Join St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish
Attend a First Step newcomer orientation which are held on the first Saturday of every month. Please contact Eleanore Smith at newcomers@avaloncatholic.org
Through First Step you will learn how Parish Families can connect with the Lord God and St. Maximilian through the Mass, its members and its ministries. You will find out the history of St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church and how the parish is organized. You will know what you can expect of the parish and what will be expected of you. You will set up a date for someone to visit your home. First Step is to help you choose whether to say “I go to St. Max” or “I belong to St. Max.”
Why become a member of St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church?
Practical
•To have a child baptized or receive the sacraments of First Communion and First Reconcilliation or Confirmation.
•To receive envelopes to make my financial offering for the Sunday collection
•To be a sponsor for a Baptism or Confirmation
•To have a child baptized or receive the sacraments of First Communion and First Reconcilliation or Confirmation.
•To receive envelopes to make my financial offering for the Sunday collection
•To be a sponsor for a Baptism or Confirmation
Spiritual
o To have a spiritual home: “So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19)
o To have a spiritual home: “So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19)
o To grow in spiritual maturity: “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him , for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2)
o To receive spiritual protection: “Obey your spiritual leaders and defer to them, for they keep watch over you” (Hebrews 13:17)
o To be part of something larger than myself: “As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ….Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it” (1 Corinthians 12:12, 27).
o To become holy: “Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her” (Ephesians 5:25-26)
Belonging to a Church will help you …
o Convert to Jesus Christ (discipleship)
o Come into communion with God (worship)
o Commit to love and serve the Lord (ministry)
o Count, care, and share your blessings (stewardship)
The difference between being a member and an attender means being
o a participator, not a spectator
o a belonger, not a bystander
o a contributor, not a consumer
How do you live when you belong to Christ in his Church?
Participate weekly in Mass (communion)
Saturdays 5:00 p.m.
Saturdays 5:00 p.m.
Sundays 8:30 a.m., 10:15 a.m., or 12:00 p.m. (Spanish)
Pray daily (ACTS)
A—Adoration. Tell God you love him
A—Adoration. Tell God you love him
C—Contrition. Tell God you are sorry for your sins.
T—Thanksgiving. Count your blessings from God.
S—Supplication. Ask God for your heart’s desire.
“Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ” (John 17:3).
Grow in faith (conversion)
Faith Formation five events a year
Faith Formation five events a year
School of Faith two Wednesdays a month except for the summer
Sacramental preparation on Mondays (if applicable)
Be the primary teacher of faith to my children
Be a steward of God’s blessings (commitment)
Share my blessings of Time and Talent through a parish ministry
Share my blessings of Treasure
Give financially to the parish in proportion to my faith
“No one shall appear before the Lord empty-handed, but each of you with as much as he can give, in proportion to the blessings which the Lord, your God, has bestowed on you” (Deuteronomy 16:17)
Give God what is right, not what is left
Support the works of the Diocese through the annual Our Catholic Appeal each February
Attend a quarterly Alive In Christ gathering to learn more about the parish building plans and to make a pledge.
How do you become connected?
Connections are the essence of life. Without a connection to the arm, the hand dies. Without a connection to others, you live a lonely life. Without a connection to God, you are spiritually dead.
The good news is that God wants you to be connected. In church language, he made you for communion. The Lord God’s greatest desire is that you share his own blessed life. He wants you to be connected with him now and forever.
What’s more, the Lord God takes away whatever keeps you from being connected with him. Through Jesus Christ, God the Father forgives you your sins. Through the resurrection, God destroyed the power of death and re-connected you to his life.
How do you become connected? You become connected through commitment.
To move from “I GO to St. Max” to “I BELONG to St. Max,” you have to make a commitment. There is no other way.
Many people say, “I’m already over committed. I can’t take on one more thing in my life.”
One barrier to spiritual maturity is not lack of commitment but over-commitment to the wrong
things. Jesus pointed this out in the Parable of the Sower. “The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.” (Luke 8:14).
One barrier to spiritual maturity is not lack of commitment but over-commitment to the wrong
things. Jesus pointed this out in the Parable of the Sower. “The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.” (Luke 8:14).
Our schedules are filled, but our hearts are not. We commit to more and more things, hoping to fill our hearts. Who is the One who can fill your heart?
Commitment is frightening. Yet the only thing scarier than a life full of commitments is a life without commitment. Without commitment, you drift unconnected. Without connections to one another and the Lord God, your life is empty.
You grow in spiritual maturity by making commitments. Through St. Maximilian Kolbe, the Lord moves you from fellowship and discipleship to communion, ministry, and stewardship.
Commit and you will connect. After all, the Lord God has committed to you.
PRAYER
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.