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Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish wishes to thank all our volunteers for being a wonderful example of living for the Lord!

Catechesis:

The Catechists of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish express the faith of the community and assist the community in fulfilling the catechetical mission of the Church as it seeks to proclaim the Good News of Jesus and foster mature faith in its members: children, youth, and adults. The Catholic Church continues the mission of
Jesus. It's mission, like His, is an essential one: "the Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present, and spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, §738).

• Catechesis is an esteemed term in Christian tradition. Its purpose is to make a person's "faith become living, conscious and active, through the light of instruction."

Catechesis is seen as having a fourfold task:

• Message: to proclaim Christ's message and pass on the Church's magisterial teaching.
• Community: to foster and develop community.
• Worship: to lead people to personal and liturgical prayer.
• Service: to motivate people to serve those in need and to work for a just, peaceful world.

How can you get involved:

• Catechist: In layman's terms, the Catechist is the main classroom teacher who helps to pass on the faith to children at all the grade levels. The Catechist will have a helper to assist them. The Catechist is asked to continue his/her spiritual education, skills and abilities needed to teach the Gospel message effectively. Those wanting to teach should have a solid grasp of Catholic doctrine, scripture, and ability to understand children, people and how they grow and mature. This is done by going to different seminars throughout the year to obtain Catechist Certification. “Training is provided” see below

• Classroom Assistant: helps the catechist during class time, takes attendance, hands out materials, assists with discipline issues, etc.
• Hall Monitors: monitor the halls during class sessions, rings the bell when classes begin and end, and calls parents whose children are absent.
• Office Person: Assist Religious Education Staff in the Office during class times or to assist the individual catechists with their parent letters.
• Musical abilities: to assist in sharing the gospel with the children on an “as needed” basis.

There are 350 children in our Program. Quality Religious Education IS NOT possible for ALL of them without YOUR Help.


Essential Norms                      

Charter for the Protection of Children & Young People

What is the church’s Mission to protect the children:
The Church has a mission to protect all of God’s children from abuse. There are two documents that state how they intend to do this LINKED ABOVE.

 

 

Catholic Resources and informational Web sites available on-line:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/index.htm This is the official website of The Holy See. . Check out the New American Bible, Catechism of the Catholic Church, and The Code of Canon Law which has an extensive concordance with almost every other word. (Make sure you click on the words “Click here to show the links to concordance”) There is also an extensive library of on-line Documents, Encyclicals, etc. that can accessed in the “site index” at http://www.vatican.va/offices/index.htm.

http://www.usccb.org  This is sponsored by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and is very useful and user friendly. There are tabs for The Catechism of the Catholic Church, a Catechism Quiz (http://www.usccb.org/catechism/quizzes/orders.htm), The New American Bible with daily readings (http://www.usccb.org/nab/index.shtml), Communications, Media Literacy, the Office of Film and Broadcasting movie reviews www.usccb.org/movies/ (there is a valuable resource to screen the movies in the theater and on TV.) Church Life and Ministries, Evangelization and Outreach, etc. To get a better understanding of all this site has to offer, check out http://www.nccbuscc.org:8765/

 http://www.homefaith.com/ This site is updated by the Claretians who are a Roman Catholic religious community of priests and brothers dedicated to the mission of living and spreading the Gospel of Jesus. Their ministries are devoted to social concerns and issues of justice and peace in parishes, foreign missions, and publishing. They are committed to reaching out to young people in the inner city, on college campuses, and through the Claretian Volunteer and Claretian Summer Ministry programs. On this site is practical information to assist families in passing on the faith to their children.

http://www.disciplesnow.com This site is rich in content on just about any Catholic topic conceivable. By linking to other sites, Disciplesnow has sections on apologetics, the Sunday readings with commentary and reflection, the entire text of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, movie reviews, music reviews and much more.

http://www.newadvent.org New Advent has an extensive library with church documents and a complete encyclopedia, bible on-line connected into the Encyclopedia for clarification and writings from the early church fathers. This site is one of those that is endless., There is so much information on virtually ever subject imaginable with links within the summaries to explain or clarify specific words.

 http://www.zenit.org/english  This site is primarily a independent news agency to inform the "world seen from Rome”. They aim to view the modern world through the messages of the Pope and the Holy See; tell about the happenings of the Church; and inform about the topics, debates and events that are especially interesting to Christians worldwide. Please note: ZENIT carries out this service independently of Rome.

http://www.americancatholic.org This site, run by St. Anthony Messenger Press, offers a “Saint of the Day” feature that includes stories and information about the life of the saint for that day. This is a great site of articles and information that helps explain our traditions and practices on so many different levels.

http://www.catholic.org/saints This has an extensive library of saints and angels. It has a search feature for your namesake, patron saints and a church calendar noting the feast days of the saints. There is also sections on prayer, vocations, home and family, finances, arts and entertainment (a.k.a A & E), “Find a Church” by using the city name and state.

http://www.catholicexchange.com/ Catholic Exchange is a non-profit organization that seeks to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world. It provides inspiring, high-quality, faith-based content to help Catholics understand practice their faith in their daily lives.

http://www.rc.net/wcc/readings/ Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations is the title of this site—and that is just what it offers. Its calendar allows visitors to access the Gospel reading for each day of the liturgical year, along with a brief meditation and an excerpt from a psalm.

http://www.catholicroom.com From this page there are many links and a wealth of information. Under the Categories tab is such topics as attitudes, change, Christmas, contentment, happiness, making a difference etc. Some of the daily features include Daily Mass Readings, Daily Prayer, Daily Scripture, Saint of the Day and Calendars. This has resource links to other websites and information.


There are four Dimensions of Training that is provided
Dimension A: the catechist. This includes attending to the human/personal growth and maturity, of catechists, their faith formation and spirituality, prayer life, and their apostolic consciousness (of being a catechist, and an evangelizer, entrusted with a ministry,).

Dimension B: the content. This includes attending to the catechist's knowledge of the Catholic faith, tradition and practice. Particular attention is due to Scripture as "the very soul of this formation" (GDC 240), with the Catechism of the Catholic Church serving as "the fundamental doctrinal reference point" (ibid.), with appropriate awareness of the hierarchy of truths, etc.

Dimension C: the learner. This includes attending both to the person of the learner (e.g., basic educational psychology, faith and moral development for adults, youth and/or children, physical development, etc.), and to the broader context in which she or he lives (e.g., the religious, social and cultural context of the community, family systems, influence of the media, etc.).

Dimension D: the methods. This includes attending to such matters as age-appropriate methods for teaching/learning, lesson planning, group process skills, classroom management, communication skills, discipline, conflict management, using art and music, etc.


Requirements. To make the classroom the safest possible, there are several things that we require of all volunteers who have regular contact with children.

1. Read Standards of Ministerial Behavior, sign and send it to the Religious Education Office.

2. Attend a Virtus Training or Protecting God’s Children Class. It is about 2 1/2 hours in length and is offered at several different places and times. This is for all volunteers who have regular contact with children. Topics include the dangers and warning signs of abuse, case histories, ways to prevent abuse and how to report suspected abuse. There are several training sessions each month at different locations in the Diocese. Go to www.virtus.org to register. Click on “registration” and follow the prompts.

3. To provide the safest environment for the children, a Criminal Background check will be conducted on our volunteers. You may download the form, sign and return.