|
Today, more than half of Catholic millennials report going to Mass a few times a year or less, and, according to a 2014 poll, 68 percent of Catholic parents decide not to enroll their child in any formal Catholic religious education. It is scary when you think that 68% of our next generation have little or no religious education or moral instruction as they navigate their lives through a challenging world. We have a major problem on our hands.
It is crucial to realize that many contemporary parents are usually busy to the extent that getting time to share moral stories with their kids is almost impossible. Religion helps in explaining the complicated issues of life that are not addressed in other disciplines. Some of the mysteries include life after death, miraculous occurrences, hell, and heaven. Science and other disciplines do not explain these things, yet they are important items in religion.
Without good quality religious education delivered by a qualified religion teacher, who provides accurate and balanced information about our Catholic faith as well as respectfully sharing different world views that make up modern United States, young people are placed at risk. Without a fair instruction and open dialogue, our young people are at risk of ignorance that might lead to misunderstanding or even bigotry. As they go through life, they risk basing their knowledge, understanding and opinions on sources that perpetuate inaccurate and misleading stereotypes. If and when those prejudices and falsehoods surface in the classroom, well trained teachers of faith are equipped to challenge and correct them.
In recent years, parishes have implemented various models of religious instruction. The good news is that some of those innovative models of catechesis that look beyond the classroom, like family-based religious education that center on small group discussion and service, have shown great potential. This year, in addition to our traditional model of a weekly class taught by a teacher, CTK- St. Stephen RE program will also offer family-based religious education, where parents play a central role. In this program, parents and their children attend religious education classes once a month separately, and then the parents will tutor their children for the following 3 weeks. Deacon John will give more information in the days to come.
I am hoping that we can work together to get our children and teens back to sacramental preparation and religious formation.
We start our program in the month of September. I am inviting you grand-parents, parents and especially God-parents to start dialoguing and planning for this year’s program. I want to engage our newly confirmed teens to take upon themselves the awesome task of inviting your friends to the confirmation program. We can do this together. Thank you.
Fr. Paulson
| 
