Family Catechesis

"The Church is a family of families, constantly enriched by the lives of all those domestic churches" (Amoris Laetitia, 87)

The term "domestic church' refers to the family. In this context, the family is a small gathering of believers in Christ. The Church recognizes that "the family is a place in which the Gospel is transmitted and from which is extends" (GDC 255).

Click here to read Bishop Cotta's New Year Resolution for Families

“The parish is … the usual place in which the faith is born and in which it grows.” (GDC, 257.)

The Diocese of Stockton, with its 35 parishes and fourteen missions, is blessed with a wide diversity of people. Each parish seeks to respond to the needs of the community it serves. When it is time for you to enroll your child in a school it is also the best time to enroll him in the faith formation program offered at your parish. You may be:

• Invited to the parish for an interview
• Asked to bring a copy of the child's baptismal certificate
• Expected to pay an enrollment fee
• Encouraged to sign-up yourself for a course or
• Even to assist in her/his class

Sacraments in General

The liturgical life of the Church revolves around the sacraments –“signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church” by which divine life is given to us and celebrated (NDC, 35). All sacraments are parish centered celebrations of God’s presence among us. Preparation for each sacrament is an opportunity for parents, pastors, catechist and parish communities to enhance their children’s spiritual journey.

As a norm, parishes offer sacramental catechesis that:

• Integrates knowledge of the faith with living the faith
• Is Trinitarian
• Presents Christian life as a lifelong journey
• Is appropriate to the age level, maturity and circumstances of those being catechized
• Is for all members of the Christian community
• Involves parents in the preparation of their children
• Is integrated into the parish catechetical program
• Focuses on symbols, rituals, and prayers in the rite for each sacrament
• Enables children to reflect on the meaning of the sacrament through experience of mystagogia following the celebration.

Faith Formation for Parents

Faith Formation for Parents

Pastors and parish catechetical leaders endeavor to enable parents to fulfill this privilege and obligation by proving support, faith formation sessions for parents, encouragement of active involvement in their child’s catechesis and full participation in the celebration of the liturgy.

Participation in a retreat day, provided by the diocese or the local parish, is a requirement for confirmation sponsors and parents of children and youth preparing for the sacrament of Confirmation.

While “the home is the first school of Christian life and ‘a school for human enrichment’” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1657), education and formation for children and youth is a lifelong process and the responsibility of parents, pastors, and the local parish community.

The Church recognizes that there are situations where some families choose to "home school" their children. However, these efforts cannot be done independently of the parish setting, as supported by the Code of Canon Law.

• Can. 773 Pastors of souls especially have the proper and serious duty of seeing to the catechesis of the christian (sic) people, so that, through doctrinal formation and experience of the christian (sic) life, the faith of the people may be living, manifest and divine.

• Can. 774.1 The care for catechesis, under the direction of lawful ecclesiastical authority, extends to all members of the Church, to each according to his or her role.

• Can. 774.2 Before all others, parents are bound to form their children, by word and example, in faith and in christian (sic) living. The same obligation binds sponsors and those who take the place of parents.