Adult Formation During Lent: Check Out the Many Parish Offerings to Help You Grow Closer to Christ

Sarah Darr spent many years as a massage therapist, helping people relax. God put on her heart that she could use the gift of helping people relax to serve Him. So she started offering Scripture meditations at St. John’s. She was happy to have people attend and to be able to share her gifts.

“I wanted to help people be available to be found by God — that was on my heart for a long time,” Sarah says. “We get busy, and it’s easy to brush God off sometimes. I wanted to offer that time to sit down and focus on the Lord.”

Sarah returned to prayer, knowing she wanted to offer more opportunities to parishioners. In January and February, she offered a series focused on the Eucharist, The Presence, through FORMED.org. Attendees watched a video and then shared in discussion. There was also time to reflect, something Sarah believes we all need to take the time to do.

On March 13, 20, and 27, she will offer a three-part series called Forgiven “I figured this topic is so perfect during Lent because I know people who struggle with forgiveness,” Sarah says. “I want to help people focus on offering this up for the Lord. I want to help them get to Confession, so they truly have an open mind and open heart to being forgiven and to forgive others — there’s so much freedom in that.”

If you were raised Catholic, you likely went through faith formation classes as a child and young adult, but eventually, those classes ended. If you aren’t intentional about it, you may miss other opportunities to grow in your faith. Sarah’s sessions offer that opportunity, and the sessions are short and free.

“I want to help people engage their faith and engage their intellect,” she says. “I want them to grow their knowledge of the faith more — to have that heart knowledge, not just the head knowledge.”

The Catholic faith has always been important to Sarah, having been raised in a large Catholic family. She feels people are slipping away from the faith, and she doesn’t want to see that happen. The isolation and separations caused by the pandemic only exacerbated this problem.

“It’s been on my heart to reengage people and help fuel a desire for the Lord,” Sarah says. “I want to rebuild community and hopefully bring people back to the faith.”

Sarah’s faith is a big part of her life, and she wants to share it. She’s hoping to continue offering formation opportunities in the future.

Consider attending the Forgiven program, beginning on March 13 at 5:30 p.m. in Hoffman Hall. For more information, contact Sarah Darr at engelen16@yahoo.com.

The Presence series took place in late January and early February.