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Faith formation in Loudoun County

Mary C. Tillotson | For the Catholic Herald

Almost 200 people gathered in the parish hall at St. John the
Apostle Church in Leesburg Jan. 18 to learn about the New
Evangelization and kick off Loudoun County’s newest
evangelization and catechesis program.

The three parishes in the county – St. John, St. Francis de
Sales in Purcellville, and St. Theresa in Ashburn – have
teamed up with the Institute of Catholic Culture (ICC) to
offer a lecture series aimed at helping Catholics learn more
about their faith. Lectures include lessons on history,
Scripture, philosophy, liturgy, literature and other topics.

“The institute puts the whole salvation story in context,
going to events like this with other people hungry for more
spiritual food and knowledge and of how to make our faith
relevant,” said Marie Steele, a parishioner at St. Francis de
Sales.

ICC has been hosting lectures at several parishes in the
Washington area, but only recently moved in to Loudoun
County.

“They were so far away before. I didn’t want to have to go
over the mountain,” said Aggie Smith. “I’ve been so excited
about (ICC) since I first heard about it. When I heard they
were in Loudoun, I said, ‘I’m in.'”

James Blankenship, director of religious education at St.
Francis de Sales, kick started the program.

“I recognized a problem: there’s a lack of adult catechesis.
In general, that’s a problem the church faces, but
particularly out in Loudoun County,” he said. “I approached
the other DREs and said, ‘Let’s do something for our parishes
out here in the nether regions of the diocese.'”

So he called Deacon Sabatino Carnazzo, ICC’s executive
director.

“He said, ‘Why don’t you go to Purcellville?’ I choked,”
Carnazzo said. “I had promised God we’d go through any door
he opened.”

The DREs began working with ICC to put together a program for
the Loudoun County parishes. The speaker series rotates
between the three parishes, and all three parishes advertise
and promote the events. In the fall, the parishes had a
“tester schedule,” Blankenship said, and about 100 people
showed up for the first talk. After that, a consistent 100 or
115 people came.

“For a new catechesis program, that’s a whopping success,”
Blankenship said.

All the speakers give their talks live at the parishes, and
though most of them are streamed live online, participants
are encouraged to attend in person.

“The idea is the faith is passed on through relationships,
through actual contact between people,” Blankenship said. “To
get the whole curriculum, you have to hop between the
parishes. People actually do that, and it builds a nice
little community there.”

In his talk about practical ways to evangelize, Carnazzo said
personal contact is crucial.

“Does your neighbor know that you’re a Catholic and that you
love God?” he said. “We will change the world by actually
meeting the person God put in your life.”

Carnazzo hopes the evening’s participants will remember the
people they sat with and say hello when they see those faces
again at Mass. That “hello” could lead to a phone call, and
then to a friendship.

“So many people are suffering because they feel a lack of
faith,” he said, “but when they’re together, one person’s
lack is made up by someone else’s faith. They rejuvenate each
other.”

Ray Knight, a parishioner at St. Francis de Sales, joined the
church in 2013 and said he’s experienced something like this.

“When I first came into the church, I was overwhelmed at
feeling the presence of Christ. I can feel the same energy
from people here. A sense of hope that the fires are going to
get lit and something’s going to happen,” he said. “Change in
the world is going to come from the Catholic Church.”

Tillotson is a freelance writer from Front Royal.

Attend a talk

Upcoming ICC talks in Loudoun County include:”Walking with
God: Ethics in the Catholic Tradition” by John Cuddeback at
10 a.m. Jan. 24 and 31 at St. Francis de Sales; “Confronting
Attila the Hun: The Life of Pope St. Leo the Great” by
Christopher Check, 6 p.m. Feb. 8 at Our Lady of Hope (dinner
included), “Sacrificing to God: An ICC Lenten Retreat” by
Deacon Sabatino Carnazzo at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 28 at St.
Francis de Sales, and “A Restless Heart: The Confessions of
St. Augustine” by John Love,at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday March 4
and 11 at St. Theresa. A full schedule can be found at
http://www.instituteofcatholicculture.org/events/.

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