Our Religious Education program is designed to help children grow spiritually at their individual level of experience and comprehension.  Integral to each session is an understanding of the gospel message of Jesus Christ, its application to their daily lives, and the teachings and traditions of the Church.

The process of formation is the responsibility of everyone in our parish: clergy, staff, parishioners, and especially parents. Everyone has a part in sharing his or her stories of faith.  This is really what happens in religious education.  It doesn’t happen overnight, or in a year of classes, but rather is a gradual process over years of a child’s maturing toward an adult Catholic understanding. Formation isn’t attending every class and “checking off boxes,” rather, it is growth and maturity in the Catholic faith.

Parents, of course, are the first and most important catechists in their children’s lives.  It is not solely the RE program’s job to catechize the children in our classes.  Parents take that role on at their child’s birth and lead catechesis through praying together as a family, attending Mass regularly, exposing children to the Gospel, etc.

As you model to your children, be especially mindful of the following expectations, which are in keeping with the basic tenets of the Catholic Christian tradition: attending Mass weekly and on Holy Days of Obligation, sharing your time, talent, and treasure, being connected in the Cathedral community, and making prayer an important part of daily life. This sets the best possible example for your children.