This week, Catholic Times is delighted to bring you our annual section honoring Parish School of Religion programs. In these heartwarming stories, you will read about children and young people in our diocese who thirst to learn more about the Catholic faith and how to incorporate its practice into their daily lives.
These stories also illustrate the immense vitality of parishes that sponsor PSR programs.
It goes without saying that most PSR programs depend heavily on the dedication of volunteers who give their time and talent — and often treasure — to pass the faith to a new generation of Catholics. Volunteer teachers and catechists who staff parish PSR programs often relate how honored they feel to bring the light of Christ to young minds and hearts. They freely acknowledge how much they themselves have learned about their faith during the process of preparing and teaching their classes. They are also inspired by the simplicity and zeal of their young students.
As you continue reading through these stories, you might also notice a growing trend in our parishes — linking PSR to adult formation programs. Some parishes have scheduled Why Catholic? groups at the same time as PSR classes. Parents must drop their children off and either wait for PSR to end or return to pick up students after classes. Why not use the time to enrich their own understanding of the faith?
Other parishes are taking steps to involve parents more deeply into the formation of their children. Parents, our church teaches, are the primary educators of their children. But many parents are uncertain about their own understanding of the faith. In response, parishes are offering enrichment opportunities so that parents — and grandparents and, in fact, everyone — might come to a more profound understanding of Scripture and the Catholic faith through study and faith-sharing.
A truly beneficial side effect of involving adults in PSR and faith formation programs is that children learn early from their role models that the faith journey is life-long. The notion that learning about our faith stops after eighth grade — or confirmation or graduation from high school — has resulted in many Catholic adults practicing an immature faith. In faith formation programs such as Why Catholic?, we adults learn to “put away childish things,” as St. Paul says.
The Catholic tradition is so abundantly rich that there is always something new to learn or a new insight to awaken our enthusiasm — even for oldsters. And, in the process, we demonstrate to the children in our lives that PSR is not an end in itself, but part of the life-long pilgrimage of a disciple of Jesus.