Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
On this weekend of our parish festival, I would like to begin this note by thanking everyone who is involved with making our festival a success. To our festival committee, our volunteers, and all our donors, thank you for your great commitment to this parish community! You’ve given us a great gift and a great day—thank you!
With the start of the new school year comes the return to our normal routines. In like manner, it is a return to routine for the parish. We will start our faith formation sessions soon for those children preparing to receive First Holy Communion and Confirmation. Of course, our faith formation offerings are not intended only for the young! We want everyone at St. Pius to grow in their knowledge of the Catholic faith, in particular as families. Starting next Sunday, Sept. 15, we will have a monthly Family Faith Formation session after the 9 AM Mass. All families are invited to participate! Each session will include something for the parents, something for the kids, and something for the whole family together. You can sign up for these sessions online at https://www.st-pius.org/family-faith-formation/. We look forward to growing in faith together!
Another important effort this year will be a series of presentations about the Second Vatican Council. This pivotal event in the life of the Church was extremely important, but is often misunderstood. We invite you to come and learn a bit more about the beautiful documents of this Council. Our first presentation will take place on Sept. 18 at 7 PM in the school building, and will cover Vatican II’s document on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium. The presenter is Fr. Robert Wolfe, parochial vicar at St. Mary Parish in Bethel. Our next presentation will be given by our former Director of Religious Education, Dr. Joan Kelly, on Oct. 16 at 7 PM. She will speak about Vatican II’s document on the Church, Lumen Gentium.
Finally, a word about youth ministry. For the last several years, we have made every effort to offer a comprehensive approach to youth ministry that helps our young people to engage in our faith in a concrete, practical, and powerful way. These efforts continue unabated! I would like to highlight two things in particular. First, we have a youth ministry effort specifically for middle school students (grades 6-8). It’s called EDGE, and it provides a fun way for middle schoolers to grow in friendship, find solid Catholic community, and get answers to their questions about the Catholic faith while growing in their relationship with Jesus. You can contact Shari Garcia sgarcia@st-pius.org to learn more. Middle schoolers, you’re invited to EDGE! Our high school youth ministry is expanding this year, too. For years, individual parishes have had separate, almost competing youth groups. But sustaining effective youth ministry is tough! Every year, we collaborate with St. Thomas Aquinas Parish to bring students on our youth mission trip. And every year we talk about joining forces instead of operating independently. After much prayer and discussion, and reflecting on the desire of our 2014 Diocesan Synod to break down the “silos” that so often separate our parishes, we have a new approach! This year, we will launch Fairfield Life Teen, a new Catholic youth ministry for teens in Fairfield. It represents a collaboration between parishes in town, geared always to bringing our teens together for community, prayer, service, and fun! Email ffldlifeteen@gmail.com for more information, and be sure to follow on social media @FairfieldLT (Instagram and Facebook). Come to our kick-off on Sunday Sept. 15 at 6 PM!
Peace,
Fr. Sam
