding for the good of all”. Each of us can discover in Joseph – the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence – an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble. Saint Joseph reminds us that those who appear hidden or in the shadows can play an incomparable role in the history of salvation. A word of recognition and of gratitude is due to them all.”
Read the full text of the letter here.
The live virtual 2-Day Lenten Mission with Fr. Phillip Ganir, S.J. on March 8 and 10 was recorded and we offer it here as as we honor this year of dedication to St. Joseph, Foster father of the Son of God and Head of the Holy Family. From a father's heart, we will encounter St. Joseph through scripture and prayer. All sessions were live on Zoom with Fr. Phillip who resides in Washington D.C.
Watch Part 1 on YouTube.
Watch Part 2 on YouTube.
Watch Part 1 on YouTube.
Watch Part 2 on YouTube.