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August 26, 2025Synod year 2025-2026▪ We are now in “Year 3” of the Archdiocesan Synod implementation. As an extension from Year 2 on the Mass and the Eucharist, we will focus on Reclaiming Sundays for the Lord. This will involve renewing our understanding of Sundays as the day of resurrection of our Lord, the day of the Eucharist as the source and summit of Christian life, and as a day for refreshment, leisure, family, and community.▪ To help us focus on the Lord’s Day, the Archdiocese has provided Reclaiming Sundays: A Monthly Guide for Families, for use by Nativity School and parish families and individuals as well as those in small groups. It can be downloaded from https://www.archspm.org/sundays/. It is 14 pages long.▪ The Family Corner which debuted in the bulletin and Nativity News emails this past Lent, will share “bitesize” inspirations and activities from Reclaiming Sundays: A Monthly Guide for Families each month, as well as links to short videos on the monthly themes for easier use by families. Give them a try! In addition, monthly excerpts from Reclaiming Sundays: A Monthly Guide for Families will be included as bulletin inserts.o Synod year 2026-2027▪ “Year 3” of the Synod will extend into 2026-2027 with the theme of Equipping Parents as the Primary Educators of their Children in the Faith. This will give parents a core knowledge of our faith, confidence and tools so they can more fully transmit its essential truths to their children. Implementation of this theme will begin with a “soft start” in this, the 2025-2026 year.▪ New members of the Nativity Synod Evangelization Team (SET), Jenni Maas, Jessica Blaxton, Lanita Brandt, and others, will be leading our Synod implementation for Synod year 2026-2027. Stay tuned for exciting news on Equipping Parents as the Primary Educators of their Children in the Faith.o Synod 2025 news▪ On June 7, the Archdiocese held a second Synod Assembly. (The first was in 2022, which identified the first three priorities for Synod implementation: begin small groups; focus on the Mass and the Eucharist; and Equipping Parents as the Primary Educators of their Children in the Faith.) 400-plus delegates from across the Archdiocese gathered to pray, discuss, and vote on the next three Synod priorities, to begin in July 2027. Our own Emily Meyer and Mickey Nickelson attended the gathering. Pending Archbishop Hebda’s further prayer and discernment, those next themes will be, in no particular order, Discipleship in Daily Life, Adult Formation, and Welcoming & Hospitality.o Fall and Lent Content for Small Groups and Others▪ See nativitystpaul.org/small-groups or the Nativity Synod Small Group Year 3 Content Guide for links and more content details.▪ In addition to the Reclaiming Sundays monthly prayer and activity guide, Father Tollefson and our Small Group team are recommending Dr. Michael Naughton’s book on keeping the Lord’s Day, Getting Work Right, for all small groups and parishioner use this Fall.▪ Other recommended content for Fall 2025 or Lent 2026:▪ Activity - Living the Gift of Sunday - Archdiocese of Milwaukee - 40 pp. 10 chapters▪ This is more in-depth than Reclaiming Sundays from our archdiocese.▪ Book - The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry - John Mark Comer▪ Book – What Christians Believe – Bishop Robert Barron▪ Book - Dies Domini - The Lord’s Day - Pope St. John Paul II - ~ 40 pp. 7 chapters