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Bryan G. wrote: |
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Hi, guys —
- Can parents teach their child religious education at home by just attending Mass with their children:
- every weekend
- on Holy Days of Obligation, and
- by finding free Catholic resources online, and
- teaching from that, instead of enrolling the children in the parish's religious education program?
The problem is the tuition is around like $300. and sacrament fees are around $90. which is to be paid in addition to tuition. These fees are unaffordable and are completely outside the family budget especially due to inflation.
You can definitely learn a whole lot just by attending Mass.
Bryan G.
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| { Since the Religious Education fees are unaffordable, can we teach our child the faith ourselves? } |
Bob replied:
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Dear Bryan,
Thanks for the question.
The answer depends on what the norms are for your particular parish. Most parishes will make provision for families with lower income that struggle to pay fees, and similarly often have an option to educate the child at home with an appropriate (or parish-sponsored) curriculum; this practice became widespread during the lock downs/COVID issues.
I would suggest talking it through with your Pastor and Religious Ed coordinator and finding some workable solution. The bottom line is that just going to Mass, while very important and critical, does not replace direct education in Catholic beliefs and practices.
Working with your parish will ensure that your children have the proper records for having received their Sacraments, which complete their initiation to the faith. Many Catholics do not realize that Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation together fulfill the initiation of a Catholic, so you want to do it right and not simply wing it.
God Bless,
Bob Kirby
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Mike replied:
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Hi Bryan,
I just wanted to supplement to Bob's fine answer.
Here are some Home-Schooling organizations that may be able to help you.
While many are focused on the basics like Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, others include in their programs, On-line Religious Education curriculum.
Although I'm sure there are many find CCD classes in various Catholic dioceses, there are important topics that, at least I was never taught that are missing like:
- Discussing and promoting Catholic Evangelization and Apologetics at the CCD level, and
- Bringing to light study on the various Early Church Fathers, Saints and Martyrs that are a testament of our faith going back to 33 A.D.
Now some may object that there is not enough time within the given RCIA class curriculum to address these issues but I trust the Holy Spirit to guide those in charge to come up with a way.
So my recommendation is taking both Bob's answer and my answer, putting them together and seeing the single answer to your question.
For short, it's an (and/both) answer rather than an (either/or) answer.
Hope this helps,
Mike
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