Family Faith Formation Launches this Sunday, October 5 with Grades K-2 Mustard Seeds!

Family Faith Formation Launches this Sunday, October 5 with Grades K-2 Mustard Seeds!

Family Faith Formation empowers, supports, and equips parents to impart the faith to their children.  Our program for children in Grades K-7 and their families is organized in three grade-level cohorts, and each cohort  meets six times over the year (October through April) for 45 minutes. All cohorts focus on the same theme each month, which creates a cohesive structure that supports families with children in multiple grades.  Our theme for October is The Liturgical Calendar, and our sessions will be led by Fr. Jim.

The schedule for October is below – our theme for the month is The Liturgical Calendar, and our sessions will be led by Fr. Jim.

Grades K-2 Mustard Seeds: Sunday, October 5 at St. John
10:15-11:00am in Powers Hall..

Our New Children’s Faith Formation Programs Launch in October!

Our New Children’s Faith Formation Programs Launch in October!

We are so excited to launch our renewed Children’s Faith Formation program in just a few weeks!  

As we explained over the summer, we are renewing Children’s Faith Formation in our Collaborative by replacing our programming (previously known as “Religious Education”) with two new and innovative programs  – a Family Faith Formation program for younger children and their families (Kindergarten – Grade 7) and a Small-Group Confirmation Preparation program for older students (Grade 8 and above.)

Please visit our Children’s Faith Formation page for more information about the programs, including a full calendar and a comprehensive FAQ with answers to questions about registration, logistics, sacrament preparation, and more!

Our Children’s Choir is Back – and Different!

Our Children’s Choir is Back – and Different!

We are so excited to be starting up the Children’s Choir this Sunday, September 14, at the 9am Family Mass at St. Paul.

As parents, grandparents, godparents, uncles, aunts, and siblings are the most impactful teachers of faith that our children have, we want our choristers to be able to sit with their families during the Mass – to ask questions, learn responses, watch how you make the sign of the cross, and build lasting memories as a family that worships together.

Our goal this year is to focus on learning a few songs really well that the choir will sing alone, rather than trying to learn every bit of the Mass music…

Our Collaborative Outdoor Mass

Our Collaborative Outdoor Mass

Please join us on Sunday, September 28 at 10:30am on the St. Paul Lawn for our annual Collaborative Outdoor Mass and fellowship event! This will be our third time celebrating Mass on the expansive lawn in front of St. Paul Church, recreating what Fr. Jim calls “our own Tanglewood East!” 

Our SJSP Society of St. Vincent de Paul chapter is once again sponsoring a cookout after Mass, providing hotdogs, hamburgers, and veggie burgers for all!  Please plan to bring a side dish/salad to share if you are able!

So that as many members of our community as possible can join together for this special liturgy and fellowship event, there will be a reduced Mass schedule at the parishes on the weekend of September 27-28…

Renewing Children’s Faith Formation – An Important Message from Fr. Jim

Renewing Children’s Faith Formation – An Important Message from Fr. Jim

The Archdiocese of Boston is calling on parishes to embrace a new vision of children’s faith formation – one that supports parents in their role as the first teachers of the faith, facilitates lifelong faith formation for all generations, and encourages missionary discipleship in addition to catechesis by engaging the talents of the whole parish community.

In response to this call, our Pastoral team, in partnership with our Children’s Faith Formation and Youth Ministry teams, has been working to develop a unified approach to faith formation that builds bridges between these unique programs, invigorates our Collaborative liturgical life, and renews the engagement of our young children, teens, and families in the life of the parish, especially Sunday Mass.

It is with great joy that we share with you our plans for renewing Children’s Faith Formation (previously known as “Religious Education”) in our Collaborative by launching two exciting new programs this fall…

Faith Formation News: A Vision for Children’s Faith Formation and Youth Ministry

Faith Formation News: A Vision for Children’s Faith Formation and Youth Ministry

The Archdiocese of Boston is calling on parishes to embrace a new vision of faith formation – one that supports parents in their role as the first teachers of the faith, facilitates lifelong faith formation for all generations, encourages missionary discipleship in addition to catechesis, and engages the talents of the whole parish community.

This past spring, 234 young people in grades 8-12 received the Sacrament of Confirmation in our parishes, exponentially increasing the number of high school teens who need a robust youth ministry program to accompany them during this time of great transition and growth in their lives. Being ready to accompany these newly-confirmed teens on their journey and helping them stay connected to their faith, their parish, and each other is vitally important – for them, for our Collaborative, and for the Church…

The Sacrament of Confirmation at the Collaborative

The Sacrament of Confirmation at the Collaborative

In 2024, the Archdiocese of Boston announced that the ordinary age of Confirmation would be lowered from Grade 10 to Grade 8. This change was made to facilitate a renewal in family engagement in the life of the parish, especially Sunday Mass, and a renewal of youth ministry within parishes – one that goes beyond sacramental preparation.

Over the past few weeks 234 young people in Grades 8-12 received the Sacrament of Confirmation with Bishop Robert Reed in three separate liturgies – including two at St. John on the same evening! 

Please keep them in your prayers as they continue to be filled with the Holy Spirit and grow in their faith.

April 27: Celebrate the “Jubilee of Teenagers” with the Natick Catholic Collaborative

April 27: Celebrate the “Jubilee of Teenagers” with the Natick Catholic Collaborative

DID YOU KNOW THE WEEKEND OF APRIL 25-27 IS THE GLOBAL JUBILEE OF TEENAGERS? Let’s join our brothers and sisters at the Natick Catholic Collaborative on Sunday, April 27 for a special half mile Eucharistic Procession around the Natick Common to celebrate the amazing teens who help make our local Catholic community so strong and vibrant. The procession will follow the 11:00am Mass at St. Patrick Church (gather in front of the church at 11:45am.)  All teens, families, and parishioners are invited to join the Procession! Rain or shine! Click here to sign up to walk with Jesus!

Questions? Please contact Dawn Sullivan of the Natick Catholic Collaborative: dsullivan@natickcatholic.org

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