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A Note from the
Director of Evangelization & Lay Formation to Parents
What role do you want God to plan in your family?
What do you desire most for our children, your spouse?
Is it not happiness? Is it not a fulfilled life?
True fulfillment and happiness can only be found by
responding to the call to be one with our Triune God.
Our conscious response and enduring decision to follow
Jesus Christ and surrender our lives over to His service
is the foundation of all fulfillment and happiness.
Your child has a divine purpose, a divine mission; a
vocation to fulfill that is unique and irrepeatable.
Their response to this call is primary to their
happiness. Your home is the training field (the
novitiate), where God has placed them to receive the
most basic formation for His divine plan in their life.
Religious Education is much more than merely preparing
your child for a sacrament. It is more than simply
teaching your child what the Church teaches. It is more
than helping your child be a “Good Catholic”, who
attends Mass every Sunday and participates in the
communal life of the parish in service to others.
Together with parents, Religious Education seeks to
cultivate within your child a growing capacity to: 1.)
Desire to follow Jesus Christ as His disciple within the
Church community. 2.) Choose to live (as they mature) as
His apostle in the world.
A moment will come in the life of your child where they
will need to decide for themselves whether or not they
will be a follower and disciple of Jesus Christ and a
responsible member of His Church? Are you doing all in
your power to prepare them for this moment?
If you would like the parish community to assist you in
the formation of your child’s relationship with Christ,
consider registering your child for one of our programs.
In Christ,
Bobby Vidal
Director of Evangelization & Lay Formation
For more information about our Religious Education
programs take a look at our Religious Education
Handbook. For more information about registering your
child for a religious education program see our
Registration Newsletter.
Religious Education Programs Offered at Blessed Kateri
Little Church -
The Little Church program is for 3, 4, and 5 year old
children and is held during the 8:30am Mass while their parents and older siblings attend
mass. The goal of this program is to provide young
children with positive and loving first experiences with
the Catholic Church in a semi-formalized setting.
Lessons are liturgically based on each week’s gospel
with an emphasis on how God’s word applies to a
preschooler’s life experience. Our hope is that Little
Church enriches the church life of the students and
helps prepare them for regular mass participation.
Little Church Calendar 2011-2012.pdf
Elementary Classes -
This program is set-up for all families with children in
grades 1-6 who are seeking to enrich their lives with a
deeper communal interaction of their personal faith
experience of Christ. These sessions are set-up to help
parents in their role as primary educators of the faith
by weekly meetings filled with prayer, games, lectures,
and take home/chapter review assignments in the
classrooms at Blessed Kateri.
Elementary Calendar 2011-2012.pdf
Monday Elementary Class Schedules 2011-2012.pdf
Tuesday Elementary Class Schedule 2011 - 2012.pdf
Wednesday Elementary Class Schedule 2011 - 2012.pdf
Thursday Elementary Class Schedule 2011 - 2012.pdf
Children’s Catechumenate (RCIA)
This process is intended for un-baptized children who
have attained the use of reason and are of catechetical
age; and children 9 years and older who have been
baptized as infants, but have not received religious
formation in the Catholic Church. They seek Christian
initiation, either at the direction of their parents or
guardians, or, with parental permission, on their own
initiative. The sacraments of Christian Initiation are
Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Eucharist. This process
of Christian Initiation requires both a personal
conversion, in proportion to their age, and instruction
in the Faith. We speak of the process as the child’s own
“journey of faith”. The wonderful part is that the
parents and catechists have the privilege of
accompanying the child on this journey as they develop a
deeper relationship with God and the community. The main
focus of RCIA sessions is for the parents and children
to feel a renewed sense of “welcome” within our Catholic
Christian community.
YRCIA 2011-2012 Calendar Sundays.pdf
YRCIA Calendar 2011-2012 Young Adult
Inquirers-Thursdays1.pdf
YRCIA Calendar 2011-2012 Young Adult Catechumenate-
Fridays.pdf
First Holy Communion and First Reconciliation
Is a two consecutive year preparation program that
assists parents in readying their child for the
reception of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and
Communion. Religious readiness, not chronological age or
school grade, will determine a child’s readiness to
encounter Christ in these sacramental celebrations. This
decision of readiness rests with the parents and the
child in dialogue with the catechist, coordinator,
director and/or pastor.
First Communion Handbook 2011--20121.pdf
The EDGE
The Edge is a radical new Catholic centered program
aimed at young adolescents who are in the 7th and 8th
grade. The EDGE is designed to meet their educational,
spiritual, emotional, and social needs. As part of the
Catholic Church’s mission to evangelize, catechize, and
spread the gospel message of Jesus Christ, middle school
youth are encouraged to go out and bring the faith into
the world
Junior High Student Syllabus 2011-2012.pdf
Home Study
This is a home-based version of the classroom programs,
Elementary 1st Grade – 6th Grade and Junior High, 7th
and 8th Grade, designed for those families that are not
able to attend weekly classes at the parish. Parents who
enroll their children in Home Study are required to
attend adult formation classes, and 1 parish retreat of
their choice by at least one parent.
Home Study Class Schedules 2011 - 2012.pdf
Home Study Guidelines 2011.pdf
All Home Study participants need to read and complete
the Guidelines and Agreement:
Home Study Agreement 2011 Sign and Turn In.pdf
F.I.R.E.
This is a “Family-centered Intergenerational Religious
Education” program design to help families in a small
faith community setting encounter Christ by different
activities, prayers, rituals, and faith sharing
sessions. Participants will meet once a week at a
Facilitator’s home at the best appointed time of all
families involved.
Whole Community Catechesis
Whole Community catechesis is a concept that implies two
main principles. First, because conversion is an ongoing
process, we need to catechize and be catechized our
entire lives. Growth in faith and religious literacy is
not just for children. Second, that growth in faith is
mutual. We do not teach our children, friends, family
and parish without being taught ourselves. The entire
community needs to be involved with formation not just
the children. Blessed Kateri “family weeks” are the
assembly component of Whole Community Catechesis.
Family Week
Family week occurs 2 times a year on Tuesday and
Thursday evenings. On those weeks, in lieu of
traditional classes, children do not attend their
regular religious education classes rather the entire
family attends either evening together. The sessions
will be oriented to the entire family and the children
will remain in the worship area with the adults. The RE
Dept. will be providing dinner for our families.
* All of the presentations will be intergenerational.
Our topics will be interesting and engaging to adults,
High School, Jr. High and Elementary members of your
family.
Volunteer Opportunities
The Blessed Kateri Religious Education curriculums are
dependent on volunteers who generously give of their
time to our various programs. We have a wide variety of
needs sure to suit your talents.
Because our volunteers work with the children of our
parish, all adult volunteers are required to follow the
Blessed Kateri Safe
Environment Program. This includes:
Attending a VIRTUS for Adults training session
A background check in the form of fingerprinting
Reading the Safe Environment Program Handbook (SEP) and
turning in Appendix A & E from the handbook
More details about these requirements can be found by
clicking here
SEP and VIRTUS Program Link.
If you have more questions about volunteering
opportunities in Religious Education, please contact
Susan Kipper at
sep@blessedkateriparish.org or at 661-296-6945
x7902.
Thank you so much for your gift of time and talent to
our community.
Volunteer Orientation
The Volunteer Orientation is on Tuesday, August 23rd in
classrooms 2 & 3. Safety and Hall Monitors from 6:30pm
to 7:30pm; Class Aides from 7:45pm to 8:45pm. Office
Aides will report to the office during the week of
September 12, 2011
Volunteer Job Descriptions:
Class Aide
Safety Monitor and Hall Monitor
Office Aide
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