The summer catechetical program, Totus Tuus, has begun! Eight college students who have dedicated their summer to sharing the faith will be at the parish all week, leading a day program for grade schoolers and a night program for the junior high and high schoolers. The whole parish is welcome to attend daily Mass at 11:15am and the potluck on Wednesday at 6:00pm.
For additional videos on the sacraments, click here.
Religious Education classes ended for the year with a family-friendly holy hour on Tuesday, April 22 and Wednesday, April 23. Holy hour included Adoration, Confessions, the recitation of a rosary, music, silence, and, on Wednesday, the presentation of a prayer chain by one of the R.E. classes (shown above). After Benediction, the crowd headed down to Ryan Hall for the potluck in order to celebrate the conclusion of another successful year of Religious Education classes. Thank you to everyone who helped to make the year, and the night, a success!
For the Spring High School Retreat, which was from Friday, April 19 through Sunday, April 21, a group of 22 high school students spent the weekend at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park. During the retreat, they enjoyed time together, went snow-shoeing and hiking, hung out in downtown Estes, and watched Life of Pi. One of the main events of the retreat was a debate on the topic of the true meaning of freedom, for which six individuals prepared arguments for and against the proposal that freedom is doing God’s will. On Sunday, the retreat concluded with Mass at the Chapel on the Rock in Allenspark, where the students were able to see Bl. Pope John Paul II’s trail head and room at St. Malo’s. Click on the button “Continue Reading” to see pictures of the debate and of Sunday’s events.
On the night of Wednesday, April 17, a number of middle school students showed up at Nativity ready for a good time! Venturers of the Star, our middle school group, which is led on Wednesday nights by Fr. Accu, held a dance in Ryan Hall. The students enjoyed food, friends, and–of course–excellent dance moves! To be informed of events like this in the future, sign up for Flocknote and register for the lists you are interested in.
On Tuesday, March 19 and Wednesday, March 20, Religious Education (R.E.) teachers got creative as they prepared their children for the upcoming Holy Week. Since there will be no classes on Holy Week (March 26 and 27) or Easter Week (April 2 and 3), some teachers led Seder Meals for their classes this week. Other teachers continued the unit on prayer (shown below, a class takes a field trip to the Nativity Scene to learn about meditation), and others still took their students through the Stations of the Cross that have been set up around Ryan Hall on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
On St. Patrick’s Day, the high school youth gathered in Ryan Hall for a unique celebration with Fr. Michael. The party was complete with a traditional Irish breakfast (thank you to our chefs, Mark Thomason and Christ McDermott!), which included a fried egg, thick bacon, quartered tomatoes, beans, Irish soda bread, and last but not least, blood pudding. The high schoolers then learned about the new pope, Pope Francis, and listened as Fr. Michael told the story of St. Patrick. The night concluded with some time to hang out playing cards and ping pong.
Click the following link to hear Fr. Michael’s interview with 710 KNUS regarding the election of Pope Francis:
Pope Francis, born as Jorge Bergoglio, was selected as our 266th Pope on March 13, 2013! He is a Jesuit from Buenos Aires, Argentina and today he greeted the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
