In the Catechism of the Catholic Church we are reminded that “parents are the principal and first educators of their children.” ( CCC 1653 ) This blessed and awesome responsibility is part of the promises one makes when one’s child is baptized. We also read that “through the grace of the sacrament of marriage, parents receive the responsibility and privilege of evangelizing their children. Parents should initiate their children at an early age into the mysteries of the faith of which they are the ‘first heralds’ for their children. They should associate them from their tenderest years with the life of the Church. A wholesome family life can foster interior dispositions that are a genuine preparation for a living faith and remain a support for it throughout one’s life.” ( CCC 2225 ) “Education in the faith by the parents should begin in the child’s earliest years. This already happens when family members help one another to grow in faith by the witness of a Christian life in keeping with the Gospel. Family catechesis precedes, accompanies, and enriches other forms of instruction in the faith. Parents have the mission of teaching their children to pray and to discover their vocation as children of God. The parish is the Eucharistic community and the heart of the liturgical life of Christian families; it is a privileged place for the catechesis of children and parents.” ( CCC 2226 )
While the family is the first place where children are catechized in the faith, the parish provides a Religious Education programto assist and support families in the faith instruction and formation of their children. The children should learn how to pray and learn their prayers at home. Prayers will be practiced and prayed at Religious Education, but they are learned at home.
Pre-K to 8th Grade
Our Religious Education (RE) program is blessed to have volunteer catechists for every grade level from pre-K to 8th. The St. Dominic RE classes meet every Wednesday nights from 6:30pm to 7:30pm while the St. Francis Xavier RE classes meet every Sunday morning after Mass from 9:00am to 10:00am.
High School
Our Religious Education (RE) for the High School youth will be a combined program for St. Dominic and St. Francis Xavier. Meetings will be Wednesday nights from 6:30pm to 7:30pm at the PARISH OFFICE in Holton.