Reaching Out to Young People on Matters of Faith

Holy Family Parish, Peoria, Illinois

As each one of us enters adulthood, he or she has to make certain choices about life. Do I continue with school or do I find a job? What am I interested in? Do I want to get married and have children? Where will I live? In some way and over time we find answers to all these questions. Another topic that we must also deal with is our faith. Faith is a matter of belief and coming to terms with the way the world functions. Our Christian faith is also one of community. Our brothers and sisters both lay and religious support us as we progress through life on our faith journey. One certainly sees this at Holy Family Parish in Peoria, Illinois.

Young people make many decisions as they embark into adult life

Holy Family Parish – where Conventual Franciscan Friar Michael J. Glastetter is pastor – takes faith support especially of its young people very seriously. In late January, the parish organized a dinner for its young adults who are 18 years or older. Father Nathan Cromly, CSJ hosted the event. Over food and drinks at the Fieldhouse Bar and Grill, he spoke about anything and everything related to faith, relationships, the Bible, and the Church. The topics and questions all came from the young people who attended the dinner.

Peoria, Illinois

The effort made by the friars at Holy Family Parish to reach out to young people in a laid back setting serves as a reminder that our faith defines us who we are everywhere and in all circumstances, not only in church as Mass on Sunday.

(Sources of all related photos on webpage and homepage: www.wikipedia.org, users2.e-scapes.com/stmarys2/YA100_0473.jpg, www.peoriaholyfamily.com and CCCI on flickr.com.)