Lent is a special time to truly focus on growing closer to God. With my own children, we focused on three key areas: Praying, Fasting, and Sharing.

Praying: Let's go a little deeper during Lent. Maybe say the Rosary, sing the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, or simply add a Hail Mary or Our Father to the beginning or end of your day. The goal is to enhance your regular prayer routine.

Fasting: Instead of just giving up junk food, consider fasting from hitting the snooze button or driving to school or work without music. Use that extra time to focus on God.

Sharing: Share your toys, clean out your closet and donate to St. Vincent de Paul, share food with a homeless person you encounter, or simply share your time and talents with a local organization.

Whatever you choose to do this Lent, I pray you experience the profound love that God has for you!

I pray we can offer you some tools to help your family make this a special time of growing closer as a family and to God!

Here are some Lenten activities you can do as a family:

We invite you to the following Lenten events:

• Annual SEAS Pancake dinner: Tuesday, March 4th at 6pm in the FFYC.

• Lenten Family Night: Join us for prayer, community, and creating family memories on Wednesday, April 16th at 6pm.

Stations of the Cross Resources:

• 3-minute Stations of the Cross with Legos: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs5Z8TAVoGg

• Way of the Cross for Children: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoQR30np5us&t=162

Here are some upcoming dates for our Faith Formation program:

• March 4th: Pancake Dinner, no classes

• March 5th-6th: Ash Wednesday and no classes

• March 9th-16th: Spring Break

Once again, thank you for all your support of our SEAS faith formation program. For the most up-to-date information on our programs, please subscribe to Flocknote, view the TVs in the building, check our website, or check out the links for our social media at the bottom of the newsletter.

As always, continue to pray for us as we continue to pray for you!

God Bless,

Mrs. Driskill

Check out the latest on FORMED.ORG

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Enjoy all the Catholic content in English or Spanish!

Below are a few suggestions from Faith Formation-

Lent with Brother Francis

https://watch.formed.org/lent-with-brother-francis

Brother Francis: The Stations of the Cross

https://watch.formed.org/videos/brother-francis-the-stations-of-the-cross

The Catholic Parent

https://watch.formed.org/the-catholic-parent

Grow closer to God this Lent with 40 Daily Meditations for the Family! This season invites us to prepare our hearts for Holy Week through prayerful self-reflection. We seek to identify and release what keeps us from God's loving presence. It is free on FORMED. Click the image to access it

Lent can be challenging. We invite you to watch 'How to Lent,' free on FORMED. Click the image to access it

Hello Families and Friends!

If you've been to Children's Church, you are probably familiar with our Walk with Jesus song. We sing it at every mass to gather and dismiss the children. Some of the lyrics may change here and there, but we always include the, "Walk in the Light of the Lord" part.

This March we are going to "Walk in the Light of the Lord" by following Jesus's footsteps through Lent. We began with our Sacrament Retreat for the First Communicants at the end of February. It was a beautiful time to pray, reflect, and worship together.

We're going to continue our walk with Jesus with a simple task: talk more with Jesus. We have an incredible gift of the Holy Spirit within us, giving us a direct line of communication with our Holy Family.

When we return from Spring Break, each child will be given a prayer card to use over a nine day period (like a novena). The purpose of the prayers is to establish a comfortable relationship with Jesus and to ask for his help in walking in his light. The nine days of prayer is a challenging but attainable goal for the younger kids, and they can repeat their "novena" as many times as they wish.

I pray you all have a transformative Lent and feel born anew on Easter Sunday! Let's get our holy steps in and Walk in the Light of the Lord!

Love, Mrs. Mary

On February 8, 2025, our High School students who are preparing for their Sacrament of Confirmation attended a one-day retreat at our parish. The day was filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit! We began the day with several talks and small group discussions. Our talks included: “Face to Face” which focused on honesty with yourself, following God’s commandments, and growing in spiritual maturity. “Vocations” which focused on answering God’s call to be holy and to ask the Lord to open your heart so you will be ready to say “yes” when he starts you on the path toward your specific vocation.

During the afternoon, our teens spent time with their sponsors praying the “Stations of the Cross”, attending reconciliation, and selecting their confirmation saints. One of the activities in the morning session was to spend some quiet time thinking about the “one thing” that is keeping you from growing closer to God. This could be something preventing you from praying more often, going to Mass regularly, forgiving someone, or letting go of something that may be leading you away from God. Our teens placed a chain-link which represented that “one-thing” on the cross. This was truly a blessed day!

Patrick was a kid who loved to play. But when he got older, he was taken to a new land called Ireland. He had to take care of sheep, and it was hard! But Patrick learned to be brave. He talked to God and became strong inside. This story is called 'Patrick: Brave Shepherd of the Emerald Isle,' and it tells how Patrick made Ireland a brighter place

The Archdiocese of San Antonio provides several resources and videos to parishes in an effort to help programs talk to students and parents about safety measures.

In the month of October and April, our Faith Formation programs will be going over some safe environment and boundary topics with our students. Each program coordinator will provide you with more information on specifics.

If you would like to learn more about what the Archdiocese offers or to watch videos for specific age levels, check out the following links:

Archdiocese of San Antonio Child Protection Office-

https://archsa.org/child-protection/child-protection-letter/

Teaching Boundaries and Safety Guide-

https://www.virtusonline.org/educators/Teaching-Boundaries-and-Safety-Guide-English.pdf

Empowering God's Children (Grades K-5)-

https://www.youtube.com/embed/As5weSqt9Jw

Empowering God's Children (Grades 6-8)-

https://www.youtube.com/embed/P3RoYAYkDQ4

Empowering God's Children (High School)-

https://www.youtube.com/embed/eY_oua646oc

The safety of our students, families, volunteers, and staff is a top priority for our Faith Formation Ministry. It is important to us that parents feel comfortable and confident while their children attend classes at SEAS. We take several steps to ensure we are providing a safe environment for all.

Each of our volunteers and all of the staff are required to take Safe Environment Trainings. Our Good Shepherd and Elementary students must be picked up from their classroom to guarantee that they leave with a trusted adult.

To help with safety measures, we ask that parents read the below handbook provided by the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

Parent Handbook- Protecting God's Children

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sOtPCQW3Fpn3QC6es6QwddSZOWX0groB/view?usp=sharing

Please let us know if you ever have a safety concern.

Loraine Driskill

Director of Religious Education

loraine@seaschurch.com

AJ Fowler

Youth Ministry Coordinator

ajfowler@seaschurch.com

Janet Garcia

Catechesis of the Good Shephard Coordinator

janet@seaschurch.com

Mary Koonce

Elementary Coordinator

mary@seaschurch.com

Luis Ramirez

Confirmation Coordinator

luis@seaschurch.com

Faith Formation Ministry

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Email: loraine@seaschurch.com
Website: www.seaschurch.com
Location: 8500 Cross Mountain Trail, San Antonio, TX, USA
Phone: 210-698-1941