Written by Julie C. Delaney, Ph.D., Principal of St. Paul the Apostle Catholic School in Davenport, IA, [email protected]
As Catholic school educators, we are in a wonderfully unique position to not only evangelize our students, but also their parents. We are set up to both fulfill our mission as St. Pope John Paul II stated in his address to Catholic school leaders on September 12, 1987, in New Orleans, “The ultimate goal of all Catholic education is salvation in Jesus Christ,” but to also help our families fulfill their mission.
“The family is, so to speak, the domestic church. In it parents should, by their word and example, be the first preachers of the faith to their children” (Lumen Gentium, #11).
Our school is blessed to be a part of a parish that has made a conscious effort to support parents in building domestic churches in their families. As a parish and school staff, we work together to provide opportunities and tools to help parents in their role as primary educators of the faith. It is not uncommon for parents to send their children to Catholic school, yet not attend Mass on Sunday. They have relegated the education in the Catholic faith to the school. One of two reasons are often behind this phenomenon. First, parents have been catechized but not evangelized. They have head knowledge, but their hearts aren’t engaged. In that case, why not give the responsibility to the school, that’s what schools do. Second, parents may not have a strong model beyond school religion classes or weekly religious education on which to base their knowledge and frame of reference. With these ideas in mind, let’s begin the journey of helping parents develop their domestic church, working together as a school and with our parish(es).
Provide opportunities for parents to encounter Christ and be evangelized.
Before parents can evangelize to their children, they must first be evangelized and be growing in their own faith.
- Weekend Retreats – We have found success in inviting parents to attend a weekend retreat such as a Christian Experience Weekend (CEW), Christ Renews His Parish (CRHP) or some other community/parish-based retreat. An overnight retreat can provide space for parents to have an encounter with Christ, a conversion experience. This is a great starting place to engage hearts without the distraction of the responsibilities of home and family.
- Marriage Retreats – Provide opportunities for parents to nourish their marriage and faith together. We have Invest Groups, which are small groups of married couples meeting monthly for a year with specific content and time for sharing.
- Adult Small Groups – Help parents to individually grow their relationship with Jesus and their knowledge of the faith at the same time. This can be a book study, a prepared program or something as simple as Lectio Divina. A small group can provide a safe place to share struggles, ideas and blessings. Parents can learn from the experiences of others. These groups tend to be women’s groups or men’s groups.
- Mom’s Groups and Mom’s Facebook Page – These are great formats for mothers to share life and faith experiences, ask questions and mainly learn from one another. This helps to build a community where faith discussions become the norm mingled in with the practical.
Help parents understand their role and responsibility.
- Use sacramental prep meetings to catechize parents about their role and the domestic church.
- Use school newsletters and other communication opportunities to invite parents to faith-formation opportunities focused on the domestic church.
- Use school newsletters, Facebook, emails, etc.
Provide opportunities for parents to learn alongside their children.
- Family Faith Nights – We call our family faith nights “Households of Faith.” This is a multigenerational approach to faith formation. We begin the evening with Exposition at 4:30 PM, followed by Mass, dinner and then the faith-formation content. We end our evening by 8 PM so kids can get home to bed. We provide babysitting for infants and toddlers. Depending on the content, we either keep everyone together or split out into age-appropriate groups. To encourage families to attend, these nights happen monthly on the second Monday of the month, there are no school activities scheduled and no homework given.
- Family Advent or Lent Celebrations – Families can make an Advent Calendar, with a variety of choices, learn about various traditions to observe Advent and the coming of Christ. Have parents work with their children on Stations of the Cross that they can take home with them.
- Cocoa and Carols – All parishioners are encouraged to attend with a special focus on inviting families.
Give parents tools to use at home.
- All religion textbooks have letters home for parents and family activities. Use those readily available resources.
- In school and parish communications include links for activities and content that are tied to the liturgical year for families to use at home for faith formation.
- Make use of social media to share resources such as a school or parish Facebook page.
This list of ideas is just the tip of the iceberg in helping to build the domestic church. It can look like an overwhelming task, but the important thing is to start somewhere. The most important place to begin is with prayer and nurturing the partnership between the school and parish. Once you are working together to build the domestic church it grows from there. Our staff started by trying one new thing each liturgical season. While trying out these ideas, we also studied what other groups are doing and other available resources. Start small and persevere. It will produce fruits, and the Church will grow through our families.
References
Second Vatican Council, “Lumen Gentium: Dogmatic Constitution on the Church” (hereafter LG) in The Documents of Vatican II, retrieved from https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html on July 18, 2024, #11.
