For Those Whose Children Attend Catholic Education Programs

One of the supreme gifts of marriage is bringing forth new life. God entrusts children to parents who have a primary right and duty to educate their children in the practice of their faith. Parents carry out this responsibility by creating a home full of love, forgiveness, respect, and fidelity.

The family is the community in which, from childhood, one honors God and learns moral values.

In the rite of the sacrament of Baptism, parents receive the call from God to evangelize their children, as here summarized:

"You have asked to have your child baptized. In doing so you are accepting the responsibility of training him (her) in the practice of the faith. It will be your duty to bring him (her) up to keep God's commandments as Christ taught us, by loving God and our neighbor. You will be the first teachers of your child in the ways of the faith. May you be also the best of teachers, bearing witness to the faith by what you say and do, in Christ Jesus our Lord."
No wonder, then, that the Church understands the home to be the domestic church. It is in the intimate environment of the family that parents are, by word and example, the first heralds of the faith with respect to their children. This environment is enhanced and deepened through the parish Eucharistic community that is the heart of the spiritual life for Christian families.

Catholic schools and parish religious education programs are in partnership with the family in proclaiming and witnessing to the person and life of Jesus Christ. They assist parents in fulfilling their responsibility as the primary religious educators of their children.

• Aware, then, of the dignity of this holy parental call, and with a reverent awe for that responsibility which is mine, I commit myself to be, in word and deed, the first and best teacher of my children in the faith. Practically, this means I should:
  
• Regularly participate in the Sunday Eucharist (if not Catholic, regularly participate in worship and prayer) with my family
  
• Commit to speak more with my children about God and to include prayer in our daily home life
  
• Participate in and cooperate with School or Parish School of Religion programs that enable me as a parent to take an active role in the religious education of my children, including sacramental preparation for Catholic children
  
• Support the moral and social teaching of the Catholic Church to ensure consistency between home and school
  
• Teach my children by word and example to have a love and concern for the needs of others
  
• Meet my financial responsibilities in supporting the Catholic School or Parish School of Religion.