Dear Fellow Parishioners, Last week I talked about the challenge of building our community during a pandemic. I am going to ask us all to work together to do just that. Why are we the Catholic Community of Sacred Heart? We are a community not just to worship together but to carry each other’s burdens, and in this way fulfill the love of Christ. We have each other’s back. We are a community that does carry each other’s burdens, and we can learn to do so even better. It is in this spirit that that we are offering this Lent: Caring for Inactive Members: How to Make God’s House a Home. I am hoping that many of our parishioners will get involved in this course. I hope YOU will be involved. Caring for Inactive Members will tach us how to relate to inactive members and welcome them home. The course content hints at the importance of the course and its practical nature: ·Hopes and Expectations ·How to Handle Chance Encounters with Inactive Members ·How to Converse Comfortably ·How to Guarantee 100% Success ·How to Set Up Visits ·How to Invite Gently Much, much more takes place during the six hours of instruction. The topics offer vital knowledge every single parishioner needs to have because everyone of us is responsible for building community and making people feel at home. So often we come across in a judgmental way toward those individuals who have become inactive. This is neither Christian nor helpful. Developing greater understanding is essential, and that is one of the pillars of this course. Who should take the course? YOU should, and so should every member of our community. The more who are aware of good and bad responses to those they haven’t seen around the church for a while, the better. The more who are aware if the topics covered in Caring for Inactive Members, the more they will be part of the solution instead of part of the problem. I am trying to make this as safe and as easy for everyone to participate. We will have 6 one-hour ZOOM classes on Each Tuesday of Lent beginning March 1st and ending April 5th beginning at 7:00 P.M and ending at 8:00 P.M. I will be the course facilitator, each session will be a combination of lecture, discussion, and practical application. There is no registration fee! Each participant will receive two books. If you are interested in participating, please email the parish office or register on our website. We need your name, e-mail address to receive the link, and phone number. Over the next few weeks, you will be hearing a great deal more about this course. Sign up now to make sure you’ll be included on the roster. Fr. Bill