Faith Resources For Households of Faith

Dear Pastors, Faith Formation Leaders and Parents,

In an effort to assist our parish leadership and the faithful of the Diocese of St. Petersburg in practicing their faith, continuing to learn and grow despite the challenges that the Corona Virus has caused, the resources and links below are offered. I encourage you to access resources that are offered by the publishers of the faith formation program materials that have been purchased and are in use in your respective parishes. As a customer of these publishing companies, they are committed to helping you to “switch gears” in fostering faith formation for children, youth and adults. Please note the very real service that all of the Catholic Publishers have offered to all of us as we seek to focus on spiritual unity, prayer and reflection on the Word of God despite our inability to gather as we would usually do. This page will transition to a regular feature of the Office of Faith Formation after the current pandemic restrictions are lifted. It is my hope that this will be a resource to all the faithful as well as a centralized depository of useful information for the further curation of our parish faith formation leaders. If I can be of assistance you can contact me via email at: BAL@DOSP.org or by cell phone at 813-240-4203. Thank you. Together, and in new ways, we are Courageously Living the Gospel!

– Brian Lemoi, Executive Director of the Office of Evangelization, Formation, Youth and Family Life

In Support of Living the Faith at Home:

FEATURED RESOURCES:

I would be remiss if I did not take time to recognize the excellent work of my colleagues in the Department of Evangelization, Formation, Youth, and Family Life!

Diane Kledzik, National Wineskin Award Winner and her colleagues around the country have been curating the Strong Catholic Family Faith website for the benefit of our local ministry leaders. Resources are available for parish and school leaders from the Strong Catholic Family Faith website include resources for Breaking Open the Word, talking with children about the coronavirus, a faith response to the coronavirus, curated faith formation resources and so much more to share with families at: www.catholicfamilyfaith.org.

Ryan Phelan and Michael Buckler our Diocesan Director and Associate Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry in collaboration with Pastors and Youth and Young Adult Ministers are curating a page for Youth and Young Adult ministry leaders with the resources that they are finding and collaboratively creating as they explore new ways to reach out to the Young Church. You will find their ongoing work HERE:

Kudos to Kathy Fillippelli for her contributions to this page as well as direct communication with Faith Formation Leaders and Catechists. Your help in Courageously Living the Gospel through Proclamation, Invitation and Encounter energizes our colleagues in the parishes and schools!

Excellent Examples of Creative Responses from our Colleagues around the Diocese

Recognizing that we cannot know of the good and creative work that is done unless it is brought to our attention; here featured are some of the creative responses to the Corona Virus from our colleagues across the Diocese of St. Petersburg. For English and Spanish Resources including videos and Power Point slides, our colleagues are sharing their good work. If you have something that we can feature on a page of shareable resources, please send them to BAL@DOSP.org. In the meantime click HERE to see the good things that are happening!

From the Florida Bishops/Florida Catholic Conference: Free Martyrs of La Florida activity kit designed to help families meaningfully dedicate time to learning about America’s early martyrs and the world in which they lived. For access to this free resource click HERE

Resources from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Various prayer and learning resources are available at: USCCB Covid Resources

English and Spanish Resources from the USCCB & Encuentro Offices available at: English/Spanish USCCB Link

Publisher Resources

Click on the links below to see the resources from each publisher.

Catholic Faith Technologies (My Catholic Faith Delivered) and Ignatius Press

Loyola Press

Offering complementary student editions of both our Christ Our Life and Finding God religious education programs. This digital subscription will make student books available for free until 6/30/2020. You can request access by contacting our customer service department at 1-800-621-1008 with the number of students who need access in each grade. Each program has a series of online resources that can support parents’ efforts to catechize their children outlined below.

Christ Our Life home resources can be found at www.christourlife.com/family.

At-Home Editions: These guides allow parents to conduct catechesis with their children in the home.
Interactive Chapter Reviews: Chapter reviews allow children, parents, and instructors to gauge learning objectives. Results can be emailed to a teacher or catechist along with student questions.
Study Guides: Single page study guides outline important faith topics in each chapter.
Faith Filled Games: Games such as Stump the Shepherd, Jesus’ Jigsaw, and Seek the Word allow children to continue to explore their faith no matter where they are.

Finding God at-home resources can be found at www.findinggod.com/family.

At-Home Editions: These guides allow parents to conduct catechesis with their children in the home. For families with children in multiple grades using Finding God, utilize this Parent Quick Guide.
Interactive Session Reviews: Session reviews allow children, parents, and instructors to gauge learning objectives. Results can be emailed to a teacher or catechist along with student questions.
Study Guides: Single page study guides outline important faith topics in each session.
Raising Faith Filled Kids: For parents who may not have the time or confidence to teach a full lesson, this resource provides background on the session and encourages parents to discuss faith topics with their children.

For resources that deal directly with the current pandemic, Loyola Press has developed a special Growing with God lesson for Covid-19. The lesson can be accessed here and includes parent/teacher pages, student worksheets, an animated video, and an additional lesson resource.

RCL Benziger

Sophia Institute

Other Resources

Catholic Relief Services: Resources for Parishes and Catholic Schools: Click Here

FORMED

During these challenging times, FORMED is extending complimentary access to for all parishioners in the Diocese of St. Petersburg for 40 days. Click here to sign up.

Praying and Reflecting on the Sunday Gospel:

To view a “Question of the Week” that centers on the Sunday Gospel for youth, young adults and families, click here.

Find more resources for children, families and individuals here: Keeping the Faith Alive During Coronavirus.

Vibrant Faith:

John Roberto has developed many online resources and is available for video phone chats during his “virtual office hours” so that he can assist you directly with any challenges you are facing as you move to online faith formation. His website is located at: https://vibrantfaith.org/

_________

Commentaries and Faith Sharing on the Sunday Readings (English, Spanish and Vietnamese): https://www.ascensioncatholic.net/Commentaries-on-the-Sunday-Readings.

SCC COMMENTARIES – EASTER SEASON CYCLE A
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