“Commissioning Service of Catechists”
This weekend we celebrate the commissioning Service of catechists with a fascinating reading from the Gospel of Saint Mark. In this Gospel, Mark tells us that, for Jesus, the ministry of service was very important. In the Gospel’s story we heard that Jesus called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he [she] shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
Just as Saint Mark, as the Director of Religious Education in our parish, I found that it is very crucial to emphasize the importance of all our religious education teachers, “the servants,” of our Catholic church. They chose to be the last of all in order to be the servants of all by becoming the educators of our Faith Formation program in our beautiful Catholic Church.
Our San Luis Rey Parish is very blessed to have many of these wonderful “servants” who year after year dedicate their weekends to receive, to teach, and to educate our children with the basics of the faith of the Catholic Church. Every weekend, with the help of each parent our children learn different topics of our faith. For example, this formation year, in their first class, our children will learn the importance of God in their lives and what God has done for each one of them.
Pope Francis in his apostolic letter, “Antiquum Ministerium,” formally established the lay ministry of the catechists to give them the importance, the acknowledgement, and the honor each catechist, a servant of our Church deserves. With this in mind, every church in the United States will celebrate Catechetical Sunday on the third weekend of this month.
In our parish Masses of 10:00 am and 12:00 pm, each one of us will have the opportunity to receive and to acknowledge each catechist for the service they freely given to all of our children and to our church. Our three parish priests will have the opportunity to pray over our catechists and thank them for their collaboration and their commitment to serve; to instruct, and to form others as Disciples of Christ. I cordially invite each one of you to introduce yourselves to each catechist and thank them for their service, love, as well as the time they dedicate to educate our children, youth, and adults of our parish.
With the Peace and Love of Christ, Brother: Tito García Márquez
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