Hi there! We miss seeing you! We truly hope you all are finding ways to get outside for some daily fresh air, activity, and finding ways to safely connect with family and friends. Clearly the weather hasn't really been cooperating until now, but hey, we are used to it and simply wear a jacket and carry on. Expect a card or letter from one of us catechists soon, as we are planning to find ways to help those in our faith community in need, and later, the larger community if possible.
I thought I'd post the intro to the email I sent a couple weeks ago. If you did not receive the email, let me know, and I will send a variety of faith-at-home activities to choose from. Links for teens activities are included here, however some files for the kids and family activities have to be emailed. Contact me, Maureen Gardner, at faithjoachimanne@gmail.com. Here is the email previously sent with a few minor updates:
Dear Families,
Wow, the new normal/abnormal is really solidly becoming our new reality! How can we help? We are all stressed and looking for ways to focus on what’s really important and ways to center, calm down, and de-stress. Certainly one of those ways is through prayer such as we focused on and practiced at our last youth faith formation night. Since we cannot gather right now due to Covid-19, we’ve planned online opportunities you can select from below and from the attachments each week. These activities remind us of Jesus’ presence inside each one of us and to “treat others as you would like to be treated” during these stressful times at home. The Diocese of Buffalo encourages parishes to contact families via email, snail mail and phone and continue to promote at-home activities. Therefore, we may continue to provide these online opportunities throughout the summer months until we are allowed to gather again.
We are looking for ways to help the community during this difficult time. If you are part of an organization that needs help, for example with food donations or making masks, let us know and we will spread the word as to where to drop them off. We are also very concerned about the elders in our community who do not have family help. Helping others is one way that helps us all feel better. We may contact you soon about writing letters to elderly and shut-in folks who may need a cheerful card or letter or a helping hand. We are heard that many parishioners did not know we are recording mass for each weekend, so we sent snail mail with a variety of ways to find mass like on TV and radio. Please share this information and help elder family and friends find ways to watch online if you can. Feedback has expressed joy at seeing Father, hearing his message and familiar music and seeing our own beautiful church. We are also posting links for Worship-at-Home services that can be conducted without a lot of video streaming for those of us with streaming difficulties in the hills and vales.
We will continue to post our mass and messages from Father George Devanapalle here:
Parish website: http://ssjoachimanne.org/
Parish Facebook SS Joachim and Anne
Youtube Channels Marlene Lamparelli or SS Joachim and Anne Attica
Our Faith Formation lessons (except for copyrighted documents like those attached in this email), links for Worship-at Home services, updates, and news are posted here in the blog section of our Faith Formation website.
Please join here as a member. You can download the Wix app to more easily access and read the updates. You will also find some updates in the “Notes” section of the SS J&A Facebook page. However, some resources we provide can only be emailed due to copyrights.
We also have an Instagram in its infancy and there are links to that on the Faith Formation site and FB page. If anyone would like to help with Instagram, let me know and thank you. It is a foreign language to me.
Here are your May Lesson opportunities:
Originally we wanted to have a Family Faith program on the Apostle’s Creed in April, so we will touch on it a bit with the following resources as well as the continuation of Christian Living theme.
This pillar of the Catechism states what we believe as a faith community. While it is one of the prayers we should challenge our children to memorize, it is as important to ‘unpack it’ and occasionally talk about what each line means, especially as our children become young adults in the Church.
The Apostles' Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; He descended into hell; on the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
Teens & HS lesson: VCAT videos on CREED:
Each of the videos at the link below addresses a portion of the Apostle’s Creed. Scroll down that webpage to view the following videos, then click on the “DG” discussion guide and discuss some of those questions with your child, and ask them what part of the Apostle’s Creed does that video connect with. If you only have time for a couple, please view Creed Overview and Chris Padgett.
*Creed Overview – Creed in 3 Minutes
That 1 Day
Joy Story
You’re Dead, Now What?
*Chris Padgett on Fire with the Holy Spirit
Young kids
(via email): “Tidbits from the Table – Faith is for Everyone”
Blessed Sacrament videos for First Reconciliation: (Scroll down below First Communion) https://dynamiccatholic.com/blessed/program-view/
We have the workbooks and plan to have Zoom meetings for reconciliation soon for those who are able.
The following are available via email:
All Ages Family Home Faith Activities Together:
Choose 1 each week (or whenever your kids need to focus on what's really important in life and you run out of chores to give them!)
1. Discipleship: Finding Time to Serve Others as Jesus Did
2. Discipleship: Serving Others in Christ’s Name
3. Images of God: Family Prayer
4. The Blind Side Movie night
5. Resurrection of the Body
6. Facing New and Uncertain Situations Like Mary:
A Family Faith-Sharing Guide
"Questions of the Week" are a simple reflection on the current weeks' gospel reading and are usually posted in a separate blog. Those for the rest of May include Ascension and Pentecost: