Our annual seasons of Advent and Christmas are filled with facts and teachings of our faith. 

 

Consider, for example, the role of Mary and her conception without sin, her acceptance of God’s request that she become the mother of Jesus and then her charitable visit to her cousin Elizabeth. 

 

During Advent we also meet John the Baptist and his life of penance. We see ourselves in the crowds of people who left behind their sins in order to listen to him and then change their hearts and receive the baptism of repentance.

 

On Christmas Day we celebrate the birth of Jesus and the meaning of the infinite and eternal God taking on human nature to be among us. 

 

We ponder the poverty of the Holy Family and the shepherds, the deaths of the Holy Innocents and the first example of government opposition to Jesus Christ.

 

These are important elements that contribute to the totality of the Good News that makes up the Gospel message of Jesus to the world. To know those components of our faith and to understand them is to know the truth about God and about ourselves. 

 

If, however, we are unfamiliar with the teachings of our Catholic faith, we are living our lives in incompleteness. 

 

We risk frustration and uncertainty at not being able to answer the questions that life will confront us with. And in our secularized world so hostile to the faith, we are often left unable to respond to criticisms and objections that are so prevalent in the media and in society.

 

Even more, to know the faith is to become more intimately familiar with Jesus Himself in our lives. In that way the teachings and dogmas of faith lead us to a heartfelt closeness and friendship with Christ. It is that friendship, to be lived for eternity, that we seek at the end of our lives.

 

It has been the task of the Church, since the Ascension of Jesus to the Father, to go and teach all nations. We have a task of being missionaries, not only abroad and in foreign countries, but even locally and in our families.

 

To meet this challenge, the Catholic Church in the United States has long supported, at great personal and financial sacrifice on the part of the faithful, a system of Catholic schools. Our current study of Catholic schools going on in the Diocese of Rockford has the goal of securing our school system for the foreseeable future.

 

But the Diocese of Rockford also seeks to spread the faith by means of our religious education program. These efforts are geared particularly to Catholic young people who do not attend Catholic schools. Their need to grow in the practice and knowledge of the faith is just as real and alive and important for eternal life. 

 

In the most recent diocesan statistics, the number of students enrolled in this important mission totals about 24,000. The number of catechists, who so generously volunteer to share their faith, comes to nearly 2,000.

 

This is clearly an impressive effort. But experience shows that it needs a renewal to meet modern challenges. 

 

The conveying of faith must adapt to young people living in a world of noise, distractions and the constant engagement with smart phones.

 

But something else is needed as well. No educational program, no matter how well conceived and lovingly executed will succeed in passing on the faith if it is not supported and reinforced in the family. 

 

The life of prayer, discussion of the faith, the expectation of moral values, and especially attendance at Mass as a family are the keys to successful catechizing and evangelizing the next generation.

 

Parents, be sure to enroll your children in your parish religious education program. Make it the value that it ought to be in the life of your family. Reinforce it with prayer and the example of faith at home.

 

Christmas is the highlight of the year for many. Working with our families and our children to build

 the knowledge and friendship with Jesus Christ makes it ever more so.