One of the main responsibilities of Catholic parents is to pass the Catholic faith on to their children, that is, to help them grow in faith in God, to trust in him, and to know his love.
To supplement the parents’ teaching, most parishes have a faith formation program taught by catechists who love Jesus and would gladly die for their Catholic faith rather than to deny Jesus. I’m grateful to those who have willingly chosen to become catechists at our parishes so as to help our parents pass on this faith. Being a catechist is a grave responsibility not to mention an opportunity to grow deeper in one’s own faith.
During my time in Killdeer, Halliday, and Twin Buttes it is my hope and prayer that we parishes grow in faith, this can’t be done without the help of parishioners willing to give of their time to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to others.
The biggest change in the faith formation program for Killdeer and Halliday in the coming school year is that I plan to move faith formation or PREP classes to Wednesday evening. I haven’t decided the time or times we will have it as of yet. I believe this will allow our children to attend more faith formation sessions throughout the year. At this point the main downside of this would be that some parents may stop bringing their children to Mass on Sunday. It may happen, but I believe that if we as their brothers and sisters walk with them in their faith, encourage, invite, and love them as Christ loves all of us then all of us will prosper in the love of God made present on our altars. Another drawback may be farm work in the spring and fall, but I believe these are minor compared to the advantages of switching from Sunday to Wednesday. Let me know your thoughts or concerns by email, telephone, or visiting in person.
Lastly, I want to thank JoAnn Lindemann who for the last years has been so willing to take time out of her busy schedule to coordinate the faith formation program. In speaking with her last week she asked me if she could step down from her position as director of religious education. Be sure to thank her for her good work for our kids these past years.
With this being said if you or someone you know would be interested in this position, let me know. It will take about 5-10 hours a week more or less to organize faith formation classes. The person will work with the pastor to ensure the faith is passed on to the best of our ability. It will be a paid position. In the future I will explain more of the job description.