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Youth Services
HF Youth Links
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Religious Education is designed to help children grow spiritually at their individual level of experience and comprehension. Religious Education is a lifelong process and that parents are the primary spiritual and moral educators of their children. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church says so beautifully: Education in the faith by the parents should begin in the child’s earliest years. This already happens when family members help one another 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" (Catechism, 2226). Our responsibility as a parish church is to support parents in their role as the primary teachers and evangelists of their families. Catechesis of children encompasses promoting knowledge of our faith, sacramental preparation for initiation, liturgical education, moral formation and prayer. Through our Faith Formation program, Holy Family seeks to give the children in our faith community the knowledge, experience, and skills necessary to become faithful and fruitful disciples of Jesus.
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Excerpts from Renewing the Vision: A Framework for Catholic Youth Ministry Three interdependent and equally important goals guide the Church's ministry with youth. These goals state what it means for the Catholic community to respond to the needs of young people and to involve young people in sharing their unique gifts with the larger community. Goal 1: To empower young people to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in our world today. Ministry with youth helps young people learn what it means to follow Jesus Christ and to live as his disciples today, empowering them to serve others and to work toward a world built on the vision and values of the reign of God. Goal 2: To draw young people to responsible participation in the life, mission, and work of the Catholic faith community. Young people experience the Catholic community of faith at home, in the parish (especially in youth ministry programs), in Catholic schools, and in other organizations serving youth. Ministry with youth recognizes the importance of each of these faith communities in helping young people grow in faith as they experience life in community and actively participate in the mission of Jesus Christ and his Church. Goal 3: To foster the total personal and spiritual growth of each young person. Ministry with youth promotes the growth of healthy, competent, caring, and faith-filled Catholic young people. The Church is concerned for the whole person, addressing the young people's spiritual needs in the context of his or her whole life. Ministry with youth fosters positive adolescent development and growth in both Christian discipleship and Catholic identity.
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Excerpt from In Support of Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools, 1990, 2005 The United States Catholic Bishops maintain that Catholic schools continue to be “the most effective means available to the Church for the education of children and young people.” Catholic schools afford the fullest and best opportunity to realize the fourfold purposes of Christian education:
Excerpt from Catholic Schools on the Threshold of the Third Millennium, 1997 Further, Catholic Schools are:
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