Rose Strohmaier, Parish Catechetical Leader, (908) 303-9692
Faith Formation Office is located in the School Building
First Session: 4:15PM – 5:30PM Communion I through Year 4
Second Session: 6:30PM – 8:00PM: Year 5 through Confirmation II
Registration open for the 2024-2025 year on March 20
$50 Discount for Early Bird Special!
Early-bird discount: March 25 to May 10, 2024:
$100 for one child, $150 for two, $200 for three or more children.
Regular Registration Fee: May 13 to June 28:
$150 for one child; $205 for two, $245 for three or more children.
Late Registration: After June 28:
$175 for one child; $230 for two; $270 three plus
**May Crowning is on the 5th at 10AM. All Communicants will come to May Crowning Mass in their Communion attire.
April
Wednesday 24—Faith Formation
Sunday 28—Year 3 Hosts 10:00AM—arrive no later than 9:45AM dressed and prepared for hosting; be sure to sign-in
May
Wednesday 1—Faith Formation—Last evaluations go home—Communion and Confirmation Practice (Sponsors Need to Attend)
Saturday 4—First Communion – 11:00AM Mass – Children arrive 10:30AM
Sunday 5—May Crowning and Closing Mass -10:00AM Mass
Wednesday 8—Faith Formation
Thursday 9—Confirmation 5:00PM Sponsors and Candidates arrive 4:30
HOSTING OF MASS
MASS HOSTING–Four times during the Faith Formation Year, each Catechist is responsible for hosting 10am Sunday Mass with his/her children. The Catechist plans for readers, servers, ushers, gifts, etc.
As a part of the Faith Formation Family, the children are to arrive to their assigned Mass at 9:50am, sit with their class and fully participate in the celebration of Mass. The dates are clearly stated on the calendar. Thank you for adjusting your schedule to be sure your child is at Mass on those four Sundays.
2023-2024 Handbooks
Handbooks are adapted and modified from: St. Mary’s of the Immaculate Conception, Portage, Wisconsin
ConfirmationSponsorForm (1).docx
General Parent Handbook
Thirty-seven Ideas for Service Projects:
Craft, Cook, and Create
1. Take a meal to a widow, homebound member, single mom, or recent divorcee in your church or community.
2. Bake goodies, such as cupcakes, and deliver them to your local police or fire station.
3. Pack shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.
4. Write letters or send cards to missionaries. Call the office for contact info.
5. Gather together to assemble no-sew fleece blankets for a local children’s home or women’s shelter. Shelter lications found in the handbook.)
6. Knit or crochet prayer shawls and lap blankets for church members and friends that are facing health challenges.
7. Sew some pillowcase dresses for children in another country.
8. Cut out shoes for Sole Hopean
9. Put together and distribute homeless bags.
10. Host a sandwich making party and pass them out to the homeless in Phillipsburg or give to the Assumption Food Pantry.
11. Fill a freezer with meals for a new mom in your neighborhood.
12. Create birthday bags for your Assumption food pantry (birthday cake, hats, candles, balloons)
13. Paint and decorate the teacher’s classroom before the start of school.
14. Create a garden on the church grounds.
15. Provide a meal for families at your local Ronald McDonald House.
Random Acts of Kindness
16. Deliver bags of groceries, firewood, or gift cards to a local family in need.
17. Tape quarters or dollar bills to the vending machines in the waiting room of your local hospital.
18. Leave quarters and washing detergent in local laundromats around town.
19. Pass out water bottles to construction workers on a hot day.
23. Leave bottles of bubbles at the park for families to use. Add bible scripture cards to the bottles or an invitation to come to Mass.
24. If you have a pool, host a pool party for kids who have no where to swim.
25. Purchase coloring books and crayons and leave them in hospital waiting rooms.
26 Work a shift at the local soup kitchen.
27. Find a local field or farm that allows you pick vegetables.
28. Clean the home of an elderly person or homebound member of your church or community.
29. Take care of some yard work or handyman chores for one of the widows in your church or community.
29. Volunteer to complete tutor for a child younger than you.
30. Visit a nursing home and play a game with a resident.
31. Christmas carol at a nursing home or children’s hospital.
32. Cheer at a Special Olympics or special needs sports event.
33. Plan a Habitat for Humanity workday with your parents.
34. Clean the roadside – your family can select an area in Hackettstown to keep clean.
35. Help with landscaping to church.
36. Call the office and inquire about shut-ins. You and your parents csn plan a visit to their home and bring them something nice to eat.
37. Organize a clothing drive.
38. Give free computer lessons to an adult.
39. Host a free dog wash.
40. Along with your peers, host a bake sale for Assumption Parish
Pilgrimage Mama Mary–Does your family desire to spend a special week with Mary?
On Sundays at 10AM Mass, our Pilgrimage Statue of Mary will be sent home with a Faith Formation Family to venerate for the week. She will be returned the following Sunday to be gifted to another family for the week. There is a sign up sheet outside the Faith Formation Office in the school for all who wish to participate in the opportunity to have this beautiful and blessed statue of Mary in their home.
There are a variety of ways you are able to use your gifts and talents in the Faith Formation Program. Once you have been Confirmed you are able to volunteer, including teens! Contact Rose Strohmaier, 908-303-9692 for info. Thanks!
HOLY DAYS OF OBLIGATION=SUNDAY MASS
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- Solemnity of Mary, January 1
- Ascension of Jesus, May 26 — Celebrated on the sixth Thursday after Easter Sunday
- Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, August 15
- Solemnity of All Saints, November 1
- Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, December 8
- Christmas Day, December 25
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Your child’s faith development ultimately depends on the sharing of your faith with them by going to Mass on Sundays, Holy Days of Obligation and living Christian values at home. It is through your efforts, example and personal relationship with God, more than anything else, that your children will come to know Jesus and grow in love and faith. We thank you for allowing us to support you in this process. We look forward to working with you and your children.
RCIA-Adult Education
RCIA stands for “Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults”. It is a program run by adult members of the parish. RCIA requires a modest commitment in time but we think you will find the process a lot easier than you might expect. In addition, we have found that everyone who becomes involved, young or old, highly religious or moderately so, finds it to be a wonderful experience. An invitation is extended to
- Those who are unbaptized.
- Those baptized in the Catholic Church who have not received the sacraments of Eucharist and/or Confirmation.
- Those baptized in another Christian Church who are interested in learning more about the Catholic Church.
There are many reasons for wanting to learn more about the Catholic Church. The good news is that the Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish has an excellent program for you. Classes meet weekly, every Sunday after the 9:00 am Mass from September through Pentecost. How do I join and what does RCIA involve? Signing up is easy. Just contact Deacon Walter Pidgeon, our Director of the RCIA process, by calling the parish office or email us at walter.p257@comcast.net.