St. Mary Church

Eric Stromberg

Faith Formation Director

Maybe your children or co-workers have asked you questions about your religion. Perhaps you heard something on the radio about who is saved? Or how we are to treat marginalized groups?  Or why mom goes to communion but dad doesn’t?  About why there is war?  Why is there suffering? About anything really.  Do you have all the answers.  Does any one of us have all the answers?

This is why life-long Faith Formation is our calling and responsibility as Catholic Christians and why we need continually form ourselves in the Faith of Jesus  throughout our lives.

The underlying, universal human experience here is that human beings are creatures that need meaning.  We simply can’t live without it because all too often we live in a world that strikes us as absurd, arbitrary, and meaningless.  Finding meaning is hard and takes work.  It takes openness.  It takes prayer. It takes humility.  Take today’s Gospel reading as an example: When Jesus tells us that he is the way and the truth and the life, he is speaking the words of Truth.  But practical application of those words in our everyday life?  That is a different matter entirely.  What does it all mean?

Have you ever felt confused?  Have you ever felt like you don’t have all the answers?  Have you ever felt like you just don’t know what God wants you to do?  Guess what?  You are not alone.

Again, lets turn back to the Gospel and listen to the words of the disciples Philip and Thomas questioning Jesus.  They didn’t understand.  They demanded a sign.  The disciples didn’t understand the meaning of Jesus and Jesus was God in the Flesh!  Right in their midst!  The stumbled.  They questioned.  They doubted.  They misspoke.  They bickered.  They argued.  They fought in the presence of Jesus!!  They fought and argued even after experiencing Pentecost and the mystery of the Holy Spirit!  Does any of this sound familiar?  Do we still live in a Church that bickers and argues?

The reality is that there are no shortcuts to meaning.  And some of us are desperate for meaning.  And this makes us vulnerable to people who would prey upon and exploit our credulity.    It’s very easy to suspend our critical judgment and give ourselves over to a pastor, a priest, a pope, a politician, a media personality, or a philosopher.  It’s very tempting to surrender to a someone who promises to have all the answers.  

This makes life-long faith formation so important.  We are always growing and changing whether we want to or not.  The world around us is changing whether we want it to or not.  This means that we we have to do the hard work of investing new meaning into the phases of our lives.  For those of you who have baptized your children, does that event mean something more to you now than  before you had kids?  For those of you who have been on a service trip, or helped with the community meal, or served at  the Catholic Worker House, do you look upon the poor with the same eyes?  Hopefully you see Jesus.  For those of you troubled or facing a difficult decisionm have you experienced the peace that can come with prayer?  I hope so.  For those of you who have moved through the stages of life do you still regard material possessions with the same sense of attachment and security?   I hope that you give freely and without fear.  For those of you who have been away from the church and come back, what new meaning have you discovered?  I hope reconciliation.  For those thinking of leaving, what meaning are you searching for out there?  I hope you find it.  But if not, we will still be here for you.  For those who have lost a loved one, what meaning do you give to that event?  I hope that your understanding of that is filled with hope and peace.

The meanings in our life that might have sufficed for us as children are no longer convincing for us when we grow into adolescence and later into adulthood and finally into the wisdom that comes with age.  But this community will be here for you at every stage of your life to help with the problem of meaning.  Pay very close attention to what I just said.  The community will help you with the problem of meaning, that does not mean giving pat answers.  Rather to just be there in all of your struggles.  Finding your meaning is your own journey.

Last year in Faith Formation, we learned about the wonderful events and seasons and holy days in the Liturgical Calendar of the Church.  One of the things we did each month was sort a deck of 24 cards with the feasts and seasons into their proper order.  Now,I don’t really care if you can get all of our fun cards in order-- what I really care about is hopefully last year was one of experiencing new or re-newed meaning of these marvelous celebrations of faith.  

This year we will be learning and discovering the wonderful Catholic teachings on the Sacraments.  It will be a year devoted to Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Reconciliation, Marriage, Holy Orders, and the Sacrament of the Sick.  The mystery of the sacrament is that they make visible for us an invisible grace.  We see this and experience this with eyes of faith.  My prayer is that it is a year of new meaning.  

Never stop growing in your faith, in your head, your heart, and your actions.  

Love one another.  

Embrace mystery.

Talk to you friends and family about your faith.  Use “teachable moments” as a chance to coach you children to talk about Jesus.

Pray often.

Register for Generations of Faith. 

Eric Stromberg