RELIGIOUS FORMATION FOR CHILDREN
Coordinator of Children's Formation  
     Christine Laing
     Phone:  248-844-8662

SACRAMENT PREPARATION
3-MINUTE RETREAT
SUNDAY CONNECTION
STAFF/OFFICE HOURS 

We’re Back!
As of this Monday, August 16, the Religious Formation Office is open for business!  We’ve had a summer off to recoup and refresh.  So now we are ready for some fun!

Registration for 2010-11

We are looking forward to another great year for our intergenerational faith formation program.  Registration is now taking place for the GIFT program as well as sacraments programs. REGISTER
 

New Families
Are you new to the parish?  Do you know about GIFT?  Check out our parish website for the 411 about GIFT.

Young Families
Do you have a child ready for Kindergarten or first grade this fall?  Will you child NOT be attending a Catholic school?  Do you about GIFT?  Check out our parish website for the 411 about GIFT.
 

Just what IS GIFT?

GIFT is the way we do faith formation at St. Mary of the Hills.  Growing in Faith Together is not just a catch phrase—it’s how we do faith formation—we ALL grow in faith together.  This means ALL ages.  Singles, young couples, and empty-nesters are most welcome!  Our adult sessions are great ways of keeping updated on faith formation. 

In today’s world, a lot of people are talking to your children about God . . . shouldn’t YOU be one of them?

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
One of the fun things I did this summer was a VBS for Seniors at St. Christopher’s in Detroit.  We met every Wednesday in June—their regular meeting day; their pastoral associate Theresa took the Wednesday during St. Mary’s VBS week.  We did songs and the Bible lesson of the day; the program does come with an adult component which worked great with this group that is used to some Bible study and reflection as part of their senior get-togethers.

This weekend’s Gospel
Unlike the Gospel reading from a few weeks ago where Jesus was teaching about prayer, and we were told to knock and the door would be opened, in this parable (Luke 13:22-30), the master will not open and say he does not know us. People from the north, south, east, and west will take our place inside. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets will take our place in the Kingdom of God. The image of the door is replaced in the final verses of the parable with the image of the heavenly banquet. mountain. The answer to the question if only a few will be saved is no. In the end, many will be saved, but many who thought they would be saved will not be saved. The parable is a prophetic warning to repentance in order to enter the kingdom.  Families take advantage of certain days throughout the year to celebrate individuals in the family and to make sure that they know that they are not taken for granted. As a family, recall all of the days that someone in the family was celebrated in the past year—birthdays, Mother's Day, Father's Day, anniversaries, graduations, and so on.      Emphasize that these days are intended to express appreciation in a special way but are not meant to replace the appreciation that we should always show. Point out how, at times, families can take one another for granted.    As a family, commit to showing appreciation for one another in the days ahead, striving to not take for granted any of the many things that family members do in their roles as parents and children. from Sunday Connection, Loyola Press

CHILDREN’S SACRAMENT PREPARATION
First Steps
We are lucky to be Catholic—we belong to a Church that gives us signs of God’s Love for us.  Some of these signs are Sacraments - outward signs instituted by Christ to give grace (from the Baltimore Catechism).  We are a sacramental people—here the word is an adjective.  We also use sacramentals—here it’s a noun— as reminders of this special relationship with God.  The simplest and most-telling sacramental we use is the Sign of the Cross.  This simple gesture marks us as Christians who believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  In my family-of-origin, we referred to the Sign of the Cross and other prayers as “Boze, Amen.”   Even as little children we said our prayers (sometimes in Polish, that where the Boze –God– comes in) every day.  When my “personal” children were young (and this continued thru high school), we’d start off each trip in the car with Our Little Prayers.  More next week!

FIRST EUCHARIST
Is your child around the age of 7 (or older) and will be in (at least) the second grade come fall?  Do you think they are ready to start preparing for their First Communion?  Prepare your child by participating in the weekly liturgy. Children develop a love for the liturgy and know what to do and when to do it.