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Family Catechesis at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish
The formation of children in Christ is the duty, responsibility and privilege of their Christian parents. Both fathers and mothers should feel honored to be the primary catechists for their children and should, with gratitude to the Lord, zealously accept that noble task. The Church should never take the place of parents in catechizing the youth but, instead, must strive to better assist the parents in performing this sacred duty.
Fathers, in particular, as head of the house and “priests” of the domestic church need to be the pillars of Christian formation for their sons and daughters. They are not just biological progenitors but also the very first “spiritual fathers” for their children. This is a great privilege that they are entrusted with and it cannot be delegated to any other. Wives are to diligently support their husbands in this crucial work and Catholic parishes need to actively aid both parents in their respective roles. Therefore, in regard to Catholic education, the goal of the St. Thomas Aquinas Church clergy and staff is to assist fathers and mothers in understanding, embracing and accomplishing this essential aspect of their vocation.
The parish church exists as a place where the Most Holy Trinity is worshipped in an orthodox manner and where the sacraments are celebrated for the glory of God and the salvation of the faithful. It can also, of course, host missions, talks, retreats and offer Christian formation to the faithful; however, these non-liturgical activities should only supplement what occurs at home. The parish can never replace what should be occurring at home on a daily basis in regard to religious education.
Unfortunately, it has become far too easy for Catholic parents to develop an unhealthy dependency on their parish to provide most, or even all, of the faith formation and education to their children and to also assume that the education acquired there is sufficient. It is too tempting to erroneously think that both Christian formation and prayer only occur at church and at set times. Even if parents don't knowingly subscribe to such thinking they can behave in such a way as to support this idea within the home.
To help remedy this confusion and also to bring proper attention to the Catholic Church’s consistent witness to the truth that parents are the primary catechists for their children, St. Thomas Aquinas Church will cease offering religious education classes for children. No longer will volunteer catechists teach groups of children in a classroom setting. The parish will, instead, focus resources and time to helping restore home catechesis. Parents are the catechists for their children and, thus, St. Thomas Aquinas will focus on promoting that reality and assist by offering parents direction, guidance and education.
The most essential aspect of life and formation in Christ is prayer. The parish will try to aid the parents first in establishing a life of prayer and fasting in the home. This should be done in conjunction with the celebration of the saints and feast days in the domestic church. Next, the parish will provide guidance to parents so that they better understand their duties and feel more capable of forming the children daily at home. Classes, talks, missions and/or retreats will be offered so that parents can be formed in Christ and then carry that witness to the entire family.
The Director of Religious Education will offer a presentation in late summer to all parents who want specific directions, ideas or just basic assistance in catechizing their children at home. Additionally, classes will be offered in the future on most Wednesday evenings for all interested parents to help them grow in their own likeness to Christ and support them in their noble work of developing a home life centered on Our Lord. No registration will be needed for these offerings and no fees will be charged. However, parents will be strongly encouraged by the St. Thomas Aquinas clergy and staff to take advantage of these opportunities and participate in the various adult education programs.
Sacramental Preparation
Parents with children or youth who are preparing to recieve Confession/Holy Communion or Confirmation will have a formation process directed by the DRE. Parents will be able to sign up for an initial meeting to begin the process in August. Additional details and information will be forthcoming.
Catechism of the Catholic Church; the Duties of Parents
2221 The fecundity of conjugal love cannot be reduced solely to the procreation of children, but must extend to their moral education and their spiritual formation. "The role of parents in education is of such importance that it is almost impossible to provide an adequate substitute." 29 The right and the duty of parents to educate their children are primordial and inalienable. 30
2222 Parents must regard their children as children of God and respect them as human persons. Showing themselves obedient to the will of the Father in heaven, they educate their children to fulfill God's law.
2223 Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule. The home is well suited for education in the virtues. This requires an apprenticeship in self-denial, sound judgment, and self-mastery - the preconditions of all true freedom. Parents should teach their children to subordinate the "material and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones." 31 Parents have a grave responsibility to give good example to their children. By knowing how to acknowledge their own failings to their children, parents will be better able to guide and correct them:
He who loves his son will not spare the rod.... He who disciplines his son will profit by him. 32
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. 33
2224 The home is the natural environment for initiating a human being into solidarity and communal responsibilities. Parents should teach children to avoid the compromising and degrading influences which threaten human societies.
2225 Through the grace of the sacrament of marriage, parents receive the responsibility and privilege of evangelizing their children. Parents should initiate their children at an early age into the mysteries of the faith of which they are the "first heralds" for their children. They should associate them from their tenderest years with the life of the Church. 34 A wholesome family life can foster interior dispositions that are a genuine preparation for a living faith and remain a support for it throughout one's life.
2226 Education in the faith by the parents should begin in the child's earliest years. This already happens when family members help one another to grow in faith by the witness of a Christian life in keeping with the Gospel. Family catechesis precedes, accompanies, and enriches other forms of instruction in the faith. Parents have the mission of teaching their children to pray and to discover their vocation as children of God. 35 The parish is the Eucharistic community and the heart of the liturgical life of Christian families; it is a privileged place for the catechesis of children and parents.
2227 Children in turn contribute to the growth in holiness of their parents. 36 Each and everyone should be generous and tireless in forgiving one another for offenses, quarrels, injustices, and neglect. Mutual affection suggests this. The charity of Christ demands it. 37
2228 Parents' respect and affection are expressed by the care and attention they devote to bringing up their young children and providing for their physical and spiritual needs. As the children grow up, the same respect and devotion lead parents to educate them in the right use of their reason and freedom.
2229 As those first responsible for the education of their children, parents have the right to choose a school for them which corresponds to their own convictions. This right is fundamental. As far as possible parents have the duty of choosing schools that will best help them in their task as Christian educators. 38 Public authorities have the duty of guaranteeing this parental right and of ensuring the concrete conditions for its exercise.
2230 When they become adults, children have the right and duty to choose their profession and state of life. They should assume their new responsibilities within a trusting relationship with their parents, willingly asking and receiving their advice and counsel. Parents should be careful not to exert pressure on their children either in the choice of a profession or in that of a spouse. This necessary restraint does not prevent them - quite the contrary from giving their children judicious advice, particularly when they are planning to start a family.
2231 Some forgo marriage in order to care for their parents or brothers and sisters, to give themselves more completely to a profession, or to serve other honorable ends. They can contribute greatly to the good of the human family.
Notes:
29 GE 3.
30 Cf. FC 36.
31 CA 36 § 2.
32 Sir 30:1-2.
33 Eph 6:4.
34 LG 11 § 2.
35 Cf. LG 11.
36 Cf. GS 48 § 4.
37 Cf. Mt 18:21-22; Lk 17:4.
38 Cf. GE 6.
English Translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for the United States of America © 1997, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.