Good Luck and blessings to all those in New Albany and in the New Albany Deanery beginning school this week.
I earnestly pray this year is one that allows greater normalcy in the classroom and in the world. May God make this another wonderful year of learning, growth, excellence as we are formed in mind, heart, and soul. May we move confidently in the future trusting fully in the Providence of God who holds us in His Tender Loving Hands and sends forth His Holy Spirit to give us the Gifts of: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear (Awe) of the Lord.
I will host the Rite of Christian Initiation (RCIA) Inquiry Info Session on Wednesday, August 18 at 6p in the Parish Office conference room. This offering is for those adults who are not yet members of the Catholic Christian Church but who are interested in learning more and possibly considering joining into Full Communion. Bring your questions!
Casey (Knapp) Regier went through RCIA last year and this is what she had to say of her experience:
Going through the RCIA program was a great experience. I want to be honest and say at first I wasn’t “sure” about it. I initially did not feel like I had a calling to go through the program and that I was content in my prior faith but considered it for my Catholic fiancé. Knowing where my relationship with the Lord was when we started compared to now, it clearly was meant to be for me to go through this program. It did take time going through the classes, lots of prayer and reflection, but in the end I found the reasoning and it was all worth it. Growing up Lutheran and having gone through confirmation classes, it was helpful to hear what I had learned then as an adult now. Of course, it was also interesting to essentially re-learn this through the Catholic faith! I truly did not know what the “difference” was between the two and had my reservations about Catholicism, as I was just not educated correctly on the faith. RCIA truly changed my perspective and helped show me how important our Catholic faith is.
We can easily find ourselves going through the motion in church every week, but I feel that this helped me understand the meaning behind the Mass while also helping me grow my relationship with the Lord. I found it helpful to have my fiancé go through the program with me as my sponsor, which in turn helped him as a baptized Catholic relearn all those things you forget from your elementary catechism classes. I also think it helped us in our marriage prep to keep the importance of the Sacrament of Marriage and true meaning behind it with God as our center. Maybe RCIA should be a pre-marriage requirement in the church! Overall, I’d recommend this program to someone brand new in their faith journey, but also to someone who has been Catholic for years and wants to have a better understanding of the faith.
Invite someone to the RCIA Inquiry on Wednesday, August 18 @ 6p
Holy Family, Centered on the Bread of Life, Pray for us.
~ Fr Jeremy M. Gries