Upcoming faith formation events in Spanish

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OREM — As part of the continuing efforts of faith formation around the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, St. Francis of Assisi Parish is offering a spectrum of retreats and workshops in Spanish.

The first retreat, which will take place Feb. 7-8, will be a presentation by Fr. Gustavo Vidal, pastor, based on the book “33 Days to a Morning Glory.”

“In this Marian retreat we will present four saints of our Catholic Church: St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, St. Maximilian Kolbe, Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Saint John Paul II,” Fr. Vidal said.

The retreat is preparation for the consecration to Our Virgin that will take place on March 25.

This is the first time that the parish has offered this type of Marian retreat. Every adult is invited.

On Feb. 15 will be a leadership workshop presented by Fr. Eleazar Silva, parochial vicar of Sts. Peter and Paul Parish.

The workshop, titled “A Christian Leader,” will be a theoretical framework on discernment and Ignatian teachings, Fr. Silva said.

“The content is based on the diverse leadership models that are within the Gospel,” Fr. Silva said, adding that Fr. Vidal invited him to present this workshop at the parish to help “develop a consciousness of the leadership concept in the parish in general and in particular at his parish. … St. Francis of Assisi Parish is formed by a very particular universe of groups and lay movements that need a common language to keep developing. … This workshop is just an instrument to facilitate an encounter among the different movements and groups that are in the community.”

A Lenten preparation retreat will be given by Fr. Vidal on Feb. 22.

Lent this year starts with Ash Wednesday on Feb. 26.

Fr. Vidal is asking people to bring a pen and a notebook in which to write the answer to the question: What do you expect from Lent?

“This presentation will be based on teachings of the Catholic Church about human actions,” said Fr. Vidal, adding that there are three main components of human actions: intention, subject and circumstances.

 “We are going to study what human action is; what makes it good, what makes it bad. … There are human acts that are inherently evil such as abortion, and we are going to talk about that,” Fr. Vidal said.

Each of the three components determines the other ones, so “all of them have to be good so the human act can be good,” he said.

With the hope that every person who attends the Lenten preparation retreat will grow in the formation of their conscience, Fr. Vidal invites every person from 13 years old and up to attend the retreat.