Dear Parent(s),

In all ways, parents are the first teachers of their child. This refers specifically to values, and in this case, Catholic values. When your parents took you to the church for your baptism, they were asked if they understood the responsibility attached to a Catholic baptism, and if they intended to carry it out. They answered “yes.” Later on, when you took your child to the church for their baptism, you were asked the same questions. I suspect you answered, “yes” as well.

And now you are ready to enroll your child in the CCE program at St. Bernadette. Presumably, you want your child to grow up Catholic and to practice their faith.

What is the purpose of CCE? Its purpose is to help children understand their religion. But that is only part of the process in raising your child to be Catholic. The other part involves what is going on in the home. Learning about the faith is one thing. Living the faith is quite another. If a child is not exposed at an early age and with regularity to the real experience of our faith at home, CCE has very little to offer.

What are specific practices that children need to see and be a part of to grow in the Catholic faith? They need to experience their parent(s) attending mass. Regularly. They need to experience their parent(s) praying. Regularly. They need to watch TV with their parent(s) and hear their parent(s)’ values about what they watch. Children need more than your permission to surf the Internet … (beware of a wandering “mouse.”) They need to pray before they sit down to eat. They need to know that time with their family is important. Going to Mass and praying together, watching TV and eating together and just spending quiet time together is what RELATIONSHIP is all about. And if children do not know what relationship is in a family, they won’t have the basis for anything CCE can teach them.

When you answered “yes” at your child’s baptism, you accepted the responsibility of raising your child in the Catholic faith. That responsibility should not be taken lightly. It is more than just bringing your child to CCE classes; it means to live at home what is being taught at the Church.

My prayers are with you as you invest your faith in your child’s faith.