Alpha program begins again in some parishes

By Bill Doyle | CFP Correspondent

For a year and a half during the pandemic, Ashley Chakkiath and her family grocery shopped for an elderly neighbor every week or two.

Ms. Chakkiath said she felt called to invite her neighbor to attend Mass at her church, St. Anne and St. Patrick Parish in Sturbridge, but she never had the courage to do so.

Unfortunately, the neighbor passed away from cancer a couple of months after Ms. Chakkiath and her family stopped shopping for her.

“I wish I had reached out to her for her spiritual needs and not just her physical needs,” Ms. Chakkiath said.

Ms. Chakkiath, 38, thought the Alpha program that she had enjoyed while attending UMass-Dartmouth nearly 20 years ago could have served as a stepping stone toward Mass for her neighbor. So she decided to launch an Alpha program at her parish. She recruited 14 members of her parish to help hold an 11-week session that began last March.

A second 11-week session is scheduled to begin today, Jan. 16. Each session will run from 6:30-8 p.m. at the St. Joachim Parish Center, 16 Church St., Sturbridge.

Alpha is a series of free interactive sessions that explore the basics of the Christian faith. Each session consists of dining together, watching a short video with a Gospel message from alphausa.org and then breaking into discussion groups.

“People can say anything they want or nothing at all,” Ms. Chakkiath said.

If people talk about problems at home or with the Christian faith, they won’t be judged. If anyone asks for people to pray for them, they will.

“We’re not there to teach or to preach,” Ms. Chakkiath said. “We’re there just to listen to what people have to say and to encourage dialogue.”

The videos address such topics as: “Is there more to life than this?”, “Who is Jesus?”, “Why did Jesus die?” and “How and why do I pray?”

Ms. Chakkiath and her team members prepare the meals that are subsidized by the parish.
Ms. Chakkiath said the Alpha hierarchy realizes that some people come for a nice meal or to connect with other people, but some are ready to return to their faith.

Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet so Ms. Chakkiath considers Alpha sessions to be the start of something big.

Thirty-five men and women ranging in age from mid-30s to late-80s attended the Alpha session last spring.

“I think it went really well,” Ms. Chakkiath said. “We had people who were questioning the Christian faith and people who were seasoned parishioners, and we had positive responses across the board. So it’s a great ministry for people who don’t have Christian faith or who question it, all the way to our seasoned parishioners.”

After completing the Alpha program, some parishioners began serving the parish as greeters and others will help prepare food for the next Alpha session.

After attending the first session, Sue Kinsella said, “I feel that I evolved in my intellectual understanding and experienced a deeper spiritual connection.”

Ms. Chakkiath said people are welcome to check out the program for the first few weeks and there is no commitment to keep attending if it’s not the right fit for them. Eight people did not finish the 11-week program last spring for various reasons.

“We encourage people to invite someone that they would love to see come closer to God,” Ms. Chakkiath said.

Alpha programs began in 1977 at Holy Trinity Brompton Church in London and are now offered at many churches, universities, work places, prisons and online in several languages.
If interested in attending the Alpha session that begins today at St. Anne and St. Patrick, email Ms. Chakkiath at [email protected]. For more information about Alpha, visit alphausa.org.

Mr. Chakkiath said the parish hopes to hold an seven-week Alpha program for young adults aged 18-30 beginning in June.

Other parishes host the Alpha program too.

Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish in Worcester will start its next Alpha program in early February in Polish and will conduct one in English beginning in September. For more information, call the parish at 508-755-5959.

St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Westborough has held two Alpha programs and 48 people took part in the last one. So the parish will offer two 11-week Alpha programs that will begin in January. One will run on Thursdays from 6:30-8:30 p.m. beginning Jan. 22 and the other will be held on Monday afternoons from 12:30-2:30 p.m. beginning Jan. 26. For more information call the parish’s Alpha director, Maria Gasser, at the parish at 508-366-5502.

St. Rose of Lima in Northborough is scheduled to start an Alpha program at 6:30 p.m., Feb. 24, in the parish hall. Anyone interested in attending can contact Theresa Fugardi at St. Rose of Lima at 508-393-2413, ext. 2.