Faith Formation

WHAT IS FAITH FORMATION?
Faith Formation is a form of evangelization where Catholics teach, celebrate, and bear witness to Christ’s gospel message. It introduces faith history, bible teachings, and liturgical practices and traditions, and explores how faith can guide and change our lives. Faith Formation is a life-long process encouraging us to become companions on a journey where we develop individual faith identities, encounter Christ, and maintain a personal relationship with Him.

Faith Formation begins at home within the “Domestic Church.” This term refers to the family, the smallest body of gathered believers in Christ. This is where children first experience God’s love through interaction with the most important people in their lives. Faith is experienced here in an everyday manner through the introduction of prayer and the practice of respecting and coming to love other people. Our Early Church Fathers understood that the home was fertile ground for discipleship, sanctification, and holiness.

Our Faith Formation and Youth Ministry program here at St. Mary’s/St. Paul’s is a powerful resource to augment and support your family’s domestic church. It is designed to inspire personal spiritual growth by aiding young minds in developing a knowledge base of our faith background and an understanding of our liturgical habits and traditions. It introduces the language of faith through prayer practices and experiences and offers opportunities to celebrate our relationships with God. Our youth explore how life as a disciple of Christ includes moral components and are encouraged to be witnesses of Christ through word and deed at home and in the greater community.

Our Adult Faith Formation program offers resources for adults to embrace the invitation and challenge of an ever-deepening faith in Jesus. Through guided learning, spiritual reflection, and supported action opportunities, individuals grow in understanding and communicating the faith, strengthening personal prayer, and living their faith as active members of their Church community.

FAITH FORMATION/YOUTH MINISTRY AT ST. MARY/ST PAUL
Our parish Faith Formation and Youth Ministry program is tailored for those youth in Kindergarten through grade 10 and currently runs September through April on Sunday mornings from 9:30-10:40am in McManus Hall. Each session, we come together for opening prayer before splitting into grades so each child may explore his/her faith in an age-appropriate manner. To improve our discussion and activity ratio, the following grades are merged: gr. 3-4, gr. 5-6, gr. 7-8, gr. 9-10. Grades K, 1, and 2 remain as separate grades. For the merged grades, youth will complete one grade level of material and then the opposite grade level the following year. Grades K-8 uses the Finding God series produced by Loyola Press and Grade 9-10 uses a selection of mini courses published by St. Mary’s Press. Additional program materials for youth outside our offered ages are available by request along with learning adaptive educational/sacramental preparation materials.

Additional components to our program include parish t-shirts, the Stepping Stones Attendance Raffle, Youth Masses, Children’s Liturgy of the Word, An Afternoon Out activity day, and supplemental liturgical activities such as Communion of Saints Prayer Chain, Seeds of Gratitude, family lighting of the parish Advent Wreath, Visit From St. Nicholas, Children’s Nativity Pageant, and a youth-guided sand art Stations of the Cross. These experiences offer opportunities for our youth, their families, and the greater parish family to participate more actively in our liturgucal seasons. Service opportunites are available year round and are announced through the MyParishApp and Remind systems. Proof of attendance/service hours is available upon request.

To connect with our Faith Formation families, our program uses both My Parish App and the Remind systems. My Parish App is the parish-wide information app available for free download on smartphones. It contains links to the parish calendar, daily readings, prayers, and a multitude of other features. The Remind system is used by the Faith Formation program only and allows messages and attachments to be sent to you via text message and/or email. Hard copies of materials such as registration forms, info letters and additional liturgical activity sheets will be available during Faith Formation sessions and in our Faith Formation Corner located across from the St. Joseph statue in the church. Please contact our program director at (518) 832-9274 or ffsmsph@rcda.org with questons and/or to register.

SIGN UP FOR REMIND
Smartphone: visit rmd.at/smspff
Text only: text @smspff to 81010
Email only: visit rmd.at/smspff

Our Faith Formation Program relies on the charity, patience, and generosity of volunteers. Come share your faith, time, and talents as a catechist, aide, monitor, wrangler, substitute or as program support. No act of assistance is too small; all make a difference! All volunteers working with our youth must complete Safe Environment training including a safety application and background check. It is a relatively painless process and the training program is now offered fully online and can be completed at your convenience from your own home. Please join our program and experience for yourself the heart-lifting joy of rediscovering our own faith as we share with our children!

SCOUTING
St. Mary’s/St. Paul’s Church is proud to support our Scouts! Please contact the Faith Formation director at (518) 832-9274 or ffsmsph@rcda.org for assisstance in completing any faith-based awards programs or to arrange emblem/badge blessings or presentations. For more information on available Scouting awards by age, please visit the RCDA Catholic Committee on Scouting at https://www.rcda.org/offices/scouting.

ADULT FAITH FORMATION
Our Adult Faith Formation Ministry is under reconstruction. Opportunites for bible studies, catechetical enrichment, and spiritual retreats are available. Please contact the Faith Formation Director at ffsmsph@rcda.org for more information.

SACRAMENTS
BAPTISM
Baptism is the first sacrament one receives when entering the Catholic Faith. As a Sacrament of Initiation, it is only received once, officially entering you into the body of Christ, the Catholic Church. The recipient receives the Light of Christ along with His justifying and sanctifying grace and the Holy Spirit begins to dwell within them. Parents who wish to have their children baptized should call the parish office to begin preparation.

RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation) is the process for those wishing to explore becoming a member of the Catholic Christian Community and is designed for non-baptized adults seeking membership in the Christian Catholic community, adults baptized in other Christian communities who seek full communion with the Roman Catholic Church, and adults baptized as Catholics, but never confirmed. Adults seeking baptism or confirmation should call the parish office to schedule an interview with the pastor.

RECONCILIATION
The sacrament of Reconciliation is also known as Penance or Confession. During Reconciliation, the priest, as the agent of God, forgives sins committed after Baptism, when the sinner is heartily sorry for them, sincerely confesses them, and is willing to make amends and strive for a better relationship with God. Reconciliation at our parish is by appointment. For those baptized youth in grade 2 or above wishing to receive First Reconciliation, our program preparation begins in late January and culminates with a First Reconciliation celebration in March. For more information or to register, please contact our Faith Formation director at (518) 832-9274 or ffsmsph@rcda.org. All others wishing to celebrate Reconciliation should call the parish office to schedule an appointment.

EUCHARIST
The celebration of Eucharist nourishes us on our faith journey. It is the Real Presence of God, Jesus Christ, body and blood, under the appearance of bread and wine. It is celebrated at all masses and all Catholics are encouraged to participate frequently. For those baptized youth in grade 2 or above wishing to receive First Communion, our Information Meeting is held in late January and our program preparation begins in March (immediately following First Reconciliation) and culminates with a First Communion celebration the first Sunday of May. For more information or to register, please contact our Faith Formation director at (518) 832-9274 or ffsmsph@rcda.org.

CONFIRMATION
One of the sacraments of Initiation, Confirmation is closely connected to Baptism and Eucharist and within our diocese is offered for those of age 16 and above who have already been baptized. In Confirmation, the one who is confirmed (confirmandi) receives the full gifts of the Holy Spirit through the imposition of hands and anointing with oils by the bishop. Our parish Confirmation preparation program runs from May through October with the Sacrament celebrated in late fall. For more information or to register, please contact the Faith Formation director at (518) 832-9274 or ffsmsph@rcda.org.

MARRIAGE
Congratulations! To prepare for marriage, couples are encouraged to complete Pre-Cana about six months prior to their wedding date. Two types of programs are available in our diocese: Pre-Cana I and II. Pre-Cana I is marriage preparation for couples who have not been married before and do not have any children. Topics include sacrament/spirituality, sex/intimacy, communication/conflict, values/expectations, finance, children, career and family of origin. Pre-Cana II is for couples, when one or both have been married before, or who have children. It is appropriate for couples having their marriage convalidated in the Church. Additional topics include blending families and family systems. Please call the Parish Office to arrange a meeting and interview at least 6 months prior to the planned wedding.

ANNOINTING OF THE SICK
The Rite of Anointing tells us there is no need to wait until a person is at the point of death to receive the Sacrament. A careful judgment about the serious nature of the illness is sufficient. When the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is given, the hoped-for effect is that, if it be God’s will, the person be physically healed of illness. But even if there is no physical healing, the primary effect of the Sacrament is a spiritual healing by which the sick person receives the Holy Spirit’s gift of peace and courage to deal with the difficulties that accompany serious illness or the frailty of old age. Please contact the parish office to request this sacrament for yourself or others.