Religious Education at ROOL!
FAMILY FAITH FORMATION!
Why Family Faith Formation?
When you had your little bundles of joy, you brought each of them to the church to be baptized. In that process parents and godparents promised to teach the child the Catholic faith. Parents are not only responsible for the moral and faith formation of their children; they are irreplaceable in their duties as teachers and models of faith within their homes.
We used to think that the job of faith formation of our children belonged to the church, to the catechists who instructed children on basic doctrine. Generations of Catholics have failed to be adequately taught the faith in the classroom model. We have come to understand that nothing and no one can replace the influence of the example of a parent on the spiritual life of a child. Only parents teach the faith because faith is relational and children have a relationship with the parents, not the church. Children learn their relationship with the church from their parents.
What if I don’t feel prepared to teach the faith?
Many parents may feel they are less than adequate teachers of religion. It is true that religious education is a process of instructing people in the knowledge and practice of the faith. It includes the teaching of specific content in the creed that we profess, prayer, morality, and the sacraments. The Resurrection Of Our Lord staff can and will give you a lot of help with the concrete parts of the faith.
Religion, however, is much more than a school subject. It is a way of living. By taking the time to pray - both at home and in Church - families show their children the importance of a God-centered life. No prayer, however, surpasses the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The decision to bring the whole family to Church every Sunday, communicates to children that life is more than work or sports, important as both activities are. Sunday Mass communicates the message that we are worth more than what we do, that there we have a Savior who wants to come to us and give us something we can get from nowhere else: profound love, forgiving mercy, and eternal life.
What is the church’s role?
As a parish, we are called to assist you and supplement your efforts. We enthusiastically share the responsibility for the faith formation of your children and youth. As the old African proverb states, “It takes a village to raise a child.” That means an entire community of people must interact with children for those children to grow in a safe and healthy environment. Much attention and love is needed as our ROOL children grow, not only physically, emotionally, intellectually and socially, but most importantly, spiritually. We pledge to partner with you to raise faith-filled children and young adults. We share the goal of having them grow in God’s love, learning and living the beliefs of the Catholic Church, and preparing them to one day pass on what they learn, live, and believe.
How do we do this?
Growing In Faith Together - GIFT (Grade K - 6th)
GIFT is a faith formation program for families with children in Kindergarten through 6th grade.
It allows you to interact with your children on matters of faith and life while enjoying the support of your parish community. It also fits into the lifestyles of today’s families who learn better through activities than workbooks and who can use more flexibility in their schedules.
You will meet with your larger faith formation community once a month on the fourth Sunday morning between the 10:00 and 12:30 Masses. Parents will enjoy a speaker series while children attend their grade-level class. Everyone in the family learns about the same faith topic so you can explore it together when the sessions are over.
You will be given three home lessons for the other three weeks of the month. They take about an hour. You may choose to do them classroom style or more casually with the family throughout the month. Some families enjoying going over them as mealtime conversations. Learning is fun through games, activities, stories, quizzes, and music to help you grow in faith together as a family. There are clear instructions for the parents, lessons for the little ones and lessons for your older children on the same topic. The whole family can do them at the same time!
Remember you don’t have to be perfect. The Holy Spirit will fill in the gaps. If you get a question you don’t feel confident answering, tell the children it is a good question and you will find the answer. Give us a call or shoot us an email. We’re happy to help! There will be lessons that don’t go as well as others but the important thing isn’t a stellar teaching performance. It’s being together and growing in relationship with God.
You may also want to partner with other families to create a small faith formation community. You can get together occasionally for fun, fellowship, and a home lesson.
EDGE (Grade 6th– 8th)
Middle school can be very challenging for today’s youth. With new challenges and obstacles, EDGE provides a safe environment for these students to express, explore, and grow. They are given opportunities to express their faith, explore what it means to be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ, and grow in faith and communion with each other.
The youth are given the chance to foster a strong foundation for their faith. It is way more than effective catechesis. It’s Catholic middle school ministry that helps young people with life’s most challenging years. Young people love Edge because it’s a fun, safe place to spend time with Catholic friends. They get answers to unanswered questions about their Catholic faith, and they get to experience Christ in a profound and personal way.
Resurrection of Our Lord Church will offer the Edge program for middle school students between the 10:00 and 12:30 Masses the first three Sundays of the month.
We have heard testimonials from parishes using this approach they report the participating families grew deeper in faith, developed Christ centered homes, and learned a lot about our rich Catholic tradition they didn’t know before. There was more peace in the household with God as a priority.
A Prayer of Family Commitment
Dear God our Father,
You have called all Christian families to be a sign of your love to the world. Help us to be generous with the gifts of life and love that you have showered on our family. May we share them so that our homes become true signs of unitive and fruitful love. Let us never forget to thank you each day for all that sustains us and to look to Christ, who comes to us in the events of family life, in the sacraments of the Church, and in service to the poor.
In all of this, our family becomes a living expression of your Church, a hallowed home of life and love. By the power of the Holy Spirit, may all of us—spouses, parents, and children—share, as members of His Body, in Jesus’ mission to build a civilization of love.
Father, we ask this in Jesus’ name in union with the Holy Spirit.
Amen.