Religious Education

---

The purpose of religious education or catechesis is "to put people not only in touch, but also in communion and intimacy, with Jesus Christ." The fundamental task of religious education is helping to know, to celebrate, and to contemplate the mystery of Christ. 

Religious education, then, is a process of deepening our relationship with Christ, and through him, with the Father and the Holy Spirit. This process develops within the community of faith, the Church. Education in the Church embraces all the dimensions of faith and its attendant responsibilities: knowledge of the faith, liturgical education, moral formation, prayer, community life, and mission. The task of catechesis is rich and varied. Through study and experience of the gospel message, each person's faith gradually unfolds, so that it is increasingly known, celebrated, lived, and translated into prayer. (General Directory for Catechesis, 80-87, adapted)

RCIA

---

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) is the process through which adults are fully initiated into the Catholic faith community. This process includes four formation periods: the Period of Inquiry, the Period of Catechumenate, the Period of Purification and Enlightenment, and the Period of Mystagogy. Each period is part of an ongoing conversion journey, which changes the direction of our lives and changes how we translate our lives into meaning.

In a sense, the RCIA is for the whole Church, since it is the process whereby the Church prepares new members for itself. With its dependence on evangelizers, sponsors, and catechumenate team members, it entrusts the task of sharing the faith to each member of the Church. It calls all of us to become a welcoming, faith-filled community, the People of God. (Adapted from the RCIA Team Manual, pp. 3,5)

 

Adult Education  

---

The Adult Faith Formation Program has been instituted by the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux and initiated for use in the training of catechists and teachers in Catholic schools and parish religious education programs. This formation program is also open to the entire parish family, to all who wish to enrich their understanding and appreciation of the Catholic faith.

As faith-filled disciples of Jesus Christ, we must share in the building of faith communities of adult believers and further commit ourselves to a lifelong journey of understanding our faith, proclaiming our faith, and living our faith.

Sacraments

---

Sacraments celebrate the ultimate mysteries that have been revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. They are outward signs that open a door upon transcendent, divine reality. Jesus himself is considered by theologians to be a sacrament. Followers of Jesus found themselves in the presence of a mystery that revealed to them more than human love and understanding or human power. Jesus was a sacrament through whom his followers encountered the mystery of God.

In time the community of Jesus' followers came to identify seven ways in which Jesus is a Sacrament of God to others: in offering new life to others, in sending the power of his Spirit, in healing their illnesses and forgiving their sinfulness, in ministering to their spiritual needs, in being faithful to God and the church, and in laying down his life in sacrificial love.

Today the church, the Body of Christ, continues to express through sign and ritual the mystery of God's presence in our lives. The seven sacraments are communal celebrations that bring us beyond the purely human, into the realm of the sacred and into an experience of divine mercy and grace.