4:30 p.m. on Saturdays
or by appointment -- contact Fr Raj  806-316-4146

Please contact the parish office, 945-2616, six months in advance. "Engaged Encounter" and "Natural Family Planning" classes needed. If an annulment of past marriage is needed, a year notification is ordinary. .

Marriage Preparation 
Engaged Encounter 
Marriage Encounter 
Retrouvaille 

Contact Deacon Bob Birkenfeld, 945-4222, for the instructional class for parents and godparents (unless taken in the past 5 years). Call the office, 945-2616, for schedule a baptism date. One sponsor must be Catholic, confirmed, and at least 14 years old.

Baptism Guidelines 

Call Fr.Bhaskar 806-240-8889

Interactive Process:
The Confirmation Candidacy Team, lead by Fr Bhaskar and Deacon Bob, are working closely with the Bishop and the Diocesan Christian Formation Office to help our young people and their families experience a real faith enrichment while learning, praying, serving, and worshiping. Diocesan Guidelines show us the basics, and still, since Confirmation is about mature personal faith, then each teen should be able to manifest freedom in their growth. We hope to give as many choices as possible for the living out the steps in the Four Ministries of Word, Prayer, Service, and Liturgy — cornerstones of Catholic life. A Faith Steps Journal will be given each Candidate with many choices for them in “how” to meet guidelines. For example, in the First Year, a missed session may be replaced with reading or online research; in the Second Year, a wide range of service ministries are available for choices. The grace of the present process emphasizes parents’ involvement.

Parents’ Role:
Faith sharing with teen, hopefully family prayer
Encouraging them to participate with openness in firmly professing their faith and becoming full, active, participating Catholic Christians — that their faith decision leads them to ask the Bishop for Confirmation.
Offering help in any way the teen needs guidance
Participating in Confirmation Candidacy meetings
Signing the Bishop’s document that affirms that their teen continues to be involved in Confirmation Candidacy and in church, especially attending Mass each Sunday.

Sponsor’s Role:
Faith sharing with the teen who requested you as Sponsor, in study, prayer, and possibly, service
Encouraging them to make their faith commitment
Celebrating Catholic faith with the teen every chance possible, especially by attending Mass with them.
Keeping up a spiritual relationship with the person long after the ceremony — contact them on the anniversary of their Confirmation.

FUNERALS AT HOLY FAMILY CHURCH, NAZARETH
As a parish, we desire to reach out to families whose loved one died, and minister to any who grieve such a loss. We want to console sorrowing families with our love and prayers, as well as offer our service:

• in funeral rites
• burial rituals
• bereavement meals
• counseling as needed or desired.

Located here in Nazareth, the pastoral staff, parish facilities, and cemetery, are open to the needs of a grieving family and we will work closely to respond to the situations of honoring the dead as each family desires. Our traditional Catholic Funeral Rites (as outlined below) are most often used, but adaptations for non-parish community members can take place. The Pastor and Deacons of the church welcome the grace of working with bereaved families at this difficult time, so feel free to call upon them as desired.

AN OVERVIEW OF CATHOLIC FUNERAL RITES
 "At the death of a Christian, whose life of faith was begun in the waters of Baptism and strengthened at the Eucharistic table, the Church intercedes on behalf of the deceased because of its confident belief that death is not the end, nor does it break the bonds forged in life. The Church also ministers to the sorrowing and consoles them in the funeral rites with the comforting Word of God and the Sacrament of the Eucharist." (Order of Christian Funerals, no. 4)

The Catholic funeral rite is divided into several stations, or parts, each with its own purpose. For this reason we recommend following the complete structure and making use of each station.

Vigil Service (Wake)
"At the vigil, the Christian community keeps watch with the family in prayer to the God of mercy and finds strength in Christ's presence" (Order of Christian Funerals, no. 56). The Vigil Service usually takes place during the period of visitation and viewing at the funeral home. It is a time to remember the life of the deceased and to commend him/her to God. In prayer we ask God to console us in our grief and give us strength to support one another.

The Vigil Service can take the form of a Service of the Word with readings from Sacred Scripture accompanied by reflection and prayers. It can also take the form of one of the prayers of the Office for the Dead from the Liturgy of the Hours. The clergy and your funeral director can assist in planning such service.

It is most appropriate, when family and friends are gathered together for visitation, to offer time for recalling the life of the deceased. For this reason, eulogies are usually encouraged to be done at the funeral home during visitation or at the Vigil Service.

Funeral Liturgy
The funeral liturgy is the central liturgical celebration of the Christian community for the deceased. When one of its members dies, the Church encourages the celebration of the funeral liturgy at a Mass. When Mass cannot be celebrated, a funeral liturgy outside Mass can be celebrated at the church or in the funeral home.

At the funeral liturgy, the Church gathers with the family and friends of the deceased to give praise and thanks to God for Christ's victory over sin and death, to commend the deceased to God's tender mercy and compassion, and to seek strength in the proclamation of the Paschal Mystery. The funeral liturgy, therefore, is an act of worship, and not merely an expression of grief.

Rite of Committal (Burial or Interment)
The Rite of Committal, the conclusion of the funeral rite, is the final act of the community of faith in caring for the body of its deceased member. It should normally be celebrated at the place of committal, that is, beside the open grave or place of interment. In committing the body to its resting place, the community expresses the hope that, with all those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith, the deceased awaits the glory of the resurrection. The Rite of Committal is an expression of the communion that exists between the Church on earth and the Church in heaven: the deceased passes with the farewell prayers of the community of believers into the welcoming company of those who need faith no longer, but see God face-to-face.