In the Acts of the Apostles, we learn that God has opened the door of faith for the early Church.But did you know that God has opened the door of faith for each one us and he invites us to step through the threshold into a deeper relationship with him.The upcoming Year of Faith is an opportunity for every Catholic to turn towards Jesus Christ, encounter him in the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and rediscover the Faith and Church.

With his Apostolic Letter of October 11, 2011, Porta Fidei. . . , Pope Benedict XVI declared that a "Year of Faith" will begin on October 11, 2012 and conclude on November 24, 2013. October 11, 2012, the first day of the Year of Faith, is the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. . . (Vatican II) and also the twentieth anniversary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. During the Year of Faith, Catholics are asked to study and reflect on the documents of Vatican II and the catechism so that they may deepen their knowledge of the faith.

The upcoming Year of Faith is a “summons to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the One Savior of the world” (Porta Fidei 6). In other words, the Year of Faith is an opportunity for Catholics to experience a conversion – to turn back to Jesus and enter into a deeper relationship with him. The “door of faith” is opened at one’s baptism, but during this year Catholics are called to open it again, walk through it and rediscover and renew their relationship with Christ and his Church.

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Terrific Tuesdays during the Year of Faith
at St. Gregory the Great

These presentations consist of a wide array of Catholic speakers addressing a host of topics over the course of the Year of Faith. Adults of all ages will find these talks to be informative inspiring, and faith-building. No matter your state in lifeL married, widowed, single, separated, divorced, agnostic, doubting, or somewhere in between, you are invited to come listen, learn, question, and share.  All presentations are 7:30pm in the Church. Click the link at left for all the details.

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Year of Faith Message from Fr. Trammell

This October, the Catholic Church and our parish will immerse ourselves in the Year of Faith. This special year will highlight our Faith as a gift from God and our need to respond actively and intentionally to it.  Our diocese will host a Eucharistic Congress in order to draw all of the faithful of the diocese more closely to Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. We will be led by Bishop O’Connell in worshipping God and asking Him to open our hearts more generously to the
promptings of the Holy Spirit. 

At St. Gregory’s we will have three goals with the hope of bringing as many as possible into the full, active, sacramental practice of their Faith: 

• Reach out to people in our territory with no religion
• Bring inactive Catholics back to Holy Mass
• Deepen the integration of faith into daily life for practicing Catholics

There will be several new ministries formed with the intention of achieving these goals. Three new Bible Study groups will meet at three different times during the week to feed curiosity about the scriptures and allow for faith-sharing. It will make use of the interactive and entertaining, Great Adventures Bible Timeline series. We will also launch a Men’s Spirituality group to offer a masculine approach to learning more about our Catholic Faith and allowing men to support one another in living committed Christian lives. Finally, we will offer Fr. Robert Barron’s Catholicism series for anyone who would like a timely walk through what it means to be a Catholic today. This set of DVD presentations brought tears to my own eyes as I watched it for the first time.  

We will be spreading the good news about these new initiatives and all of our tried and true events and ministries through our outstanding communications system made up of our parish websites, blogs (Fr. Trammell, Fr. Kimtis, Principal Jason Briggs), Facebook, Twitter, e-communication monitors throughout the campus, bulletins, newsletters, and Pastor’s Annual Report. In addition, we will add an additional tool to our belt in the form of Google ads which will be designed to reach out to those Catholics not attending Holy Mass regularly as well as those who do not identify themselves with any religion in Hamilton Square and Robbinsville. These ads will be specially designed to invite people to come visit our websites or step onto our campus to explore more deeply the Catholic Faith.

With all of these things, the most important ingredient for success is each one of us. We must each decide to live out our Faith in such a way that others become interested in the Catholic Faith. To be Catholic involves a relationship that we have with Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth, and the Life in the Church that He founded and continues leading as the Head. We need to do the inviting on a personal level. Please take every opportunity to invite family members and friends back home to St. Gregory’s.

As the Pastor of our parish, I am personally committed to the success of every family in striving to bring God into their family lives and so are our administration and faculty. We should all be proud of bringing this dream to fruition. We have much to look forward to in this special year.

In Him,
Fr. Trammell