CATECHETICAL SUNDAY 2013 - "OPEN THE DOOR OF FAITH"..............

With the new Parish Year underway today Catholic-Christians in the United States and elsewhere observe, "Catechetical Sunday".  Catechetical Sunday is the annual ministry day as we enter another year of Religious Education and Faith Formation when as a Community of Believers our parishes focus on the roles and responsibilities of the Catechists, who educate and form others.  Their vital contribution to the betterment of the People of God we are and possess the ability to be.  Having myself been catechized very well by the Sisters of Mercy and my parish priests, I very gladly volunteered as a Catechist for six years during my college and graduate school years in young adulthood before entering the seminary in 1982.  Through the past thirty one years as a seminarian, priest, Associate Pastor, Parochial Vicar, Pastor, Priest In Residence, and on Medical Leave, I have continuously catechized all age groups, especially dedicated to Adult Faith Formation.  The theme of today's Catechetical Sunday is, "Open The Door Of Faith".  In order to maintain and expand the fruits of our Discipleship in Jesus The Christ, it is imperative that you share in and support the Catechetical Ministry in your parish community.  Your active and faith filled participation will make an appreciable contribution to increasing the fidelity of our mutual formation in Christ.  I eagerly anticipate the first fruit coming out of  this Catechetical Sunday - the resumption of R.C.I.A., the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, at Sacred Heart Parish in East Sacramento on Tuesday evening.  Devote yourself to opening the doors of Faith and Formation during the 2013-14 Parish Catechetical Year.............Fr.  Troy David