Passing on the Faith

September moves into October and parish life swings into its regular rhythm. A great part of that rhythm is the coming and going of young people and their parents for religious education. I’ve had the chance to stop by the pastoral center for a few of the sessions and meet some of the children, their parents, catechists, and the many volunteers working in the program. These greetings are a bit different than the hurried Sunday mornings of quick greetings. These times offer a glimpse into their life as you see family units arrive, some directly from school, and others from other after school activities. There is a vitality as I’ve had the chance to be part of these parishioners lives.

These families bring a gift to the parish. This is where you get to see the so-called “domestic Church” merge into the larger Church community. This is where the Church is gathered with its diversity, its busyness, its everydayness. There is even some sense of that this Church activity has to be fit in with many other family concerns, activities, and priorities. It is impressive that, while Church is a number one priority in living, there are many good and worthy other parts of family living with busy children and parents.

As you welcome these young parents and children, there is kind of a nostalgic look at the process of your own life about how the faith was passed on to us. How did all of us come to believe? How did we receive the religious and moral values which shape our living? How did we learn the vocabulary and culture of faith in which we have grown and been shaped in our Catholic culture? Seeing young faith and hearing new questions from the children, the Church grows and adjusts to a new generation of believers.

Catechists and Adult Believers
The process of coming to faith depends very much on adult believers, whom we call catechists. Why not just call them “teachers”? In one sense, they are teachers in that they communicate data and deliver instruction to the children. They equip the children and young people with vocabulary to learn dogma, doctrine, and Catholic values. There is, however, more to the process. Catechists are believers, who can model faith for the children. They stand in for the community, which expands the domestic Church to the larger community of faith.

Each classroom is a community of faith, where diverse children are loved and respected. The children grow in their relationship with the other young believers. Besides learning doctrine and definitions, they learn to pray and to celebrate the presence of God in their lives. The children through their catechists come to identify the presence of God in its local expression of parish.

Just as families are part of our larger world, the parish community is part of a larger, universal, and Catholic Church.

Parents as Primary Educators
The catechists are not in any sense a substitute for faith-filled parents. Parents, through their family life, recall over and over again the words which were offered to them at the Baptism of the children. It was there that parents were asked if they understood that they “were the first teachers of their children in the ways of faith.” Parents do this teaching in many ways, which are worth reflecting on:

• Their bonding in faith and love in their many family relationships

• Their praying and celebrating with their children in the home

• Their sharing of family meals and hospitality with other friends

• Their dialogue and conversation about moral choices and questions

• Their bringing and forming their children in Sunday worship

• Their preparing for sacraments like First Communion, First Reconciliation, and Confirmation

• Their being part of the religious education process by preparing and follow-up with what happens at religious education

Families Coming Together
At Christ the Redeemer we have all kinds of religious education opportunities. Elementary RE meets on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays for two different sessions. Middle School comes together on Mondays for two sessions. High School and Confirmation preparation gathers on Sunday night. Spanish language formation happens each Saturday morning. The parish serves as the gathering place, but all of this presumes that parents play a vital part in the religious formation of their children.

Our sacramental preparation programs clarify the relationship between parish and parents. These programs are parent-centered programs, which equip them as adult believers to share the faith with their children. Whether for First Penance, First Communion, or Confirmation, parents prepare their children in their families for these sacraments. The parish is where these believers come together to learn, to celebrate, and to pray. The Church grows in these young people and the faith is vibrantly passed on.

CDH