Dear Parents,

I am writing to you regarding an important matter concerning Faith Formation and sacramental preparation at St. Frances Cabrini. Mary Jo Chronis, our Religious Education Coordinator, and Nick Lanowich, who directs our Youth Group and Confirmation program, have my full support in overseeing the requirements and expectations of our parish formation programs. I wanted to take this opportunity as your pastor to explain why we take those expectations seriously.



First and foremost, our concern is not simply about attendance at classes or completing requirements. Our concern is the formation of your children in the Catholic faith and helping them come to know, love, and follow Jesus Christ.

Whether your child is preparing for First Holy Communion, Confirmation, another sacrament, or participating in our regular Faith Formation or youth programs, what we are doing together is important. We are helping to form a young person in a relationship with Christ and in the faith of the Church.

Because of that, faith formation cannot simply be placed among the many other activities competing for a family’s time. Sports, school activities, travel, and other commitments may all be good things, but our Catholic faith cannot become optional or something we attend to only when nothing else is on the calendar.

Part of the responsibility entrusted to me as pastor—and shared with Mary Jo, Nick, and our catechists—is to make certain that the children and young people entrusted to our care are being properly formed in the faith and, when preparing for a sacrament, are adequately prepared to receive it. Sometimes that means encouraging families; sometimes it means accommodating illness or genuine difficulties; and sometimes it means lovingly correcting and admonishing when faith formation or sacramental preparation begins to take a back seat to other priorities.

For too many years, inadequate formation and catechesis have contributed to generations of Catholics who received the sacraments without fully understanding what they were receiving, what the Church teaches, or why their Catholic faith matters. We see the consequences of that today in our Church, our families, and our culture. We cannot correct that simply by wishing things were different. We have to begin by taking seriously the formation of the children entrusted to us.

That responsibility belongs to the parish, but it begins in the home. The Church has always taught that parents are the first and primary teachers of their children in the faith. Our parish, our catechists, and our Faith Formation and youth programs are here to assist you in that sacred responsibility, not to replace it.

For that reason, regular participation in Sunday Mass, attendance at Faith Formation and sacramental preparation classes, completion of assigned work, prayer at home, and the example of the Catholic faith lived within the family are not separate obligations. They belong together. A child cannot be taught that the Catholic faith is important in the classroom while being shown through the family’s priorities that it is optional outside of it.

We certainly understand that children become sick, emergencies occur, and families sometimes face circumstances beyond their control. We will always try to work pastorally with families in those situations. When a required class is missed, however, parents should contact Mary Jo or Nick, as appropriate, and the missed material or other requirements will need to be completed.

Repeated or excessive absences from sacramental preparation may require us to determine whether a child has received sufficient preparation to celebrate a sacrament at the scheduled time. This is not intended as a punishment, nor is it about withholding the sacraments from children. It is about taking seriously our responsibility before God and the Church to ensure that those approaching the sacraments have been properly prepared.

Likewise, regular Faith Formation should not be viewed simply as something children complete until they have received First Communion or Confirmation. The sacraments are not graduation ceremonies from religious education. They are encounters with Christ meant to deepen a life of faith that continues afterward.

I ask you to receive this letter in the pastoral spirit in which it is intended. Mary Jo, Nick, our catechists, and I want the same thing that I know you want for your children: that they know Jesus Christ, understand the Catholic faith they have been given, receive the sacraments with faith and understanding, and grow into Catholic men and women who continue to practice their faith throughout their lives.

We cannot accomplish that without you.

Thank you for entrusting your children to us and for working with us to make their formation in the Catholic faith the priority it deserves.

Be assured of my prayers for you and your families.

In Christ,

Fr. Joseph, Pastor

St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church