Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

My pastor’s column this weekend is an invitation to teenagers and to junior high students to experience our upcoming retreats on April 9th – 11th. This is also a plea to parents to consider sending your teen and junior high children to these retreats as part of your duty to catechize them as they face the challenges of this world. Because we love them, it is essential to give them the necessary tools to navigate our world that is in turmoil.

Traditionally, our retreats have been a weekend retreat for high school and junior high students. It has been sponsored by our parish since 1995. It is a huge commitment of time and talent by our youth ministers, our volunteers, and our priests who administer the sacraments, most especially the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Holy Mass.

As we gradually return to normal, this year’s retreats will be a three-day retreat beginning on Friday evening and ending on Sunday afternoon. I think this is a great opportunity for busy young people who are so incredibly involved and over-scheduled. Our hope is that our young people attending will grow in their understanding of prayer as a conversation with God, as well as grow in their devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the meaning of Holy Mass. Finally, we want them to have a greater awareness of the community of the Church to which they belong.

We are here to make registration easy! Please visit www.saintbernadette.com/clergy-staff to email Julie or Julia, our youth/young adult coordinator or Julia our junior high coordinator. As always, please feel free to contact us with any questions that you may have at 480.905.0221.

If you would like to support our diocesan teenagers in the future, please consider volunteering as a chaperone or help with retreat logistics. I have heard many adults say that the retreat was just as spiritually edifying for them. Not only did they learn about their faith, but they were renewed watching teenagers grow in their faith.

As we continue to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, I ask for your prayers for this signature program that is part of what makes St. Bernadette the vibrant Catholic community that it is! Working together, we can experience the goodness God!

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