Category: News & Events

RCIA Journeying to Jesus

Sponsors for those who are becoming Catholic. The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) (or children) is the process for bringing adults and young people into the Catholic Church. Each individual in the program needs a sponsor. As a representative of the faith community, the sponsor is a companion on the journey to full initiation.

Sponsors offer advice and encouragement and grow together with the person they sponsor as they share their faith together. There are many adults and young people who do not have someone in their lives to make that commitment.

If you are interested or willing to share your faith experience with someone who wishes to join the Church, please contact the Religious Education office (571-516-3154). Samantha Welsh, Director of Religious Education, will be happy to speak with you about the program.

Pass on the Good News of Jesus Christ and our Catholic Faith! This fall, over 1,100 students in kindergarten through grade 12 will take part in Religious Education (RE) classes at All Saints to learn more about their Catholic faith. You can help them learn and grow in faith by becoming a Catechist. With classes offered Sunday morning, Monday evening, and Tuesday evening, there are a variety of days and times to fit your schedule.

All Saints would like to increase the number of students in its in-person classes, so additional catechists and assistants are needed. Registration for classes will begin on July 5, 2023; the only classes that will be open for registration will be those that have a catechist available to teach. As you nurture the faith of the young, you will continue to learn and grow as well! As one long-time catechist put it, “I learn so much from teaching RE!”

To volunteer or find out more, please contact Samantha at swelsh@allsaintsva.org or 571-516-3154.

Note:
Registration for Religious Education (RE) classes for 2023-2024 will begin on July 5, 2023. Registration information and links to the registration forms for in-person RE classes will be available on the RE website allsaintsreligiouseducation.org. All registration will be via online Google forms.

Inspired by Gospel values, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a Catholic lay organization, helps women and men grow spiritually by offering person-to-person service to those who are suffering and in need.

• At All Saints, 30 volunteers help more than 750 families and individuals annually.
• Calls for assistance in Manassas and Manassas Park are growing. Please prayerfully ponder if you can devote a few hours each month to answering Christ’s call to go out into the world and help those in need.
• We especially need bilingual parishioners.

If you would like to learn more about the work of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, please call our service line at 571-516-3200 and leave your name and number.

We are excited to announce the formation of Hearts Afire Special Needs Social Group! This group will be meeting monthly at All Saints from 7:00–8:30 pm and is open to our friends with special needs ages 16-29.

Our first meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 1, 7:00–8:30 PM, in the Parish Activities Center. If you would like to attend this fun-filled evening and meet some new friends, RSVP to heartsafiresocialgroup@gmail.com.

We need volunteers! We are looking for assistant leaders to help run the meetings and Buddies to partner with our special needs friends. If you are interested in helping out, or know someone would be, please email heartsafiresocialgroup@gmail.com.

This week we again hear of the parables of Jesus: weeds among the wheat, a mustard seed, and yeast that makes the dough rise. Parables are a special type of story that are meant to make one point. Parables teach by way of paradox and give us a new insight into life. A parable is a story that draws images and metaphors (using one point of comparison) from the common life of the people.

There is usually an unexpected turn of events in a parable. At the moment of surprise, we are invited to enter into the insight of the parable. Many of the parables of Jesus are drawn from an agrarian society. Modern parables might draw on themes of transportation (e.g., The kingdom of God is like driving on I-66 when another driver lets you merge into the lane …) or commerce (The kingdom of God is like a person who cuts in line in front of everyone else waiting in line to enter Costco or Walmart ….). Think of the parable of the workers paid the same amount at the end of the day, even though they worked various hours. This wisdom teaching of a parable often has a message that we do not want to hear at first and may surprise or even shock us.

Parables allow us to pass through the gate of our own little world into solidarity with the whole human family. The shift is from “the community for me” to “me for the community.”

The parable of the weeds among the wheat is one that may not come to mind at first when we think about parables. However, it leads us to consider our own ways of thinking. For example, the common approach is to pull up all the weeds at once. When we find people doing things wrong, we may want to have them punished severely and immediately. God’s approach is to allow for repentance and conversion. By a patient approach, one is illustrating that we place trust in God, who will ultimately triumph.

The parable recognizes that in taking the freedom away from the person sinning (signified by the weeds) we may also be taking away the freedom for the person who responds justly (signified by the wheat.). Then there would be no response at all to God’s word sown among us! The mystery of God’s kingdom is offered to us. Ponder an aspect of that mystery that you find puzzling or difficult to accept.

Father Lee Roos

Did you know that All Saints has a subscription to a wonderful resource for adult faith formation called Formed.org. New programs, movies, audio talks, and e-books are available to stream at your convenience through All Saints’ subscription to Formed.org.

Our parish access code is 16e125. Use this to set up your login credentials and check out everything available in this resource.

Take one hour before the Blessed Sacrament exposed for public prayer in our chapel. Needs for adorers are:

• Wednesday 6:00–7:00 pm; 8:00–9:00 pm
• Saturday 2:00 – 3:00 am; 3:00–4:00 am

Information: Aime (adoration@allsaintsva.org). Adorers, when you arrive at the chapel, please sign-in for your time slot so we know that the time is covered.