Diocese of Toledo, Ohio

Browsing From the Pastor

School of Religion Starts

OUR PARISH SCHOOL OF RELIGION PROGRAMS FOR OUR CHILDREN AND YOUTH WHO ATTEND PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN BOTH PARISHES resume this Sunday, September 11th.

We are grateful for persons who have offered to serve as Catechists in both Parishes.

   It is essential that we appreciate the vital roles that parents and catechists have in transmitting the Faith of the Catholic Church to our developing children and youth. What needs to be stressed is that our parents are the first and foremost transmitters of the Faith of the Church to their developing children. Parents can work to meet the responsibility entrusted to them in ways such as the following. Parents who care about the faith formation of their children make every effort to participate at Mass each weekend, hopefully as a family. At every gathering for Mass, we celebrate God’s love for us in Jesus Christ, acknowledging that we belong to Christ as members of His Body, the Church.

   Celebrating Mass each weekend and on designated special Holy Days provides the motivation to explore the Faith that we gather to celebrate. Religious formation sessions remind us that the Faith that we gather to celebrate has implications for all aspects of our lives. As our love for the Lord becomes more genuine, we will want to please Him in our attitudes, words and actions. Christian formation helps us to grow in this direction. As our love for the Lord grows and deepens, this will influence how we relate to our own bodies, to the manner in which we strive to come across to others, to how we relate to areas of life such as spending our money, using leisure time, our sexuality, our attitude toward public life and a whole host of other matters.

   Parents support the on-going faith formation of their children as they recognize and respond to their own on-going need to strive to relate the Faith of the Church to the situations of daily living. There is a variety of opportunities available for adults to deepen our own faith formation. Please check the bulletin for different ways in which as adults, we can strengthen our own faith-life.

   Parents who care about the faith formation of their children will hopefully want to get to know the catechist(s) for each of their children. They will want to learn about the faith focus in the respective classes for each of their children. After each weekly session, parents might ask their children to share what they learned or gained from that given session.

   In ways such as these, parents can support our catechists in the vital role of transmitting the Faith of the Church to our children and youth who participate in the faith formation programs in our respective parishes. 

   The work of transmitting the Faith of the Church to the upcoming generation can be overwhelming. Without the support of parents, in ways that are suggested above, the work of our catechists is made more difficult. Catechists can never take the place of parents in the mission to transmit the Faith of the Church to the upcoming generation.

When and as parents proactively embrace their role as the principal transmitters of the Faith to the upcoming generation, they will be grateful for the role of our catechists. How heartening it will be for parents to be assured that they are not all alone in the mission to transmit the Faith of the Church to the upcoming generation. In significant ways, our catechists officially represent the Church in their vital role. Hopefully, as the year carries on, parents and catechists will develop a team approach in regard to the awesome mission entrusted to them.

 

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Nelson Beaver – Pastor

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