Baptism

For infants or young children
involves the preparation of parents and sponsors in a review of the faith and the Sacrament in several meetings.

For young children in school or for Adults
preparation and faith formation takes place over a year preparing for Baptism, First Communion and Reconciliation.

 

The mystery of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus
is at the heart of our parish life. Each week, we enter into this mystery
in the Sunday celebration of the Resurrection, in the Eucharist,
in which we meet and are fed by Jesus,
the Source and the Summit of our life as a parish community

The marvel of God's Love for us is revealed in this: that God sent His Only Son so that everyone who puts their faith in Him, might have Eternal Life.

In the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, we have come to discover that Jesus is truly God's Only Son, our Most Holy Redeemer!

Throughout the Church year, we celebrate this revelation of God in His Word Made Flesh:

• in Advent (November/December) we listen to the prophets foretell His Birth and ponder the Promise of His Second Coming

• in Christmastide (December/January) we celebrate His Birth and contemplate God's Love made manifest to us in His Birth, His Baptism, and the First of His Signs at Cana

• In Lent (February/March) we hear the prophets call us to a change of heart, to return to God and His Love, and with prayer, fasting and alms, we, as penitents, beg: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us!"

• in Holy Week (March/April) we see Jesus draw us in to the Father's Love by His total Gift of Self to save us from the folly of selfishness and sin, and to bind up the wounds of the Original Sin, and we rejoice as we stand at the empty tomb and realize He is risen, just as he foretold!

• in the 50 Days of Eastertide (April/May) we see the power of God's Love that destroys not just sin, but death itself and we, with the first disciples, listen as Jesus teaches us His Way, and in the 50 Days from Easter to Pentecost, we wait for the Coming of the Spirit

• on Pentecost (May/June), waiting in the Upper Room in prayer with Mary and the disciples, we welcome the Spirit who pours into our hearts the Love of God and sends us forth: "Go and proclaim the Gospel of the Lord!"

• in the Season of the Year (Ordinary Time, June through November), we listen to Jesus preach the coming of the Kingdom and ponder the power of God's Love revealed in His miracles

In the Sacraments, the Holy Spirit continues to make it possible for us to encounter the Risen Lord, for He is still alive and remains ever close to us!

Baptism is our dying and rising with Jesus; by His Baptism in Jordan, Jesus made holy the waters of baptism for all who turn to Him in faith

In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we ask Jesus to forgive us our sins and failings, and to refresh us with the comfort of His Spirit, as we strive to grow as disciples

The summit of our life of prayer as a parish is the Supper of the Lamb, the Eucharist.
"Unless you eat My Body and drink My Blood, you will not have Life within you," Jesus explained to His disciples, "I am the Bread of Life"
So, faithful to His Command to "Do this in memory of Me," we prepare the gifts of His New and Everlasting Covenant -- bread and wine -- and call upon the Father to send His Spirit as witness that Jesus is indeed the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and to make of our gifts the Gift of God Himself: the Body and Blood of the Risen Jesus, the Food of Everlasting Life. "My Body is Real Food, My Blood, Real Drink"

Once the faith has been handed on to young people through faith formation, both at home in the family, and at Church in Mass and faith formation meetings, they are invited to be sealed with the Holy Spirit as a public sign of their commitment as disciples, through the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Two other Sacraments, intended to strengthen committed followers of Jesus in their special calling in life, also have a special role in the family of believers.

Paul explains that the love of husband and wife in the Sacrament of Marriage is like the love of Christ for His Bride, the Church. Husbands and wives, then, have a special role to play by their example of love and by their family life, in building up the Body of Christ, which is the Church. Their presence and involvement in the life of the parish is a constant reminder to us of Christ's love!

To announce the coming of the Kingdom, Jesus gathers around him disciples -- his followers who both listen to his words, and are called to be, by their lives, his witnesses.

From the community of the disciples Jesus marks out different groups to be servant leaders of this family of believers.

At one point he sends out 72 disciples to towns and villages. At another point he chooses Twelve whom he names Apostles, heading up the 12 tribes of the New Israel. After the Resurrection of Jesus, the Holy Spirit inspires these Twelve to set apart 7 men to serve the needs of the widows, orphans and the poor in the community of believers, and they call them deacons.

The earliest Christians saw, in these actions of Jesus and the Spirit, God giving order to the Church of Christ, thus the Sacrament of Holy Orders, by which men are set apart by the laying on of hands and the Holy Spirit, to be at the service of the Gospel and help organize -- order -- the community of believers for their mission to bring the Good News to all the world. The three-fold ministry of Bishop, Priest and Deacon provides the Church with successors to the Apostles, pastors for local communities of believers, and an ongoing ministry of Charity and the Word.