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CCD Program Kicks Off New Year, Ready To Form Our Young Catholics In The Faith
The family is the first place children learn the faith. This is why the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church calls the family the “domestic church” (11). In turn, the United States Conference on Catholic Bishops lays out several ways to build a “domestic church,” like always attending Sunday Mass, praying a Rosary as a family, and inviting priests, deacons and sisters into your home, to name a few.
The St. Peter Religious Education program, or CCD, seeks to also teach children the faith, outside the home.
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This year’s program will kick off in August with Wednesday night classes for sixth through eighth grades from 7 to 8:15 p.m. Classes for first through fifth grades are from 4:10 to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays.
The program’s new Director, Blake Vajgrt, looks forward to the new year. In particular, the sixth to eighth-grade program is exciting for him because it offers a mix of book learning and small groups.
“It’s the best of both worlds,” he says. “I love this format.”
Blake is thankful to be coming into such a strong program with so many great catechists and is excited to be working with the Christ the King Sisters. Sisters teach at the school and also in the CCD program for the sacrament years of second and fifth grade.
“What a blessing it is to have the Christ the King Sisters around,” he says. “They are a phenomenal religious order and a tangible expression of our relationship with God in a supremely visible way.”
The Christ the King Sisters lead the sacramental preparation classes.
At St. Peter, students receive the Sacrament of Confirmation in fifth grade. This Sacrament of Initiation strengthens God’s call to all of us as part of our Baptism. Some parents may regard Confirmation as their child’s “graduation” from CCD. However, Blake encourages parents to continue with the program all the way through eighth grade. Blake cites the parable in Matthew 13 where Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven as a “pearl of great price.”
“When you put your child in the CCD program, you are giving them a supreme gift that has infinite value,” Blake says. “Sometimes the best gifts, we never know how it touched a person. If the faith is cultivated correctly, you are giving your child something that no money will ever buy.”
