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Walking_Home
Guest
If it isn’t part of the Catholic schools job to keep the kids Catholic—integrate the Catholic faith within its curriculum—then why call the school a Catholic school.
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If it isn’t part of the Catholic schools job to keep the kids Catholic—integrate the Catholic faith within its curriculum—then why call the school a Catholic school.
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TripleM
Guest
Walking Home…I couldn’t agree more.
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netmilsmom
Guest
Yes, you’re right. Exactly, correct. We as parents should be keeping not only our children but ourselves Catholic.
But let’s look at this realistically. We have a generation of Catholics who got poor Catholic training. For an entire generation, the focus has been on making us wonderful Christians but not so wonderful Catholics. So now, we have Catholic schools who, 20 years ago at least attempted to teach what the Sacraments were about. Now they are leaving it to parents to make sure that their children understand when they don’t even understand themselves. No wonder the focus of the Sacraments has become the party in many different places.
Let’s start looking around and understanding the problem. I can’t live Catholic if I never understood what that meant in the beginning. We are taking a group of lukewarm Christian Catholics and telling them that they must educate their children to understand what they don’t.
In my old Catholic Community, we had to attend seminars for “Religious Formation” before our children could receive the sacraments. After attending and talking to the parents, I went to the next meeting of the “Education Committee” that I was a member of and said to the DRE,
“You have a bigger problem here than the kids not learning, the parents have no clue.”
Now you say that the responsibility is on the parents? I say that we as the members of the Church have the responsibility to right the mistakes made before and concentrate on teaching the children. They are our future, they will help their parents if they get the right information. Not to be good Christians, THAT the parents learned and can teach. We need to make good Catholics and God Willing they will be able to do the same for their children.
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Cristiano
Guest
I do not get your point. I seems that you are moving to the all or nothing statements and I do not believe that to be true for any form of education. As I perviosly stated not even seminarians learn everything. I simply said that the educators must work with a mix of the different aspects of theology and that includes aspects of sacramental theology. I think that you are reading things in my posts that are not there. That is probably my fault and I should have been more descriptive.
The Catholic schools are not going to keep the kids Catholic, it is beyond their reach. Look at how many parents send to kids to Catholic school, and then they let them watch trash TV, play violent games, support dating at young ages. How many families pray together, go together to Mass and Sunday schools. How many of the parents that send the kids to Catholic school put the Church first? We have free will and a lot of the “Catholic” parents use it the wrong way.
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marytk
Guest
I received my preparation for sacrements in school (ages ago). But it was the PARISH school. I think that these days many parishes can’t really support a shool so we have schools that are independent (of a Parish not the Church.) I know a couple of these schools and they do a great job of teaching the faith but the sacrements are up to the parish. I am sure that they support the teaching of sacrements too
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Cristiano
Guest
You nailed the whole point down. The only section where I do not see eye to eye with you is where the responsibility lies. Parents that TRULY want Catholics kids MUST acknowledge their ignorance and study. There is plenty of material conform with the Catholic teachings that is available for every level of education. The Church cannot motivate people, if people do not really want to believe that salvation is only through the Church they are not going to assume ownership and to study for their children’s sake.
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puzzleannie
Guest
do you know for a fact that religion in general and sacraments in particular are “neglected” in your child’s Catholic school curriculum? I never heard of a Catholic school that did not include daily religious education, with an approved text and curriculum from the diocese, that covers a pretty standard range of topics. usual progression is 1st grade Creation and basic beliefs and prayers, 2nd grade Penance, Eucharist, 3rd gr. creed, marks of the Church and Mass, 4th grade morality, commandments, beatitudes, 5th grade Sacraments and Mass in more depth, 6th grade OT, 7th grade NT, 8th grade Church history and Catholic identity.
Just because the actual immediate sacramental prep is not being done at the school you seem to be quite ready to condemn the whole RE curriculum. I would like to hear more about why you feel this way.
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netmilsmom
Guest
But seminarians learn the basics. Leaving the Sacraments out of a Catholic education is leaving out one of the main things that makes us different from everyone else
You are blaming the parents for something that is out of your control. A Catholic school can ADD the moral lessons but Sacramental Education is not something that they can learn by watching tv. I can get the extras by watching VeggieTales.
And you know what, in my parishes where the CCD classes are more than beefed up Sunday School, our families pray together, go to Holy Mass together (more than on Sundays I must add). The young people themselves are involved with Catholics in the Public Square, a whole big bunch of them were at the Right to Life rally in DC and are into the Chastity movement.
So by who’s fruit would you rather be known?
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puzzleannie
Guest
AS a parish DRE it is my primary responsibility to teach adults and guide religious formation for adults–parents and catechists–so that they may be better prepared to guide children’s religious formation, their own children at home and the children of the parish.
the focus of my efforts in regard to sacramental prep cannot be directed only at the children, I must also educate parents and padrinos, and help them get what they need to teach and form the children entrusted to them.
I am supposed to do this for families in our school as well as those in CCD, but the school still does this for 3rd graders. Any children over the “usual” age for first communion come to CCD on Saturday for full sacramental prep, and their parents must attend our parent meetings since the school only programs this for 2d-3rd grade children and their parents.
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puzzleannie
Guest
I think the true parish school is a thing of the past, almost all Catholic schools are regional, and draw from several surrounding parishes, and an increasing number (like my grandkids’) are completely independent from any parish ties. those regional schools all send children for sacramental prep to their home parishes. The reason was ably stated by JM above, the bishops are trying to wean parents (and parishes) from the misconception that RE=sacramental prep.
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netmilsmom
Guest
The problem is that most parents who want their kids to be better Catholics are not on Catholic Answers. They have no clue where to start because they have no clue what they don’t know.
Now, you give the child that information and the parent can learn along and hopefully go from there. We have to start looking at the big picture here. We have grown adults that are children in their Catholic training. If those adults are paying a Catholic School, they should be able to gleen information that their children are being given.
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Cristiano
Guest
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netmilsmom
Guest
I have no problem with this, in fact, I think it will do the parents some good, as long as the children are being taught in a Catholic Classroom setting as well. If every lesson about the Sacraments is only at parental meetings and not being taught in a Catholic Classroom, that it pretty sad.
I see you are not doing it this way but it seems that this is what the OP is getting.
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puzzleannie
Guest
OP has not really said yet what they DO teach at her Catholic school in regards to RE. She is so far focussed on sacramental prep only.
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KathleenElsie
Guest
In the non-parish (private) Catholic Schools in our area they do not teach religion to all the students. The children need to be opted into those classes. Why? Well it seems that the schools are about 50/50. 50% from homes that are Catholic and 50% non-Catholic and Jewish. Some of the schools even are “proud” of the diversity of their student population. So not teaching the sacraments in school is a financial decision in many cases.
I guess with no religious in teaching positions and salaries that equal the public schools with unlimited tax revenues it makes financial sense. We could no longer afford to send our children and still have a stay at home parent to watch the younger children and keep the home in order for everyone. When your income is around $35,000 and tuition is around $12,000 for your elementary children you are forced to make choices. We home school, use the Baltimore C, and send the kids to CC once a week for the social aspects of our Parish home.
I guess with no religious in teaching positions and salaries that equal the public schools with unlimited tax revenues it makes financial sense. We could no longer afford to send our children and still have a stay at home parent to watch the younger children and keep the home in order for everyone. When your income is around $35,000 and tuition is around $12,000 for your elementary children you are forced to make choices. We home school, use the Baltimore C, and send the kids to CC once a week for the social aspects of our Parish home.
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Cristiano
Guest
It sounds like the preparation ground for some of our “Catholic” universities
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KathleenElsie
Guest
Yes and then we wonder why our children are growing up “pro-choice”It sounds like the preparation ground for some of our “Catholic” universities
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Br.Rich_SFO
Guest
Yes, parents are the primary teachers of Sacramental preparation for their children. Each Pastor according to Canon Law has always been responsible for overseeing the celebration of the Sacraments with members of his parish.
This “New” development simply puts things back to the way they should have always been.
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thann
Guest
I’m going to jump into the fray here.
My son attended a private independent Catholic elementary school (that is, not associated with a particular parish). It is an orthodox school and its religious education is exceptional – daily mandatory religious education (Scripture, doctrine, etc.), weekly Mass, weekly Chapel, Eucharistic Adoration, prayer before every class, several religious on staff, and I could go on and on. They do not prepare children for sacraments because children should be prepared in their home parish. So my son, in addition to his daily religious education in school, also attended weekly religious education/sacrament preparation classes at our parish.
This was very good because he got an excellent and deep education at his school, and was truly involved in parish life at our home parish.
[The real eyeopener was that the kids who attended public schools and received only the once-weekly sacramental prep were woefully uneducated in our faith. My son could have taught the classes! But that’s another thread…]
He’s a junior in an orthodox regional Catholic high school now, and continues to grow in faith. He puts me to shame with his devotion. His Catholic school has daily Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Benediction, mandatory daily religious education, etc. They also participate in the Kairos Retreat program, and my son is a trained retreat leader.
He turned out the way he did because of: 1) My husband’s and my active involvement in his faith walk, 2) his excellent religious education in elementary and high school, 3) sacramental preparation at our home parish, and 4) his continued involvement in parish life.
I guess what it boils down to is, I believe that children should prepare for the sacraments in their home parish, and become active in parish life, which they can do even as second graders. Their own parish is where they will receive Holy Eucharist and the sacrament of penance regularly, so that is where they should feel most at home.
Parents should get as involved as possible, too – for example, I taught confirmation prep classes at my parish for several years. If you’re not confident in teaching the faith, volunteer to be a room parent – that way you will learn along with your child, and you can reinforce their learning at home.
My two cents.
'thann
My son attended a private independent Catholic elementary school (that is, not associated with a particular parish). It is an orthodox school and its religious education is exceptional – daily mandatory religious education (Scripture, doctrine, etc.), weekly Mass, weekly Chapel, Eucharistic Adoration, prayer before every class, several religious on staff, and I could go on and on. They do not prepare children for sacraments because children should be prepared in their home parish. So my son, in addition to his daily religious education in school, also attended weekly religious education/sacrament preparation classes at our parish.
This was very good because he got an excellent and deep education at his school, and was truly involved in parish life at our home parish.
[The real eyeopener was that the kids who attended public schools and received only the once-weekly sacramental prep were woefully uneducated in our faith. My son could have taught the classes! But that’s another thread…]
He’s a junior in an orthodox regional Catholic high school now, and continues to grow in faith. He puts me to shame with his devotion. His Catholic school has daily Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Benediction, mandatory daily religious education, etc. They also participate in the Kairos Retreat program, and my son is a trained retreat leader.
He turned out the way he did because of: 1) My husband’s and my active involvement in his faith walk, 2) his excellent religious education in elementary and high school, 3) sacramental preparation at our home parish, and 4) his continued involvement in parish life.
I guess what it boils down to is, I believe that children should prepare for the sacraments in their home parish, and become active in parish life, which they can do even as second graders. Their own parish is where they will receive Holy Eucharist and the sacrament of penance regularly, so that is where they should feel most at home.
Parents should get as involved as possible, too – for example, I taught confirmation prep classes at my parish for several years. If you’re not confident in teaching the faith, volunteer to be a room parent – that way you will learn along with your child, and you can reinforce their learning at home.
My two cents.
'thann
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