St. John the Evangelist Parish

When the Adult Faith Formation Commission was created about a year ago we decided to keep the definition of our role in the parish as simple and straight-forward as possible. We wrote in March, 2011:

As Catholics we have all been blessed with an intense desire to live close to God – trying hard to accomplish on earth what we were created to do, pursuing lives that reflect the will of God and the message of the gospels. Yet, we all recognize, at least when we stop and really think about it, that our knowledge of our faith is inevitably incomplete and that there is a need, indeed an obligation, to grow in our understanding of all that relates to the essential mission of our lives. Expanding our knowledge of God and appreciating more fully the message of Christianity and the doctrines of the Catholic Church is a never-ending process, something that should be a regular part of “practicing” the faith we have been privileged to receive. The Adult Faith Formation Commission was created with the basic goal of assisting members of the parish in this endeavor. St. John’s has always done well in making available to people a variety of faith formation programs, activities and resources. But clearly there is much more to do and the members of the new commission are committed to working hard and creatively in responding to the needs of every adult in the parish. We see our role as basically one of development, coordination and communication. In each, we can only succeed if can enlist the help of many others, for the challenge is a big one and, as we all know, the days of Catholics sort of sitting back and having all parish activities “delivered” to us are long gone. If we are to be a community of religiously informed men and women, constantly searching for ways to improve our relationship to God, we have to help each other, contributing whatever talents we have to the common effort.

We hope this little “column” in the bulletin each week is helpful, both the notices of programs and events and the suggestions and ideas about ways to enhance our individual spiritual journeys. As always, we would love to hear from you, with your ideas, suggestions, complaints and concerns. And as we approach the most glorious week the year we want to thank you for giving us this golden opportunity to serve the parish we all love so dearly!

St. John’s Adult Faith Formation Commission: Linda Colozzi, Marcia Grondin, Pat Kelleher (chair), Sister Evelyn Ronan (advisor), John Salvati, John Stewart and Anne Wachtmeister

Email: AFFC@stjohnwellesley.org

Lent is coming to its conclusion, the joyous celebration of Easter is two weeks away. This is a great time for some serious reading and reflection. Deciding how to focus on the great mysteries of Holy Week can be a challenge; thus we offer the following suggestions.

1) The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all include accounts of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. The “passion narratives” constitute in each gospel the longest consecutive series of events recounted about the life of our Lord. As often as we have read or heard the accounts, there is obviously tremendous value in quietly and thoughtfully reviewing one or more of these gospels. Almost all bibles have good explanatory footnotes and links to relevant old testament passages. Many who cannot attend daily Mass take five minutes to ponder the readings for the day, which are easily available on the website of U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB. org). From now to Easter we read from John’s gospel.

2) Our collection of books and periodicals in the lower level of the church contains a rich and varied assortment that should be appealing to all, whatever your interests and time constraints. There are commentaries on the passion, reflections on the Eucharist, theological analyses on the death of Jesus and the cross as elements in God’s plan of redemption, accounts of the spiritual journeys of both ordinary people and saints, books with suggestions and ideas on developing a more fruitful spiritual life, and items on a host of other topics. The collection, which is growing, is still small enough to browse. So take ten minutes and sign out something that seems appropriate for you in this glorious season.

3) Although the title Catechism of the Catholic Church suggests a very large book that is “heavy” and somewhat dull, if you have not looked at the volume published by the Vatican in 1994 (under the direction of then Cardinal Ratzinger) you will be pleasantly surprised. It is a very readable exposition of the doctrine of the Catholic Church designed quite simply to “help deepen understanding of faith”. Part one of the Catechism is essentially organized around the creed, and chapter two is entitled “I believe in Jesus Christ, the only Son of God.” In about forty pages the book lays out the essential conclusions of the Church on the details of exactly what we believe about Jesus. Spending an hour or two with these forty pages is a rich experience. We have downloaded the chapter from the Vatican website (where you can get the whole catechism) and would be happy to send you a Word document that you can either print or read on your computer screen. Contact John Stewart at 617 969 0950 or johnstewart@alum.bu.edu.

As always the Faith Formation Commission would love your ideas for projects and programs we might consider for the parish, particularly things we might do in the summer or fall.  AFFC@stjohnwellesley.org