Founding document of the Catholic Community of St. Francis Xavier
Our vision of Faith Formation:

To provide a dynamic, scripture-based program of faith formation which enables us to understand the Christian message and our religious traditions and which prepares us for the challenges of Christian living.

We are called to translate this vision into practice. We do this when we gather to celebrate the Lord Jesus in liturgical action. Liturgy is our primary catechesis, the change motivator for each of us. Within the Sunday assembly, we are nourished by God’s word in the Scriptures and are fed with His special presence in the Eucharist. Within the Sunday assembly, we minister Jesus to each other and so attending weekend Mass at St. Francis Xavier is vital to our spiritual life.

We believe that our children are apprentices and will learn about faith and community from the adult Christians with whom they associate. For this reason, adults are the primary focus of our religious instruction and formation. Everything we do as a community must reflect that belief.

We believe that parents are the first teachers of their children in ways of faith (Baptism ritual). The primary responsibility for all aspects of the religious education of children belongs to the parents. The entire community has the obligation to assist parents in carrying out this call from the Lord Jesus.

We believe that learning must lead to experience. Our community life must foster experiences of the Lord Jesus. This occurs not only at Mass but also in Advent, Lenten, and other programs of the liturgical year.

We believe the natural way of learning in life is intergenerational. We learn from grandparents, parents, brothers, sisters, friends, and neighbors. We learn from the society in which we live. What we seek is to develop our mutual faith in Jesus Christ. To accomplish this we need each other. The community must foster opportunities for members to interact with each other in small groups of many different kinds – Bible Study, Lenten Groups, Family Activities, Family Study, Community Activities and any other available means. These groups will help faith grow within the community.