FAMILY FORMATION
OVERVIEW
WHAT IS FAMILY FORMATION?
Family Formation is a unique family catechesis model which supports parents in their roles as the primary educators of their children in the Catholic Faith. Family Formation is a tried-and-true curriculum developed over many years by regular parents who were searching for a better option. The materials are engaging, down-to-earth, and east to understand. With the help of games, quizzes, stories, and music, the lessons transmit solid Catholic teaching and bring the Faith to life within the family. Since its beginning in 1988, Family Formation has grown to serve thousands of families all across the United States, in Canada, and beyond.
HOW DOES IT WORKS?
IN THE HOME. At the heart of the Family Formation is the domestic church. Weekly Home Lessons provide the backbone for children’s spiritual formation and cover all the major principles of the Catholic Faith.
Saint John Paul II said, “Families, become who you are.” The teachings in the Home Lessons help families become the domestic churches they are called to be., by devoting approximately one hour per week throughout the school year, fully incorporating the Catholic Faith will soon become a way of life.
Lessons include hands-on activities for the whole family, memory verses, audios, stories, games, and booklets to aid families in developing traditions that integrate the liturgical seasons of the Church.
IN A PARISH where Family Formation is utilized, families gather together once a month. Using the lessons provided, trained catechists teach the children in grade-level classrooms while parents attend an adult teaching on the same topic. Parents are then provided all of the home Lesson materials they will need for the rest of the month to teach the Faith to their family.
Saint John Paul II said, “Families, become who you are.” The teachings in the Home Lessons help families become the domestic churches they are called to be., by devoting approximately one hour per week throughout the school year, fully incorporating the Catholic Faith will soon become a way of life.
Lessons include hands-on activities for the whole family, memory verses, audios, stories, games, and booklets to aid families in developing traditions that integrate the liturgical seasons of the Church.
IN A PARISH where Family Formation is utilized, families gather together once a month. Using the lessons provided, trained catechists teach the children in grade-level classrooms while parents attend an adult teaching on the same topic. Parents are then provided all of the home Lesson materials they will need for the rest of the month to teach the Faith to their family.
WHY FAMILY FORMATION?
A careful reading through the documents of the Catholic Church quickly reveals the Church’s great expectations for the family. “The family is a domestic church,” Lumen Gentium, 11 . It is in the family that the Truths of the Faith are taught and lived on a day-to-day basis. “The right and duty of parents to give education is essential… original and primary...and it is a irreplaceable and incapable of being entirely delegated to others.” Familiaris Consortio, 36
As a Church, we recognize our ineffectiveness in catechizing children if their parents are not involved in the process. Through the Family Formation, parents are evangelized and catechized and come to understand what the Church is asking them. By giving them support and encouragement in their mission, we are responding to the Church’s call.
In a nutshell, this is the goal of the Family Formation. The adult formation sessions teach and encourage parents and provide them with the tools to share the Good News and the beauty of the Catholic Faith with their children and to form them into true disciples of Jesus Christ.
As a Church, we recognize our ineffectiveness in catechizing children if their parents are not involved in the process. Through the Family Formation, parents are evangelized and catechized and come to understand what the Church is asking them. By giving them support and encouragement in their mission, we are responding to the Church’s call.
In a nutshell, this is the goal of the Family Formation. The adult formation sessions teach and encourage parents and provide them with the tools to share the Good News and the beauty of the Catholic Faith with their children and to form them into true disciples of Jesus Christ.
In Brief:
Family Formation:
Family Formation:
- is written by parents for use in families
- follows the three-year liturgical cycle
- is driven by Sacred Scripture
- is faithful to the teaching of the Magisterium
- references the Catechism of the Catholic Church
- has received the imprimatur of Rev. Harry Flynn (former Archbishop of the Diocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis )