4 minute read
Family Faith Formation
Growing Together on the Faith Fourney
No matter your age, there is always something new to learn about our faith! It’s never too early to start building a strong faith foundation so that our children can understand what it means to be Catholic. Here at St. Theresa, our Family Faith Formation program teaches children the building blocks of what we believe, and gives parents the tools to be faith educators for their children. Together, the program helps families to grow on their faith journey together.
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“I love that we call it ‘Family Faith Formation’ instead of just ‘religious education,’ because that’s really what it’s all about,” says Meredithe Gera, who serves as a catechist with the program. “The family — especially the parents — are the main teachers, and should be the leaders on the children’s spiritual paths. I think it’s really important that they’re involved in the program.”
Family Faith Formation provides one-hour classes to elementary school children every Sunday, between the 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Masses. These classes include teaching catechism, sacramental preparation, and the Order of the Mass.
“I really like that we have our classes on Sunday mornings in between the two Masses,” Meredithe says. “I’ve seen a huge increase in families attending Mass since we started doing classes on Sundays. Not only are they coming and learning more about their religion, they are actually participating in the Masses. If they don’t understand what is going on, they’re not going to be able to participate — I spend a lot of time talking about what Mass is, the two main parts, and what they see and hear.”
As Meredithe notes, one key objective is for parents to become more involved, instead of just dropping their children off at the formation classes.
“Recently, we made a change where the parents come in and sign their kids in and out of class,” she says. “It brings them into the building, and we always say that parents are welcome to stay during the class. We’re also trying to have more meetings and lessons where the family also joins in. We have them for a one-hour class each week, and their families are with them the rest of the time. We want to encourage them to carry the things they learn over into their homes.”
Faith Formation classes for junior high school students meet on Wednesday evenings, and the Life Teen program for high school students meets on Sunday evenings after the parish’s Life Teen Mass.
“We restored the original sacrament order here in Hawaii, so these classes used to involve a lot of sacrament preparation,” Meredithe says. “All that changed, but it has been fabulous because I have still seen a lot of participation in the program, even though they aren’t doing the sacrament preparation anymore. I think it’s great that kids are now able to participate in ministry sooner since they will have received their sacraments sooner, and I think we will see them more involved in the Church over time.
“It’s really important to teach them that they can be involved in ministry as part of the life of the parish,” she adds. “A lot of our teenagers participate in the Life Teen Mass by ushering and lecturing and altar serving. Some of our kids are also coming back and participating as youth leaders, which has been really great to see. They are our future!”
Meredithe first started teaching Family Faith Formation when her oldest child, who is now 24, was in the second grade. Over the years, teaching has helped her to grow in her own faith while she shares it with the younger members of our parish community.
“It really helped to renew my faith, and it reinforced things I had learned years ago, as well as taught me new things,” she says. “Seeing the children grow and develop over the years has really made me proud. It also helped my own family — we have to walk the talk and lead by example, and the kids seeing that I was willing to commit to teaching them made them more willing to commit to their own faith. It was really good for all of us.”
Although this past year of formation was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program put together lesson plan packets and materials for the students to continue their learning at home. Despite the difficult situation caused by the pandemic, Meredithe hopes that families have been able to find some good in spending more time together, and in putting the focus on continuing faith formation at home.
“I know the kids were really enthusiastic about the activities, and it’s a positive thing that families have been asked to carry on as their child’s teacher in the faith,” she says. “We were not set up for virtual classes, but the parish has been streaming the Masses, and it’s wonderful that now this has been brought into people’s homes where they can participate.
“When we live-streamed the Easter Mass, just by watching and feeling what was happening in the church, I could feel the presence of our community even though we weren’t physically there,” she adds. “I found myself tearing up because it was so beautiful to realize that our community extends beyond the walls of the church. I raised three kids at this parish and the people that supported us were so instrumental in their development. It really takes a village, and I think that’s what our faith formation program is — it gives our families the support they need to stay committed.”
