Adult Faith Formation & Initiation

Growing up Catholic I was always taught that Easter was our most important holiday and for my family “Easter” meant Easter Sunday.  After all, that’s when the Easter Bunny left us treats.  As I grew into adulthood, however, with an ever-growing understanding into the depth and breadth of our faith, I learned that Easter Sunday wasn’t our most important Liturgical celebration.  Instead that distinction falls on the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday evening – the conclusion of our Paschal Triduum. The Word for the Resurrection of the Lord (Easter Day) Acts 10:34a, 37-43 Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23 Colossians 3:1-4, or 1 Corinthians 5:6b-8 John 20:1-9 While the readings for Easter Sunday are important, they are also just a very small piece of the story of our relationship with God.  It's like eating only one hors d'oeuvre at a banquet.  It gives you a foretaste of the great food to come but could hardly be considered nutritious or filling.  Unpacking the readings for this Sunday, like

With the Scrutinies now behind us our journey through Lent comes to a close as we begin our preparations for Holy Week – Palm Sunday and the Sacred Triduum.  Our Mass on Palm Sunday is a liturgy of transition, starting with the joyful celebration with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem only to experience the sadness and solemnity of his passion and death.  How quickly things can change!  The crowd that cheered his arrival into Jerusalem turns in a matter of a few days calling for his crucifixion… The Word for Palm Sunday Mark 11:1-10 or John 12:12-16 Isaiah 50:4-7 Psalms 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24 Philippians 2:8-9 Mark 14:1-15:47 The opening of the Palm Sunday Mass begins with the Gospel proclamation of Jesus’ triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem, with palms waving and crowds cheering.  But this triumph is short-lived once we settle into our seats for the Liturgy of the Word.   Our first reading is from second Isaiah where we hear his poetic lament of his prophetic calling. 

Our Cycle B readings bring the theme of covenant to a close this week (as next week we celebrate Palm Sunday).  Through our readings this Lenten cycle we’ve been witness to key covenant moments that God had, first with Noah, then Abraham, then Moses, then David.  As we know, however, in all these covenants, the people fell eventually away… turned away from God.  Now it’s time for something new… what we Christians understand to be the New Covenant… The Word for the 5th Sunday of Lent Jeremiah 31:31-34 Psalms 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15 Hebrews 5:7-9 John 12:20-33 First we hear from Jeremiah, who’s prophecy covers the final days of the Kingdom of Judah.  This week’s passage comes from a time of trouble, where the end for Jerusalem is near.  Yet in the face of certain doom, Jeremiah is able to preach of a restoration… where we here the Lord's desire to make "a new covenant with the house Israel and the house of Judah."  This prophecy of the restoration is echoed in our Psalm, which

This Sunday we continue our Lenten journey through Salvation History with a continued focus on covenant.  We’ve already given witness to the covenants with Noah, Abraham, and Moses.  This week we turn our attention to the Davidic Covenant (the covenant with King David), or more accurately, the covenant with the monarchy of Israel. The Word for the 4th Sunday of Lent 2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23 Psalms 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6 Ephesians 2:4-10 John 3:14-21 Our first reading comes from the end of the 2nd book of Chronicles.  Though our intent this Sunday is to remember the Davidic Covenant, our Lectionary has chosen an interesting approach.  Rather than give us a story about King David, we are presented with a story from the end of the Babylonian Exile.  Why approach the covenant with David from this tail-end view?   It’s an approach that actually fits very well with the Book of Chronicles, for you see, the Book of Chronicles is much more than a retelling of the story we heard in books of Samu

Our theme of covenant continues as we enter the 3rd week of Lent.  On the first Sunday of Lent, we heard the story of Noah reminding us of the first covenant.  Last week we heard the story of Abraham and Isaac reminding us of the second covenant.  This week we hear the Ten Commandments, which are at the heart of the third covenant set with Moses and the people of Israel. The Word for the 3rd Sunday of Lent Exodus 20:1-17 Psalms 19:8, 9, 10, 11 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 John 2:13-25 Our first reading comes from the book of Exodus and the passage that gives us the Ten Commandments.  Most of us know the story of how God had Moses go up the sacred mountain to receive the commandments written on stone tablets, at which point we assume Moses presented these commandments to the people.  But if you follow the text we see that God gives Moses these Ten Commandments (and the subsequent 3 chapters of commandments) to Moses and the people before he climbs the mountain to receive the stone tablets, whi