We CELEBRATED all our Catechetists this past Sunday, we thank you!

Blessed Sacrament Church celebrated the catechists this past sunday! All catechists, past and present are being honored today for their dedication and faith presence to our Faith Formation, First Penance, First Communion, and Confirmation students.

Catechetical Sunday celebrates catechists and catechesis in all parishes throughout the country today. The 2023 Catechetical Sunday theme is "Come to me all you who labor and are burdened" (Matthew 17:28). Catholics hear these powerful words spoken by Jesus as an invitation to follow him and have our burdens lightened.

Catechists are volunteers who give so generously of their time to share the faith and love of God with the children and youth in our church. They are dedicated people who 'teach' in the many youth faith formation and sacramental preparation programs and ministries of the parish. Today we recognize that the work they do goes beyond teaching. We especially celebrate all catechists who have taught over the years at our parish.

It is the ministry of the catechist to echo God's voice, to repeat it over and over, so that our children have no doubt that God loves them, cares for them, and offers a share in the divine life. The word catechist comes from the root word "catechesis," an ancient Greek word meaning "to echo." A catechist is one who echoes the faith. Parents are the first catechists of their children.

On this Catechetical Sunday, we all recommit ourselves to sharing God's messages of hope, love, and compassion - messages that say there is a life of eternal joy after this world is done and that you are loved more deeply than you can imagine. Each of us had the faith handed on by someone significant in our lives. Let us share that with the children in our lives, whether they're still in school, or whether they're grown up and living on their own. Speak with words, but most of all speak with your lives. Speak like a catechist.