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Our parish offers a flexible, family-centered model of faith formation, called Family of Faith. Family of Faith replaces the traditional Sunday School program, empowering and equipping parents as the primary catechists of their own children. An emphasis is placed on disciplines for discipleship (e.g., daily prayer, weekly Mass, and monthly Confession) as a family.
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Recent Flocknote Messages
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Family of Faith 2021-2022
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Help your kids to find themselves in the Bible. Many people want to read the Bible because they know it is God’s Word, but they give up because it seems so complicated. In September 2021, Family of Faith is introducing The Bible Timeline® to both parents and kids to help our families discover God’s plan of salvation. The Bible Timeline helps you get the “big picture” of God’s plan by showing how fourteen narrative books of the Bible tell the complete story from Adam and Eve to Christ and the Church. Your family will discover how the story found in God’s Word is your story, the story that helps each of us make sense of life’s biggest questions.
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On the first Sunday of each month, parents gather in the gymnasium and students gather in their classrooms for Teaching Sunday, when we learn the key ideas that we'll be focusing on throughout the month.
During the 2021-2022 catechetical year, parents and children will be learning the story of salvation using The Bible Timeline®. Many Catholics want to read the Bible because they know it is God’s Word, but they give up because it seems so complicated. On Teaching Sundays throughout the year, parents will be watching and discussing the life-changing video series Unlocking the Mystery of the Bible so that we can get the “big picture” of the Bible and share it with our kids. Kids will be using My Catholic Faith Delivered for grade-specific instruction and will be using new G.P.S. (God's Plan in Scripture) resources from Ascension Press to learn the story of salvation.
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Who doesn't enjoy a good family movie? Our Family of Faith program is introducing Family Movie Sunday in 2021-2022. On the second Sunday of each month, parents and kids are invited to come to St. Aloysius Church's hall for an opportunity to discover the story of the Bible through engaging videos.
Throughout the 2021-2022 faith formation year, we'll be watching the hilarious and informative video series What's in the Bible? by VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer. Family Movie Sunday will include video, discussion, activities, and games that reinforce the monthly themes that were learned by parents on Teaching Sunday.
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The third Sunday of each month is Community Sunday, an opportunity for fellowship and faith. First, gather for coffee and donuts in St. Aloysius Church's hall. Then, participate in a variety of games and activities to review what has been learned during the month! Stay tuned to Flocknote emails and texts for details each month.
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Family of Faith program uses the online learning platform My Catholic Faith Delivered to teach grade-specific lessons to children from 1st to 8th Grade. Children complete one online lesson at home each week and will review what they've learned each month in their classrooms on Teaching Sunday. My Catholic Faith Delivered lessons are short, easy-to-use, and informative.
Each My Catholic Faith Delivered lesson contains a chapter from the Faith and Life textbook series by Ignatius Press. If you think that your child would learn more effectively from the printed textbook than from the online platform, please let us know, and we'd be happy to accommodate!
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Our Family of Faith program is based on a simple truth - Parents impact the faith of their children more than anyone else. Our kids are deeply influenced by how the Catholic faith is practiced (or isn't practiced) at home and will tend to imitate the faith that they see (or don't see) in us. We recommend these five disciplines for discipleship for your family:
#1 - Celebrate the Liturgical Year
The seasons of the Church's liturgical year - Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary Time - provide opportunities for our families to celebrate the events of our salvation in Jesus Christ. Look for ways to establish family traditions around the great feasts of the Church's year (e.g., an Advent wreath, family Lenten sacrifices, etc.) or connect the family traditions you already have to your Catholic faith.#2 - Every month, make time for Confession
The precepts of the Church require baptized Catholics to go to the sacrament of Reconciliation at least once a year (see Catechism of the Catholic Church 2042), but going more frequently is extremely helpful. Confession reconciles us with God and the Church, gives us peace of conscience, and empowers us to resist future temptation. Try to go with your family about once per month.#3 - Every week, make time for Sunday Mass.
Because the sacrament of the Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life,” all Catholics are obligated to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason. At the Mass, we have the extraordinary privilege of hearing the Word of God, uniting ourselves to the sacrifice of the Cross, and receiving Jesus in Holy Communion. Make Sunday Mass a top priority for your family.#4 - Every day, make time for family prayer.
Our children learn to communicate with God by watching us do so. There are many ways to pray as a family - for example, you can read and discuss Scripture, pray a decade of the Rosary, pray a few of your favorite prayers, or pray more spontaneously. Find a routine that works for you and set aside time every night to pray with your kids. As the old saying goes, “the family that prays together, stays together.”#5 - Every moment, make time for love.
“God is love” (1 John 4:8), and the measure of our holiness is our love for God and for one another. The family is our first “school of love,” where children are meant to learn how to experience and express Christian charity day by day, moment by moment. As Pope Francis has taught:In the family, we learn closeness, care and respect for others. We break out of our fatal self-absorption and come to realize that we are living with and alongside others who are worthy of our concern, our kindness and our affection. There is no social bond without this primary, everyday, almost microscopic aspect of living side by side, crossing paths at different times of the day, being concerned about everything that affects us, helping one another with ordinary little things. Every day the family has to come up with new ways of appreciating and acknowledging its members ( Amoris Laetitia 276).
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Receive Family of Faith Updates
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Contact Us
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lwathensaintaloysiuschurch.orgDirector of Religious Education
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