About Cornerstone

Cornerstone

Cornerstone is a faith formation program for families with students in grades 1-12. The goal of this program is to connect the entire parish together under the same theme. This year's themes are "Revelation of Jesus Christ in Scripture" for October-December and "Who is Jesus Christ" for January-April. These big themes will be broken down in smaller monthly themes. We will focus on the big picture on Week 1 and break it down into grade-level based objectives on Weeks 2 and 3 of each month. Each month, families are to attend the Week 1 program in person in the church. At this time, families will be given resources to use based on that month's theme.

Week 1

On "Week 1" of each month (Oct-Apr), we ask that the entire family attends this session in the Parish Hall where Father or a lay person will introduce the theme of the month while we enjoy a meal together. This will be at the regular time from 6:15-7:30PM. At least one parent must attend with their child(ren).

Week 2 & 3

On "Week 2" and "Week 3" of each month, we have the participants meet in grade-level based groups to go over their specific objective that is part of the bigger theme. Participants will discover this objective and then use the Participant Journal to apply it to their own life. These journals will be collected and given to the parents at the Week 1 event the following month to aide you in conversations with your child(ren) on the objectives.

Week 4 (sometimes 5)

"Week 4", and some months have a "Week 5", are going to be left open for make-up days, Holy Day Masses, Sacramental Preparation meetings and practices (both 2nd and 10th grade), and for families to have family-time together. During our winter months, if we need to cancel our Week 1 event, Week 1 will be the following week. We will continue to use "Flocknote" to let you know when we are cancelling class and what Week we are on. Check out the calendar for more info.

Year 1 Themes & Objectives

Semester 1 Theme: Revelation of Jesus Christ in Scripture

October: God's Presence (God is present in our lives and we can come to know Him better through Scripture.)

November: Scripture & Tradition (God reveals himself through both Sacred Scripture and Tradition. The New Testament is revealed in the Old Testament and the Old is fulfilled in the New.)

December: Praying with the Bible (It is important to study and pray with the Bible.)

Semester 2 Theme: Who is Jesus Christ?

January: Who is Jesus Christ (Jesus is the Word of God. He is the ultimate revelation of who God is and who we are called to be. He is part of the Trinity - 3 persons, different attributes, one God.)

February: Perfect Love (Jesus reveals perfect love to us. Our response to that love should be faithfulness and discipleship, but we are freely able to accept or reject God's love and gift of Heaven.)

March: Goals (The goal of life is to know, love, and serve God, and to be happy with God forever in Heaven.)

April: Role Model (Mary is the perfect model of faith and discipleship. We can ask her, as well as the Communion of Saints in Heaven to pray for us. We are members of the Communion of Saints, connected with the faithful who have gone before us, grounded in prayer, and fortified by the Sacraments so we can become who Jesus calls us to be.)

Year 2 Themes & Objectives

Semester 1 Theme: Jesus Christ's Mission Continues in the Church

October: Made for Community (We were made to long for a community. Our faith is strengthened by a community of believers that we know as the Church.)

November: One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic (The mission of the Church is to be the unified Body of Christ in the world by living as missionary disciples guided by the Holy Spirit.)

December: Mission--->Be Church (As Catholics, we are sent, as the Apostles were; to live the active life of a disciple, sharing the Gospel in every part of our lives.)

Semester 2 Theme: The Mission of Jesus Christ (Paschal Mystery)

January: Made New (Each person has inherent worth and is the summit of all God's creation. Our brokenness is shown in our choices and actions and harms our relationship with God, putting us in need of redemption.)

February: Everlasting Covenant (God has never stopped loving His people. This is evident by the Old Testament covenants and the new and everlasting covenant with His people through His Son, Jesus Christ.)

March: Sacrificial Love (Christ taught us sacrificial love through the parables He taught and His suffering and death on the cross. Jesus is the ultimate example of love.)

April: Victory (Through Christ's victory over death, we have been given the opportunity to share in eternal life.)

Year 3 Themes & Objectives

Semester 1 Theme: Sacraments as Privileged Encounters with Jesus

October: Encounter (We are able to encounter the living Christ today in a full and real way in and through the Sacraments.)

November: All Are Welcome (Christ wants us all to be part of the family of God, the Church. We are welcomed into the Church through the sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation, which lay the foundation for Christian life.)

December: Healing and Service (When we are part of a family, we are called to love and to serve others. Sometimes in our relationships, we need healing and forgiveness since we are not perfect.)

Semester 2 Theme: Life in Christ

January: Finding Happiness (God desires for us to be truly happy and joy-filled on earth while calling us to eternal life with Him.)

February: Choices (Everything we are called to do as Catholics is based on our call to love God with all of our heart and our call to love our neighbor as ourselves.)

March: Blessed (The Beatitudes are our means to the happiness and joy God is calling us to and the sacraments provide us the grace we need to live a moral life.)

April: Amazing Grace (The Sacraments and prayer provide the grace to live a moral life and fulfill our call to holiness and discipleship.)

About the Developer

Hi! I’m Melanie Vobr. I’m a wife and mother of four beautiful children, and I’ve been involved in faith formation since 2013, serving in a variety of roles. For several years, I was responsible for faith formation across all ages and stages of life. Through that experience, I’ve seen firsthand the challenges parishes face when they want to form missionary disciples but have limited staff, time, and resources.

My own experience of faith formation growing up was largely centered on textbooks and gaining knowledge about the faith. When I got to college, I realized that while I knew a lot about my faith, I struggled to explain the “why” behind it. I had head knowledge, but I was missing heart knowledge.

Then I became a mom. As I watched my own children and others go through faith formation and gain primarily head knowledge, I began to realize that something needed to change. We need more than children who can answer questions about their faith. We need young people—and adults—who know Jesus, understand why they believe what they believe, and are equipped to live as missionary disciples.

That is why I developed Cornerstone.

My hope is that Cornerstone will serve parishes that desire to form missionary disciples but may not have the staff, resources, or budget to develop an entire program on their own. I also intentionally chose to make Cornerstone available for free rather than publishing it through a traditional publisher. I never want Cornerstone to become another textbook-based program. It should always be person-based—focused on relationships, encounter, discipleship, and helping people grow in their relationship with Jesus and His Church.

If you would like to support the continuation of this ministry and the creation of new resources, one of the greatest ways you can help is by praying for the parishes, families, catechists, and individuals who are using Cornerstone. If you feel called to financially support this ministry and help make future resources possible, you can find more information here.

Thank you for believing in the importance of forming missionary disciples and for being part of this mission!

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