40th Annual Faith Formation Day

Our Identity as Members of the Body of Christ

Saturday, October 5, 2024

Bishop John J. Snyder High School.

Registrations is still open until Wednesday, October 2 at $40 per person rate, no materials can be guaranteed.

Flyer with full workshop Descriptions

Jotform for Individual Registration

DOSA Welcomes the OCIA

Training dates and site locations:

Saturday, December 14, 2024 St. Madeleine, High Springs 9:30 am - 3:30 pm

Sunday, December 15, 2024 Blessed Trinity, Jacksonville 1:30 pm - 6:30 pm

Saturday, January 4, 2025 Corpus Christi, St. Augustine 9:30 am - 3:30 pm

Sunday, January 5, 2025 Sacred Heart, Fleming Island 12:30 pm - 6:00 pm

Thank you to our host sites for your generosity

Parish OCIA teams should plan on attending together with your OCIA Ritual Study Guide. Registration will open next week, but for your planning:

$10 per person

3/$25 from the same parish

6 or more from same parish $50.

Fee includes a meal and materials, but not the ritual study guide. Those will be on sale at location for $25 on a limited basis.

Register for your chosen location

Annual Faith Formation Statistical Reports due by October 7

Please find below two ways to submit the annual Faith Formation Statistical Reports: via jotform and via a fill in the blank pdf that you should save and print/scan to the office.

Note some updates:

Submit both your remote preparation (grade level curriculum) calendar and your sacramental calendars via email after you submit the stats.

Please ascertain the actual years of service for your catechists. At your recommendation, we will begin to honor catechists this year in 5-year increments: 5, 10, 15, 20, etc.

Jotform version

PDF Version (save, then print)

As part of our Lilly/NCCL Grant, I will begin sharing resources that all parishes can use in their efforts to put parents and families at the center of faith formation. As much as possible, resources will be in available in English and Spanish.

Resource: Parent Café

Parent Café is a way to listen to parents on a specific topic of importance to them and to the parish community. It is an opportunity for parents to be heard and an opportunity for parish leaders to listen and gain valuable insights into the values and practices of parents.

Parent Cafe Outline (English)

Parent Cafe Outline (Spanish)

Parent Cafe power point (English)

Parent Cafe power point (Spanish)

Parent Cafe discussion questions

Parent cafe discussion questions (Spanish)

Join as a Parish Community

The Pathways toward a Thriving Parish Project will help your parish create your own paths toward a thriving, vital community of faith that is living its mission in today’s world by:

·    Equipping a parish leadership team with the knowledge, skills, and practices for creating a thriving parish

·    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.

As we journey together in the three-year Pathways toward a Thriving Parish Project, your parish will be blessed with:

·    A profound experience of church as the people of God, embracing a common mission with love and purpose

·    Pastoral accompaniment and training for your leadership team, helping them shepherd the parish as they develop a plan toward a thriving future 

·    Enriching formation resources to deepen your ability to listen with compassion, understand your community's needs, and prayerfully discern God's will 

·    Inspiring resources and tools to discover the gifts of the parish community

·    Practical resources and guidance to create and implement the parish’s pathways toward thriving



With a generous grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc., NCCL and the Loyola Institute for Ministry can provide all the workshops, consulting assistance, and services of the Project to participating parishes for free.

For more information, contact directly:

Pathways to a Thriving Parish info and contact

As elections are approaching and tensions are building in the United States, we will be offering a free, live, three-part webinar series titled "Faithful Citizenship in a Polarized World." 

Three different events= three vibrant, relevant discussions on what it means to express our Catholic faith as citizens.

Please join us in this exciting collaboration between UD's Institute for Pastoral Initiatives, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, UD's Campus Ministry, and UD's Dialogue Zone. This three-part series will be offered via Zoom in English. We will engage participants in various topics with an opportunity for Q&A with the presenters. Be sure to register for each event separately. You will receive the Zoom details after registering. A recording will be also provided to all who are registered.

 Read all about the two remaining events and register with the links below: 

• The Church’s Mission in a Polarized World - Oct. 2, 6:30-7:30 p.m. (EST)  Fr. Aaron Wessman, the author of “The Church’s Mission in a Polarized World,” will be joining us to share concepts from his book and to offer ways in which we can become instruments of peace in a divided Register for October 2
• Conversations in the Spirit: Bridging the Divide with Dialogue - Oct. 9, 6:30-7:30 p.m. (EST) Facilitators from the Dialogue Zone on campus will share strategies to engage in conversations in the spirit through dialogue as a means of seeking to understand one another to bridge the Register for October 9

One of the best resources I found when I worked in a parish

CareNotes, a ministry of Saint Meinrad Archabbey, are concise 5×7 booklets written to provide uplifting guidance to those who are hurting. These wellness-oriented booklets address real-life emotional, physical and spiritual needs with topics that include grief, aging, healthcare, mental wellness, family care, spiritual support and more. Whether you are dealing with difficult emotions or you minister to someone who is, you’re sure to find the topic that applies directly to your situation. The down-to-earth style of each CareNote offers relatable advice to help you heal – mind, body and spirit.

CareNotes began as a division of Abbey Press Publications in 1988 and has grown to distribute over 100 million CareNotes across the globe. CareNotes are an outstanding wellness resource for the hospital, hospice, nursing home, workplace, church, school or funeral home. They can be found displayed in reception areas, break rooms and lounges in hospitals, clinics, churches and health care offices throughout the country.

There are also a limited number of titles on prayer and spirituality as well as a set of Teen Notes. These are reasonably priced and well written.

All CareNotes proceeds support the prayer and work of the monks of Saint Meinrad Archabbey.

Care Notes

Hope does not Disappoint (Rom 5:5)

On Ascension Thursday of this year, Pope Francis proclaimed the upcoming Jubilee 2025 calling the Bull of Indiction---Spes non confundit. “Hope does not disappoint” (Rom 5:5). In the spirit of hope, the Apostle Paul addressed these words of encouragement to the Christian community of Rome.

A Jubilee Year is proclaimed by the Pope every twenty-five years. The concept of jubilee or holy year has a long history first prescribed by Moses. Here is a not so brief history of jubilee Years in the Catholic Tradition:

History of Jubilee Years

Papal Bull declaring Jubilee of Hope

The Paulists are providing a three-part series on the virtue of hope:

St. Luke, Middleburg

November 9 and 10

November 23 and 24

Jotform to register

St. Matthew, Jacksonville

January 11 and 12

January 25 and 26

Jotform to register

STEP Classes starting October 21.

A new course may be of interest to religion teachers:

Teaching Religion in Catholic Schools, a course created by Dr. Clare Kilbane and Susan Carozza is designed to assist new middle and high school religion teachers as they transition into their important roles in Catholic schools. It offers a “crash course” in the most important areas of professional practice for novice teachers, allowing them to become proficient educators through less experimentation and with more confidence. It explores how academic experiences can promote student learning and an encounter with Christ, giving special consideration to the needs of contemporary students who vary with regard to interest in God and religion. Sign up for our upcoming session! 

Full list of courses starting October 21 in English

Camino Cursos en espanol

Webinar and in Person Presentation

Catechesis in a Digital Age

October 1, 2024 10:00 am - 2:30 pm

This webinar is a joint project between the Catholic University of America and the Institute on the Catechism. It is a live presentation that will be livestreamed and will also be available later for those who register for the online.

Online fee is $25

Speakers include:

Bishop Frank J. Caggiano, Bishop of Bridgeport, CT

Sr. Nancy Usselmann, FSP, Pauline Center for Media Studies

Dr. Joseph White, Child and Family Psychologist

Website to register

Why Understanding the Theology of the Body Matters for Guiding Children ~ a free webinar hosted by Sadlier

Presented by Laura Domanico

Thursday, October 10 at 4 p.m. EDT

Join Laura Domanico for a FREE webinar, Why Understanding the Theology of the Body Matters for Guiding Children, where she will discuss:

• The significance of Theology of the Body and how understanding it equips teachers to guide students in their moral and ethical growth
• How educators who are knowledgeable in Theology of the Body create positive learning environments by promoting authentic love and mutual respect and enriching student relationships
• How the deep insights and profound teachings of Pope John Paul II found throughout the Theology of the Body help teachers to support students in understanding of the complex issues of human dignity and purpose

Link to register