St. Aloysius Church promotes spiritual growth and adult formation by cultivating devotion to prayer and study, offering missions and talks, providing opportunities to serve and lead, and encouraging participation in our growing ACTS Retreat Ministry.

 

Prayer is “a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and love, embracing both trial and joy.” (St. Therese of Lisieux, CCC 2558). Whether done privately or with a family or group, prayer opens and orients us to God’s love and mercy.

 

Study is an opportunity to grow in knowledge of faith, illumining our hearts and minds with a greater understanding of the Holy Scriptures and the Great Tradition of the Church, which together lead us to a deeper encounter with Christ.

 

Retreat is stepping away from the busy-ness of life in the world and finding rest and renewal in the goodness of God.  Retreat may be as simple as an evening sharing a meal and hearing a speaker or as rich as several days away for an experience led by our ACTS Community.  Retreats may be several hours, or a day, or longer at the church or at one of the may Catholic retreat centers in our region.

 

Serving and Leading is the gift of ourselves we give back to God, Who has graciously given Himself to us.  In the area of spiritual growth, this may involve leading a prayer group, facilitating a study, participating on a retreat team, or serving as a catechist  or sponsor for RCIA.

 

Our Adult Formation Advisory Committee has developed a six-year plan for encouraging growth in the Catholic life as outlined in a document drafted by the US Bishops’ Conference, “Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us: A Pastoral Plan for Adult Faith Formation in the United States.” Launched in 2018, we continue to offer studies, speakers, and other faith formation opportunities related to experiencing God in

 

Knowledge of the Faith (Scripture) * Liturgical Life * Character Formation *

Prayer * Community Life * Missionary Spirit

 

For more information about spiritual growth and adult formation at St. Aloysius, please contact me.

 

In Christ’s peace,

 

Mark Christian

Director of Adult Formation

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Spiritual Growth provides a pathway for us to draw ever closer “in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ:

only He can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy Trinity.”

- Pope St. John Paul II, Catechesi Tradendae 5

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