
Sharing Spot
Dear Parish Family,
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The sight of massive balloons carrying people above the treetops under the power of nothing more than hot air is captivating. No wonder every year this weekend draws thousands of people to Glens Falls to get a taste of what makes our “Adirondack Gateway” such a beautiful and special place.
This Balloon Festival weekend is a symbol of the season of life Glens Falls is in. No one could deny that our hometown is on the rise. The explosion of murals in our downtown is just a taste of the vibrancy that has got everyone turning their heads in our direction. The traffic on the Northway in both directions is flowing toward Exit 18; there’s no doubt about it.
The balloons also symbolize the goals we have for the kids and youth of our community. We want them lifted up by the Holy Spirit to see beyond the horizon of their day-to-day to see the glow of God’s glory in their lives. So as the balloons launch all around us this weekend, what a great way for us to launch the “Year of the Next Generation” here at St. Mary’s.
Registration is now open for Faith Formation for Kindergarten through 12th Grade… and it’s unlike anything we’ve ever done before and unlike any other offering out there. That’s because it has been designed by a team at our parish of educators, parents and young people to meet the needs kids and families have here and now in Glens Falls. Rather than competing with sports, we’re working around the sports schedules families have. Rather than trying to make our sessions like a class, we’re completely changing the format so that it meets kids right where they are at.
At times in the past, we may have indeed been guilty of giving long-winded answers to questions no one was asking. It was always well intention, but we brought the awareness of that misguided tendency to our strategy for this new approach so that we would have a sense of what kids need in order to go off to college armored with faith and the knowledge of what we believe and what makes being Catholic distinctive.
So we’ve “reverse engineered” our program to give our young people an infusion of:
“Catholic 101”… Skills for how to pray… Enough tools to know their way around the Bible (and no longer be embarrassed around other Christians who know it better)… An understanding of and love of the Mass… a good handle on Church vocabulary… A personal relationship with Jesus… An ability to name what is right and what is wrong and why… A strong moral compass… A strengthened conscience… a desire to be part of a Catholic Club in college… A natural gravitation to imagine finding a future spouse who is strong in their faith…
a potential desire to raise a Catholic family… …openness to hearing and responding to God‘s possible call to be a sister, brother, monk or priest…
a respect for legitimate authority… and more.
Don’t you agree that reaching these goals is the dream of every Catholic parent, grandparent, mentor and friend of the next generation always and everywhere?
Let us begin this quest together.
Faithfully
Father Scott
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