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Christian Formation Secretariat Newsletter 

April 2012   

In This Issue
Generations of Commitment
Alzheimer's
Understanding the Bible
HHS Mandate
Parishes: Where We Learn Faith
Youth & Young Adult Ministry Like us on Facebook

"Generations of Commitment"   



Commitment.  Lately, this has become a four letter word as we struggle to get people to respond to anything Church-related.  A recent blog on LifeTeen's website breaks down how different generations view commitment as well as offering some insights on how to encourage people of all ages to commit to Jesus Christ.  We need to help people, especially our youth and young adults, encounter Jesus in a way that leads to a sincere commitment.  The blog writer Trica Tembreull states, "The days of teaching in a Baby Boomer fashion of memorization are over and this generation will not commit to a memorized set of prayers and teachings. They will commit to a person (Jesus)."  You can find this and other great blog resources on LifeTeen's website

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    Now that Holy Week is officially upon us, it is easy to get so caught up in all the preparations and events that we can lose sight of the beauty in all the liturgies and traditions of this week.   If you need a two minute reminder of why we do what we do in Holy Week, check out Busted Halo's explanation.  May you have a Blessed Holy Week and a Happy Easter!   
Marriage & Family Life

"Alzheimer's: A Reality for Many"

   

In the United States, it is estimated that 5.4 million people are living with Alzheimer's disease, including 800,000 that live alone. By 2050, it is estimated that 16 million Americans will have Alzheimer's. The cost of care for people with Alzheimer's and other dementia will rise from $200 billion in 2012 to $1.1 trillion by 2050. The numbers are astounding, more so when we contemplate the fact that Alzheimer's and other dementia is affecting our own loved ones, and one day, may directly impact each one of us. The impacts are high-both for the individual sufferer and also for those who are the caregivers.

 

In 2011, 15.2 million family and friends provided 17.4 billion service hours of unpaid care at an estimated value of $210.5 billion. Alzheimer's and dementia caregivers report high rates of emotional stress including their own additional medical costs due to the physical and emotional tolls of care giving on their own health. Accordingly, in order to better serve the sufferer and support the caregiver there ought to exist a partnership of care. Nationally, the Alzheimer's Association and locally Alzheimer's Services of the Capital Area are excellent resources for individuals that are suffering with Alzeheimer's and also for family members or caregivers.

Worship   

 

"Understanding the Bible" 

  

"I want to read the bible, but I have no idea what to buy and where to start," is not a new statement for many Catholics.  Besides hearing the readings and the gospel each Sunday at Mass, we have grown up hearing the wonderful bible stories; but many of us do not own a bible.  Do you need some guidance on available bible translations and simple instructions?  Read this article by Mary Elizabeth Sperry on the USCCB website for 10 simple points for fruitful Scripture reading.

 

Respect Life Like us on Facebook

 

"HHS Adds Insult to My Injury"

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USCCB Pro-Life Secretariat's Mary McClusky, Special Projects Coordinator, writes about her struggles with infertility and how the HHS Mandate appears in light of this. She also talks about the Church's view on this Mandate, as well as on contraceptives.  To read more, click here.   

 
Evangelization & Catechesis Like us on Facebook

"The Parish Is the Place in which We Learn to Live Our Faith"

 

This is an excerpt from the homily given when Pope Benedict XVI, as Bishop of Rome, visited the Roman parish of "San Giovanni Battista de La Salle al Torrino", an area in the south of the city inhabited by many young families.  The complete text of the homily can be found here.   

 

"I rejoice that the sense of belonging to the parish community has continued to develop and been consolidated down the years. Faith must be lived together and the parish is a place in which we learn to live our own faith in the "we" of the Church. And I would like to encourage you to promote pastoral co-responsibility too, in a perspective of authentic communion among all the realities present, which are called to walk together, to live complementarity in diversity, to witness to the "we" of the Church, of God's family".