FAMILY / HOME ACTIVITIES

"Family catechesis precedes, accompanies and enriches all forms of catechesis."
 General Directory for Catechesis #226

Families come in all shapes and sizes. But whatever the configuration, it is in the family that we learn our first lessons of life. Family catechesis is understood in the broader context of a formational approach where parents, children and elderly family members are shaped as they pray and celebrate, read and put into practice the Gospel message. Family catechesis works with the rhythms of family life, celebrating the seasons of the church and the seasons of their lives, doing activities which bring them together rather pull them apart.

I. Those activities which take place within the family itself.

• Family rituals and traditions
• Stories told and retold generation to generation
• Seasonal celebrations
• Family prayer and scripture sharing
• Reading Catholic newspapers and periodicals.

Resources which support family-centered activities

• Catechism of the Catholic Church
• Videos and children’s books
• Book of Blessings: Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers
• Catholic Free Press, 51 Elm Street Worcester articles on families
• At Home with our Faith, Claretian Publications, 1-800-328-6515
• El momento Catolico Claretian Publications How to raise happy children in Spanish and in English. 1-800-328-6515
• Growing Faith, Growing Family Twenty-third Publications 1-800-321-0411
• America: a Jesuit Magazine a national Catholic weekly 1-800-627-9533
• U.S. Catholic monthly magazine 1-800-328-6515
• Together in Christ 1-800-842-0646
• Raising Faith Filled KidsTom McGrath, Loyola Press
• Parenting Through Crisis: Helping Kids in Times of Loss, Grief, and ChangeBarbara Coloroso
• Web-sites:
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