Religious Ed

Upcoming Events:

~March 6/7: K -8 grade FAITH FAIR (along with DONUT/HOTDOG Sunday!!!); after all masses in the upstairs parish hall.

~Sunday, March 14: K-8 grade Catechist Prayer & Planning Session; 10:30-11:30am in the downstairs parish hall.

The Church has always considered catechesis one of her primary tasks, for, before Christ ascended to his Father after his Resurrection, he gave the Apostles a final command–to make disciples of all nations and to teach them to observe all that he had commanded. He thus entrusted them with the mission and power to proclaim to humanity what they had heard, what they had seen with their eyes, what they had looked upon and touched with their hands, concerning the Word of Life. He also entrusted them with the mission and power to explain with authority what he had taught them, his words and actions, his signs and commandments. And he gave them the Spirit to fulfill this mission. Very soon the name of catechesis was given to the whole of the efforts within the Church to make disciples, to help people to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, so that believing they might have life in his name, and to educate and instruct them in this life and thus build up the Body of Christ. The Church has not ceased to devote her energy to this task.

“At the heart of catechesis we find, in essence, a Person, the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, the only Son from the Father … who suffered and died for us and who now, after rising, is living with us forever. To catechize is to reveal in the Person of Christ the whole of God’s eternal design reaching fulfillment in that Person. It is to seek to understand the meaning of Christ’s actions and words and of the signs worked by him. Catechesis aims at putting people … in communion … with Jesus Christ: only he can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy Trinity.” ~Catechism of the Catholic Church 426

Pope Benedict XVI, in his encyclical entitled Sacramentum Caritatis (The Sacrament of Charity) said: The aim of all Christian education, moreover, is to train the believer in an adult faith that can make him a “new creation”, capable of bearing witness in his surroundings to the Christian hope that inspires him.

With this in mind the religious education program at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church is dedicated to training and educating all parishoners in that strong, vibrant and zealous adult faith that will make them “new creations” and witnesses to Christ in the ordinary circumstances of life in which God has placed them. As witnesses to the Hope found in the person of Jesus Christ and his Church they will be effective apostles in the world, living strong sacramental lives of service to God and neighbor. The Religious Education Program serves all parishioners of all ages with classes and programs that help all to understand the great mystery of our faith and how to live it with total self giving dedication and zeal.