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Adult Faith Formation: Providing Vital, Continuing Education as We Live Out Our Faith
Faith formation — it’s not only for our children, nor does it end for adults at Confirmation. Rather, it’s an ongoing journey that is available to us at St. Boniface Parish, thanks to the devoted efforts of Fr. Paul Key.
“There are two levels of formation,” he says. “One is that we receive for the sacraments, and the other is the ongoing adult formation.”
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However, it is the homily delivered at each Mass that is considered the primary teaching tool in the Catholic Church. Fr. Paul hands out “homily notes” after each Mass.
“The people can take them home and really understand what was preached, and then talk about the topic to their families,” he says.
Fr. Paul also offers ongoing adult formation through the Tuesday classes held at 7 p.m. in the church fellowship hall. Mass is held at 6 p.m., followed by supper at 6:40. The class itself runs from 7-8:30 p.m. There is no charge for the class itself, but there is a $15 fee for the text. Participants may start the class at any point.
“We cover advanced material, using works of Jeff Cavins and Scott Hahn, who are both out of the Augustine Institute,” Fr. Paul says.
He currently is organizing a marriage enrichment class in English, with plans in the fall to offer the same class in Spanish with presenters from Mexico City.
From his own experiences, Fr. Paul has found that most Catholics do not know enough about their faith. Thus, adult formation is vital.
“Most Catholic adults are terribly ignorant about their faith,” he says. “Most were confirmed just after reaching puberty, and that is not the optimal time to remember things. Therefore, my experience as a priest and layman is that Catholic laity get eaten alive by Protestant criticism.”
The prime reason to pursue knowledge as an adult has to do with that criticism.
“We need to know the faith well enough so we can live it,” he says. “Catholics are looking for stability, especially in marriage and something permanent they can put their lives on. The Catholic faith does it, but you have to know it to apply it to make it work.”
During families’ preparations for various sacraments, Fr. Paul is able to bring adult formation to the process. Baptisms, presentations and quinceañeras each offer an opportunity to learn more about our faith.
As dates for programs are set, there will be announcements in the bulletins, as well as on the parish Facebook page.
