Monday Message, February 27, 2023

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KNOW

Now that the Rite of Election is over, please reach out to any adults in your parish who lack (only) Confirmation and invite them to join us on April 1, 2023 at the Catholic Center. More information can be found here. They can be confirmed at the parish on Pentecost.

Note, use this guide if you have forgotten who should be enrolled in RCIA.

Finally, if your parish is interested in using the RCIA Curriculum we have licensed from the Dominicans (Credo), please let Deacon John know and we can customize the learning path for your parish, get you discounts on books, and set up face-to-face sessions (or Zoom) all within LEAD. See these great pages too, which you could link to from your parish site.

Speaking of LEAD, join Carmela every Wednesday at 2 pm. Also, please check your tasks and get them cleared if you can.

Lots of Lent going on here.

We have had two recommended books from our conversation last week. If you have a book you want to recommend for our Catechists Reading List, let us know.

The process for JPII grants is open. See this flyer and this message from Carol and Kelly in the Foundations in Faith office and email Patrick if you are looking for ideas:

As you have heard, Foundations in Faith has a new Grant Management System to streamline our application and reporting process. The St. John Paul II (aka JPII) Fund for Religious Education, Youth Ministry and Faith Formation is now accepting applications from Parishes in the Diocese of Bridgeport.

Parishes are invited to apply for up to $10,000 for innovative faith formation programs. As funds are limited, the strongest applications reflecting fresh ideas, and new approaches will receive grant funding. Therefore, project planning and details matter. You have over five weeks from today so please take time with your team and perhaps the youth to brainstorm a strong program design.

First, you’ll create an account here. Applications will be accepted from February 15 to March 31. Applications received after March 31st will not be considered.

Once you log back in, you’ll see your Grant Applicant Dashboard. Our recommendation is that you go ahead and click on it today (but don’t submit one yet) to become familiar with the application and to consider the best way to convey your program.

Pro Tip 1 – Consider how your program will build upon Bishop Caggiano’s vision for The One.

Pro Tip 2 – When you are ready to apply be sure to have all your application information on hand, including an itemized budget. The system will time out, and you could lose your information if you do not complete the process in one sitting.

Pro Tip 3 – Please visit our website which has lots of helpful information under the Applications tab.

It is important is that you brainstorm a strong idea for an innovative approach to your faith formation program, share details about it so that your application stands out and include an itemized budget. Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions.

REFLECT

Everything can bless us, but we’ve got to be there for the blessing to occur. Being present with quality is a decision we are invited to make each day. It is another way to become like God.

Due to the reality of our terribly distracted, cluttered, and noisy existence, the decision for real presence is not easy. If we can make this decision and live it, it will be a kind of salvation for us. It can save us from many kinds of death: the death of apathy and mediocrity, the death of carelessness, the death of boredom, the death of selfishness, the death of meaninglessness. There is nothing so healing in all the world as real presence. Our real presence can feed the ache for God in others.

(A Tree Full of Angels: Seeking the Holy in the Ordinary, HarperCollins)

LAUGH