St. Joseph’s parish is committed to providing faith formation opportunities for all ages and levels of learning. Our faith formation classes are inclusive as much as possible. Children with special needs who cannot learn in a conventional classroom will be assisted on an individual basis as outlined in a Religious Education Individual Education Plan formulated with parents, the coordinator of religious education, and special education professionals.
Children ages four through grade one have the opportunity to participate in the Children’s Liturgy of the Word at the 10:00 a.m. Mass, September through May. A catechist and assistants lead children out of the worship space (before the First Reading) to the Holy Family Adoration Chapel to hear the readings in language appropriate for their age and to discuss them, and return to the worship space during The Creed.
If you are interested in being a leader, please contact Kate. Training is provided.
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) is a Montessori approach to education, which focuses on self-directed activity and hands-on learning. CGS seeks to create and facilitate a sacred, “hands-on space” in which both the children and their catechists can hear, ponder, and celebrate the essential mysteries of the Catholic faith as revealed in Scripture and the Liturgy.
Currently Level I (ages 3-6) and Level II (ages 6-9) are offered.
For children in grades 1-5, religious education classes are offered to complement and assist parents in the religious education of their children. The students, with their catechist and classmates, learn about God, Jesus, the sacraments, Sacred Scripture, the Church, and their faith.
Children in grades K-11 are taught a personal safety curriculum as mandated by our diocesan Safe Environment program. Parents are informed of these lessons and the dates they are scheduled to be taught.
We offer numerous ways to assist parents in teaching the faith to their children with learning disabilities. We can provide assistants in the classroom to work with children on a more 1-on-1 setting, offer adaptive lesson kits for home learning, and when ready to receive the Sacraments, offer adaptive classes for Reconciliation, Holy Eucharist, and Confirmation.
Prayer for Inclusion
Creator God, we are your people.
We look to the future with optimism and with faith in You, as we pursue our call to provide justice and fullness of life for all people with disabilities.
We pray that every man, woman and child may develop their potential and meet You in themselves and in one another.
May we enjoy a totally welcoming community, with You as our center, joined hand in hand with our sisters and brothers. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen
Based on the Pastoral Statement of U.S. Catholic Bishops on People with Disabilities
Thank you for prayerfully considering becoming a Catechist!
And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets,
others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers,
to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God,
to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-13
Catechists are vital to the church community,
and teaching our children the faith is so important, it is our charge from Jesus:
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.
Matthew 28:19-20
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “Catechesis is intimately bound up with the whole of the Church’s life . . . her inner growth and correspondence with God’s plan depend essentially on catechesis” (no. 7). Faith sharing is crucial to the continued growth of parish life.
Parents and guardians are truly the primary catechists of their children. They prepare the soil and plant the first seeds of faith. On Catechetical Sunday, we not only highlight the work of catechists in parishes and schools, but we also commend parents and guardians and encourage them to take seriously their role of making their Catholic households a place where faith is passed on to the next generation.
According to the National Directory of Catechesis, by the USCCB
"The call to the ministry of catechist is a vocation, and interior call, the voice of the Holy Spirit. Catechists need to be practicing Catholics who participate fully in the communal worship and life of the Church and who have been prepared for their apostolate by appropriate catechetical training. Their commissioning by the Church is a participation in the divine calling to teach as Jesus did. Their personal relationship with Jesus Christ energizes their service to the Church and provides the continuing motivation, vitality, and force of their catechetical activity. Christ invites all catechists to follow him as a teacher of the faith and a witness to the truth of the faith.
Like all the faithful, catechists are called to holiness. Because of their ministry and mission, however, the call to holiness has a particular urgency. The spiritual life of a catechist should be characterized by
Lay catechists have a special solidarity with those whom they catechize and a particular sensitivity to their needs. They live in the same world as those they catechize, and they share the same demands of living in the world as do those they teach. Their proclamation of the Gospel, their personal testimony, and their living witness to the transcendent values of the Christian life can be particularly effective because they know the ordinary experiences of everyday life so well and are able to incarnate the Gospel in those ordinary circumstances. (National Directory for Catechesis, Ch. 8)