Each parish in our diocese is responsible for sharing YEARLY Safe Environment lessons to every age group in grade school. This is a yearly requirement of YOUR CURRICULUM. Please be sure to follow our diocesan requirements. More information can always be found at:

We are all called to be Eucharistic Missionaries! "A Eucharistic Missionary is any Catholic who—inspired by an encounter with Christ in the Eucharist and fueled by the Bread of Life—allows God to use them as an instrument of his grace "for the life of the world." These missionaries embrace their deepest identity as a member of the Body of Christ and commit to living a Eucharistic life with a heart for those who are most in need, those who are lost, and those who are the "least." They follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit to spread the Gospel by word and deed." (from Eucharisticrevival.org) Follow the link below and scroll down to get started by signing up and then share the link with parishioners!

Click on the flyer below to register for our next Day of Professional Development, Thursday, October 3. Join us for a full-morning workshop on Conflict Management with Dr. Don Boice, and engaging afternoon workshops on Classroom Management with Patti Selig, of the Office of Catholic Schools and Using Class Dojo (an app) to organize programming, with Matt Murray from the Parish of the Most Holy Name of Jesus. PLUS, we will end our day with an NCYC preview meeting!

All learners can now sign up for their free accounts with Franciscan at Home. We have sent out emails to participating parishes with bulletin inserts, announcements and flyers. Remember that it will be incredibly important to publicize this valuable resource in order to make it an asset it your parish! Please let me know if you need additional guidance. **It is important to follow the outlined steps for signing on. Those who do not follow the steps either end up not getting in or hidden in the system and not able to be found on our diocesan pages, so please follow the steps outlined below!

If you are having difficulty finding the course you want to take when you cut and paste it from our home page or simply type it in, try typing in KEY WORDS only such as Intercultural, Eucharist, Parents, etc. These words often help overcome the temporary glitch of the system not reading the full name of the course and finding it in the menu. This is a "fix" that has been working well for most! Keep exploring and as always, contact our office if you need tech assistance or have any questions!

Join Leslie Barkin for the first Catechist formation of the programming year to explore contemporary teaching strategies using one of the workshops in the Catechist Track of Franciscan at Home. We'll take an opportunity to watch a few segments, process what we hear and learn and discover some new tools for our catechetical toolboxes together!

2:00 PM Session: Please click on the orange welcome message below to REGISTER

7:00 PM Session: Please click on the orange welcome message below to REGISTER

Pathways toward a Thriving Parish is a FREE three year program that will help parishes created their own paths toward a thriving, vital community of faith that is living their mission in today's world by...

• Equipping a parish leadership team with the knowledge, skills, and practices for creating pathways toward thriving
• Forming leaders and the parish community in the processes of listening and interpreting the needs of the community, and in the spirituality of discernment
• Embracing and discovering the shared vision and mission of the Church, and the gifts, abilities, and resources of the parish community, and equip them as individuals and teams for ministry and service in the parish and in the world

To LEARN MORE VISIT THE LINK BELOW:

This is a great follow up to NCYC/Steubenville and a great way to prepare for NCYC/Steubenville! Registration is now available online through October 29. More information about the retreat weekend (including cost) and the registration can be found by clicking the button below. If there are questions including those related to financial assistance, please contact Don Smith here or Mark Capellazzi here.

The Hands of Christ is a recognition program, sponsored by the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis, in which the Most Reverend Bishop Salvatore R. Matano affirms high school seniors of our parishes who have been the “Hands of Christ” in their churches, homes, schools and communities. Seniors will be recognized at one of several diocesan recognition ceremonies in 2025. Ceremony details will be shared at a later date.

• More information about the nomination process can be found below.
  
• Helpful hints for conducting the nomination process can be also found below.
• A paper nomination form (to assist in the parish nomination process) can be used and found below.

• Approved nominations must be submitted online by clicking the button below.
• The deadline to submit approved nominations is December 1, 2024.
• Approved nominations submitted after the deadline will be accessed a late fee.

The USCCB has created a reflection guide for Listen, Teach, Send. This reflection guide is intended to guide families and ministry leaders who accompany youth and/or young adults to explore where they are in developing a faithful and fruitful outreach with young people in light of the new USCCB document. To view and download this helpful guide, click the file below.

With the support of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM), the New York State Community of Catholic Youth Ministry is a platform for those involved in youth ministry within New York State to collaborate with/support one another and engage in the work of NFCYM. NFCYM is recognized as the largest youth ministry organization in the United States and is the foundation for synodal dialogue about the needs and concerns of those who minister to youth. ALL THOSE WHO MINISTER TO/WITH YOUTH IN THE DIOCESE OF ROCHESTER ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO JOIN THE COMMUNITY'S FACEBOOK GROUP BELOW. For more information, email Mark here.

October 14-16, 2024

Damascus Mission

Centerburg, Ohio

Franciscan Center for Evangelization and Renewal at Franciscan University of Steubenville is hosting its second annual youth ministry/DRE/Diocesan Director retreat at Damascus. It is an opportunity for youth ministers to “come away and rest.” The retreat includes sharing the Steubenville Conferences-style charisms, a few talks about growing our relationship with our Lord, spending time in praise and worship, doing some wall climbing and socializing, and sharing a grace-filled night of Eucharistic Adoration. There are no talks about how to be a youth minister. It is just time for those who serve the Young Church to receive, be filled, and grow closer to the heart of Jesus. THE COST OF THE RETREAT IS ONLY $50! For more information and to register, click the button below.

Marian University and Springtide Research Institute are conducting a study to understand how priests, ministers, and faith leaders can better engage and reach young and young adults, ages 13-25. This survey will ask questions about previous experiences with Christian messages, feelings about these messages, and a few general demographic questions to help them understand trends within the data. The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete, and all responses are confidential. After completing this survey, participants can enter a drawing for a $25 Amazon e-gift card. The survey can be found by clicking the button below.

Connect with us!

The National Catholic Committee on Scouting (NCCS) will award thirteen service scholarships totaling $36,000 to Catholic Scouts who are high school seniors graduating in 2025. To be eligible to apply, a Scout must be a full-time high school senior, a practicing Catholic and be actively involved with a BSA Scout Troop, Venturing Crew or Sea Scout Ship. They must have earned the Eagle Scout, Summit Award or Quartermaster Award and the Ad Altare Dei and Pope Pius XII Religious Emblem. More information can be found by clicking the button below.

Don explores three goals that might be helpful for upcoming Sacramental Preparations.

Please follow the link to give your numbers for Spring Confirmations along with other information to help us plan. We are looking to gather all the information by October 14.

https://forms.gle/re8cePSuWFwifFZX6

There will be a mandatory meeting for Confirmation Coordinators who celebrate at the Cathedral on Tuesday, January 7 at 10am at Sacred Heart Cathedral. We will review the celebrations and expectations for the upcoming celebrations.

The Diocesan Day of Penance and Mercy will be Wednesday, April 2, 2025.

This comes three weeks before Easter, and is a great opportunity for parishes. Consider how you might make a welcoming and prayerful environment for parishioners that day.

Resources to share:

https://oec.dor.org/sacraments/reconciliation-resources/

https://oec.dor.org/sacraments/penance-and-reconciliation/celebrating-the-sacrament-of-penance/

https://oec.dor.org/sacraments/penance-and-reconciliation/examination-of-conscience/

Our office has been working on providing better experiences for all individuals who come to our parishes to be formed in faith. This is a fantastic webinar on Franciscanathome.com, for all parish leaders to watch and reflect on during this month, as we observe Disability Awareness Month.

We warmly welcome Anna Flaitz to ministry at the parishes of St. Charles Borromeo, Holy Cross, St. Lawrence and Our Mother of Sorrows. Anna will be working alongside Amanuel Malik to provide faith formation in those communities!

We wish all the best to Amanda Reeves, who has returned to teaching in the public school. You will be missed, Amanda!

We welcome Rachele Sick back to catechetical ministry at Holy Family Catholic Community in Wayland!

Congratulations to Christine DeVito from St. Agnes/St. Paul of the Cross/St. Rose for completing the Parish Catechetical Leader Certification program.

Contact for information on all newsletters, evangelization, training, consultation

Mark Capellazzi, Project Coordinator of Youth and Young Adult Ministry x1375

Contact for youth ministry/young adult or Catholic scouting consultation/website questions, Certification process

Don Smith, Coordinator of Sacramental Catechesis and Family Life x1243

Contact for Sacramental information and Fully Engaged

Website: oec.dor.org
Location: 1150 Buffalo Road, Rochester, NY, USA
Phone: 585-328-3228