Message from the Pastor Msgr. Kenneth Schwanger
My Dear Family of Our Lady of Lourdes,
This weekend we get to see and hear the great blessing that is our Youth and Young Adult Ministry. It is a prime example of what I always say: that the youth are not the future of the Church, they are the Church today! We have youth groups for elementary school students, for middle school students, for high school students, and for college students as they expand their engagement in the life of the parish through the young adult groups of the parish.
The Youth Groups are also where the catechesis that those who are preparing for the Sacraments receive at home is expanded and lived out in practice. Sunday Mass attendance, home-based learning of the essentials of the faith, and our on-campus youth ministry provide both a foundation and continuing formation that prepares our young people for a life in the Church.
A particular blessing that our young adults have enjoyed for years and that I would like to see opened up to Scouts and all our youth is the pilgrimage to Lourdes. When Archbishop Wenski was in Lourdes with us in 2019, he had lunch with all the bishops who were at Lourdes with their diocesan pilgrimages. Those bishops told the Archbishop of the powerful blessing that the pilgrimage to Lourdes has been for the youth of their dioceses and for their parishes. The youth experience the faith alive in the universal Church and bring that spiritual fire home. Scouting, especially in Europe, has a very strong connection to Lourdes and it would be great to connect our scouts to that powerful tradition.
Our Youth and Young Adult Ministry is alive. Come and see!
Msgr. Schwanger
Pastor