Nobody Walks Alone

Let me start with this: I love you! 

I have grown up in this parish; many of you watched me grow up. This parish is my family, and in my love for the Church and zeal for Christ, this place has always been my home. 

I see your ministries, apostolates, and prayer groups—the places where you dedicate your precious time. I see how each distinctly intertwines to make a beautiful tapestry of love and faith. The effect of that tapestry is visible: it can be seen within our community of Northglenn!

I see your hearts, and I am in awe.

But now, we need your help. 

We have a new need for helpers. Most especially, we need quiet listeners. We need people who ask deep questions. We need people who trust in God, who desire to grow closer to him and help others to grow closer to him. 

Today we hear about the call of the Woman at the Well. I wonder—did she have a family that she brought with her through her conversion to Christ? Did she have children who were able to meet Jesus due to her encounter with Him? How many people may have been converted due to her loving “yes” to Jesus?

In order to help families in our parish to encounter Jesus in the same way, we need help with a new program called Guides (ihmco.org/guides).

In the last three years, we have been focusing on implementing something called Intentional Accompaniment. Intentional Accompaniment is a framework that aims to connect people into human relationships directed toward Jesus. 

We have noticed a pattern: the best type of person for Intentional Accompaniment is often someone who is a listener, who ponders deeply, who trusts in God and has profound human empathy. We need those with Charisms of Trust, Faith, Mercy, and Generosity.

We have been implementing Intentional Accompaniment in many different ways as a parish, but within my small world of Children’s Faith Formation, we have done this by matching families whose student is starting Sacramental Preparation with a Guide who accompanies their family. In the coming year, we are limiting our program registrations so that each family will have a Guide, and each Guide will accompany only three families max. 

In this year’s 2025–2026 program, we have 80 families in our Year One program (starting sacraments). If we are to serve this same number of families this coming year, we will need 27 people who are willing to be a Guide. And, nine of these people need to be bilingual and speak both Spanish and English fluently to serve a growing community of people who are more comfortable speaking Spanish when discussing matters of faith.

You probably have a lot of questions! We want to be able to provide you with the answers you need at some informational meetings coming up: Wednesday, March 11, 8:15 PM (online) and Sunday, March 15, 10:00–11:00 AM in the Cenacle Room. Details about both of these meetings can be found online: ihmco.org/guides.