The feast of the Baptism of the Lord reminds us of the wonderful grace of our own Baptism. If we were baptized as infants, that grace came to us because our parents brought us to the font to be baptized. We received faith as a free gift of God along with our Baptism. If we were baptized later in life, we first received the gift of faith in Jesus, then affirmed that faith as we received the Sacrament.

Faith is always a gift. We do not earn it. We do not deserve it. St. Paul tells us: "No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord' - except in the Spirit." That is, no one can make an act of faith unless God gives that person the gift of faith. However, we came to believe, and we must always be thankful that we are able to believe.

Faith is not something static. It is a living relationship with Jesus. It needs to develop and grow. For children and youth, it must be nurtured in the family and in programs of faith formation. This is why we devote so much of our energy to our Catholic school and our programs of faith formation and youth ministry. We cannot presume that, just because we once had faith, we will keep it.

 We have ample evidence that many have lost the faith in recent years. Weekly Mass attendance used to be well over fifty percent; today it is about twenty-five percent.

Many nominal Catholics no longer get married in Church. Indeed, many no longer bother to get married at all. Great damage to family life has resulted. Many who consider themselves Catholics in some way do not accept the teaching of the Church on matters of the dignity of human life, human sexuality, or social justice. It is said that we have more "Catholic illiterates" than informed, well-educated Catholic believers.

The family is the primary place where Catholic Christian formation happens. What goes on at home teaches far more effectively than what goes on in school or in a catechism class. Programs offered by the parish are intended to reinforce what is being taught and exemplified in the home. The parish tries to make these programs as excellent as possible, so that parents have the help they need in sharing the faith with their offspring.

If you saw the list of second collections in last week's bulletin, you may have noticed that some are missing, and others are added. Due to our continuing budget shortfalls, the Parish Finance Council recommended, and I approved, a change. Instead of several separate single collections annually, we will have ten monthly collections, to be divided among the school, the elementary faith formation, and the youth ministry programs. It is hoped that these collections will offer the parish the opportunity directly to support the programs, and will help us achieve a balanced budget in 2010. I realize that this will require extra sacrifice in these hard times, but I am hopeful that your customary generosity will respond to the challenge. I hope you will consider it an investment in the faith of the next generation.

May we all treasure the gift of faith we have received. May we never take it for granted. May the life we received at Baptism continue to grow stronger in each of us as we make our way toward eternal life in heaven.