Saint Brother Andre Bessette Life Groups

 

Greetings all from our parish Life Groups at Saint Andre Bessette parish. We recently started our Life Groups during Advent 2020, and we had some great meetings discussing our faith leading up to the Christmas season. We will now continue our Life Group meetings on February 1, 2021 at 7 pm. 

 

Life Groups are a way to develop your faith with some like-minded people of your parish. We come together each week and have a small informal meeting over Zoom. This is definitely a form of new evangelization because as we discuss and strengthen our faith, we then become better informed and inspired to invite others to come to Christ.

 

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” -Hebrews 10: 24‐25

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Lives of the Saints

Ash Wednesday is February 17th this year so we will only get two lives of the saints’ meetings in before we start our Lenten series February 22nd. We will therefore study the lives of the saints on February 1st, February 8th at 7pm. 

 

We look to the saints of our church to use them as models for our lives. We will start with Brother Andre Bessette and Holy Cross. On February 1st at 7pm we will come together on zoom and I will give a presentation on the patron saint of our new parish. We will then break into smaller groups and discuss Brother Andre and Holy Cross. I will send out a zoom invitation a few days before the meeting so you can just click on the link and join our group. I invite everyone in our parish and three churches to attend. Our second meeting on February 8th will be for Saint Rose of Lima and Saint Bernard. 

 

How to Join Us

If you were part of the first life groups during advent you do not need to do anything because you have already registered, and I have your information. I will just e mail you before February 1st. If you are new to our life groups, I kindly ask you to sign up on the hyperlink of our parish website and once you have registered I will e mail you with the meeting link and you will just need to click on the link to join us. Please invite anyone from inside or outside our parish to come and join us. There is absolutely no pressure or responsibility if you join us and you are not required to present information. Just bring your love. 

 

Lenten Series

February 15th is a holiday this year so on February 22nd, 2021 we will start our Lenten Life Group series. This will be held weekly on Monday evenings during Lent and we also invite you to join us. Our dates for our zoom groups will be as follows:

1. February 22nd at 7pm

2. March 1st at 7pm

3. March 8 at 7pm

4. March 15 at 7pm

5. March 22 at 7pm

6. March 29 at 7pm

 

These six meetings will be held during Lent and this will all lead up to Holy Thursday. Our topic of our meetings during lent will be the Institution of the Eucharist.

 

The institution of the Eucharist

I was shocked to discover recently that less than 15% of Catholics believe in the actual presence of Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist. We must urgently work to solve this problem! This is the cornerstone of our faith and lack of understanding and belief in this sacrament may be one of the issues with the status of our church.

 

During our 6 meetings we will learn and discuss Transubstantiation and what the Catholic Church teaches us about how the bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. We will break down the liturgy of the Eucharist at Mass and look at things like the offertory, the Eucharistic prayers and the moment of concentration. We will attempt to use simplistic language to ensure we all understand. We will also discuss how Vatican II changed the focus of the Mass when the priest turned and now faces the congregation during this sacrament. It is hoped that we will have Eucharistic Adoration on Holy Thursday on April 1, 2021. If our COVID restrictions allow us, then we will meet at our churches for adoration to finish off the discussion on the Institution of the Eucharist.

So, I invite everyone from all the three churches of our parish to join us in our life groups. Please go to the parish website to join us!

https://www.strosefallriver.com

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Best Regards

Mark Carew

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