FREQUENTLY

ASKED QUESTIONS

PARISH BOUNDARIES
& TITHING

  • The eastern boundary runs from the corner of Avondale Boulevard & McDowell, due north to Northern Avenue to the White Tank Mountains in Verrado and between Northern and McDowell.

  • Registered or not, Catholic or not, every soul in those boundaries is the responsibility of our Pastor. That's a lot of souls!

  • You and your family also become our pastor’s responsibility for as long as you're active in the parish.

  • It means you're attending Masses and being a part of our community. This applies to everyone registered, whether you are or are not within the boundaries. With 6,000 families, you can imagine how difficult that may be to track.

  • Primarily through the collection basket (in-person or digitally through PushPay).

  • Sure, tithing is super important for all churches to survive, but you can give without putting your name on it. The parish-giving envelopes or online giving have two purposes, one is the obvious one; to be able to provide you with a tax document for charitable giving every year. The other is to track active parishioner attendance.

  • First of all, thank you! That just means we won’t be able to give you tax documentation on your tithing. But whether you're tithing or not, you can keep dropping your empty envelope in the basket. Or even just a paper with your name and address on it. This shows your active participation.

  • Positive! We are responsible for giving you opportunities to see, know, love, and serve our God. Tithing is not a tax. You'll never receive a letter or call demanding that you give more or saying you didn't give enough. What you tithe is between you and the Lord, charity can never be forced; or it ceases to be charity.

  • Well, first of all, we care about you, and your souls are the pastor’s responsibility. It also helps us to know where to allocate our resources as Masses continue to fill up. But mostly, for Sacramental purposes!

  • For example, if your niece from Florida asks you to be her sponsor for Confirmation and she needs a letter stating that you are in good standing at your parish (having your sacraments and being an active member), then this is actually the only way we can do that (and it’s way easier than having to get copies of all of your documents and sending them all over the country).

  • Make sure you're registered. Make sure the info we have is right. Tithe with giving envelopes (or Push Pay), or drop a notecard with your name and address in the basket at Mass. If you are going to move or switch parishes, please let the office know.

    This will help you stay an active, registered member of our community!

COMMUNICATION
& FLOCKNOTE

  • It's a site/app/tool used to help churches communicate with their flocks with a smarter way to text message and email. Flocknote churches can reach all their members at a moment’s notice, resulting in a more connected church.

  • Our Digital Evangelization Ministry sends out weekly messages to the parish as a whole. That includes a weekly update with what's going on at the parish and a video message from the pastor.

    Beyond that, every parish ministry can schedule meetings with their volunteers, remind their members about upcoming events, and more.

  • The cool thing is that you really don't. Once you've signed up (or been signed up through a ministry), you're in and you should get all the Aquinas news you've ever wanted!

    HOWEVER, there's more! If you'd like, you can sign in to Flocknote with the email or cell connected to your account and you can join or leave groups, adjust preferences, see any messages sent to any group you’re in.

  • Yes! And you can see messages you may’ve missed in groups you’re a part of…not to mention adjust your preferences (like getting emails as texts or vice versa).

    Logging in is easy! You can go to stacc.Flocknote.com and follow the steps here.

  • It only needs your name and either a cellphone number or email (but both are preferred). That's it!

  • Each Flocknote member needs to have a different cell phone or email attached. Spouses that, say, share an email, won't be able to both use it for Flocknote. What they CAN do is Spouse "A" can have the shared email and their cell phone and Spouse "B" can just have their different cell phone and no email. Spouse "B" will get text AND email updates to their cell (email messages are sent as a link which they can read via their phone's browser).

  • When you're leaving a comment, there's a checkbox to make it private. If you do that, only the note sender and any admins will see your message.

  • Unfortunately, Flocknote doesn't transfer documents in comments (I'm sure their servers would explode after a day). For those, you'll have to send them via email directly to the recipient (or drop it off all old school in The DOC).

  • Super easy! Just reply "STOP" to any message from that group and you'll be automatically removed.

  • Sign in to your Flocknote group and sign back into that group OR, if it's a hidden group, reach out to that ministry leader and he or she can re-invite you.

  • Actually, that's one of my favorite things about Flocknote! Log into your account and on the left side of the screen you'll see all the groups you're a part of. Click on that group and you'll see a list of every text and email that has been sent out. Helps a ton when you're moving a mile-a-minute and can't remember if what you saw was this week or two months ago!

ELEMENTARY & TEEN SACRAMENT PREP

  • Parents are to be registered active members of the parish. You can register by going to the parish office.

  • Children 3rd Grade and up who desire to become Catholic and need baptism receive Faith Formation through the Order of Christian Initiation of Children (OCIC) process. We have classes for children who are not baptized. When registering for classes we will ask what sacraments your child has received and based off of you answer we will help you find the appropriate class for your child.

  • We have classes for all ages. When registering for classes we will ask what sacraments your child has received and based off of you answer we will give you the class appropriate for your child.

  • If a child has been baptized but not in the Catholic Church, contact the Faith Formation Office. In some cases the child may need to make a "Profession of Faith," which is simply a statement that the child believes in the teachings of the Catholic Church.

  • Students must be at least 7 years of age or older, in 2nd Grade or later, be baptized, and prepared for the sacrament.

  • Students must be in the 3rd Grade or older, be baptized, and received first reconciliation, and complete preparatory classes. A sponsor and Saint name is also required. A Confirmation packet will be given out with information and forms.

  • Students must be in the 3rd grade or older, be baptized, and receive reconciliation, and complete preparatory classes.

    This is typically received alongside Confirmation as the Diocese of Phoenix is a Restored Order Diocese.

  • Because the Diocese of Phoenix confers sacraments in the “Restored Order,” Confirmation and First Communion are both given in 3rd grade. Reconciliation, Confirmation & First Communion classes are also provided for children in older grades who still need the sacrament(s).

  • In the early church the sacrament of Confirmation was given before Eucharist. Over the years the tradition changed for Conformation to be given later on when the child was older. Very simply the restored order of the sacraments is simply going back to the early church. Go here for more info.

  • Request a letter from the previous parish/formation program stating the classes that were taken and if the child is prepared to receive which sacraments.

  • A copy of the child’s baptismal certificate is required for all children receiving any sacrament.

    If your child is not yet baptized, then a copy of their birth certificate is needed.

  • In a few circumstances, custody agreements may have an impact on a child receiving sacraments. If there is any custody agreement, please indicate on the registration form and we will work with you.

  • Yes. Catholics are obligated to go to Sunday Mass (or a Saturday Vigil Mass) and all Holy Days of Obligation. Therefore, it is expected that all children in preparation for full initiation into the Church are regularly attending Mass.

  • To be well prepared for sacraments and for continuity in learning it is very important for the child to be present.

    Please speak directly to your catechist for their attendance policy and to take care of excused absenses.

    Retreats during sacrament years are mandatory.

  • Parents and Catechist both are to discern the readiness of a child to receive sacraments. If there is a concern of a child’s readiness parents and the Formation Office will together further discern the best option for the child (either another way/resource for the parent to prepare the child and cultivate readiness or having the child wait till another year).

    * Preparation for the Confirmation includes sponsor paperwork, Saint name form, retreat, partnership hours, and an end-of-year review. If any of this information or attendance at events are missing sacraments may be deferred to another year.

  • At this time we do not have child care.

  • We recognize that uncontrollable circumstances happen. Your child’s catechist will work with you to make sure they don’t fall behind.