by Matt Karr
The holiday season is just around the corner. I know this because at least one radio station has already switched over its format to Christmas carols and songs.
But before the Christmas shopping season kicks into full gear, we have the opportunity to celebrate one of my favorite holidays of the year — Thanksgiving.
I love to get together with friends and family and have a sit-down meal without work to be done or other places to be. Thanksgiving is an opportunity to give thanks to the Lord for the gifts of friends, family, food, and, of course, football. It is an opportunity to slow down from the busyness of modern life and share our time and appreciation of the gifts we do have.
One of the most precious gifts we have as Catholics is our faith in Jesus Christ. This season is a great opportunity to show our thanks for the precious gift of our faith. Faith, like many of the treasured gifts, can grow in our life as we dedicate our time to learning that faith and handing it on to others.
How many of us feel like we could grow in understanding of our Catholic faith? How many of us would like to share our faith with others but feel ill-equipped to answer questions others may have? How many of us have children, grandchildren, family, or friends to hand the faith on to? Well, perhaps this is the time to consider showing our gratitude to the Lord for our faith by dedicating a bit of our time to learning more about it!
One such opportunity is through the Maryvale Kansas Center. The Maryvale Center is a ministry of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas that allows working adults in the archdiocese to study the faith and learn how to hand it on to others. We currently have two courses of study which combine the best of traditional and distance learning methods — a Certificate in Catechesis course and the Evangelization and Ministry to the Sick course.
Whether you are near Kansas City or far away, busy with life or children, working full time or not, this program of study is possible for you! Even if you have been away from school a long time, the Maryvale courses will help you begin to study and really learn the Catholic faith at a new level.
To learn more about either course or to sign up, contact Kimberly Rode at (913) 721-1570, ext. 124; by e-mail at: ecat2@archkck.org; or visit the Web site at: www.archkckecat.org.
I invite you to seriously consider giving time this year to study of the faith at our Maryvale Kansas Center. Our courses begin in January.
God bless you and have a great Thanksgiving!
