Parish comes together for Family Catechesis

Submitted by Debi Green
For The Catholic Week
TROY — St. Martin of Tours Parish in Troy held its Family Catechesis on Sept. 12.  
As a part of the parish Faith Formation program, children were joined by their parents, students from Troy University, Fellowship of Catholic University Students, Leadership ministry, and parishioners for intergenerational discussions about the Catholic faith.  
“Sunday is a day of communion with God,” said Fr. Chris Boutin, pastor.  “It is to be set apart.  That is the goal of our Family Catechesis. We gather together to worship Him, then we gather as His body to learn, eat and enjoy the company of that body which is every one of us."
Family Catechesis was started to help equip parents in their role as primary educators of their children, to create fellowship between the different generations in the parish and to further the involvement of the college students in the parish life.  
“The theme for this Family Catechesis session was Catholic Identity, and discussion centered around living a Catholic life in a secular world,” said Anna Gooden, parish catechetical leader. “Some of the questions discussed were, ‘What is your favorite family tradition? How would people respond to Jesus coming today? What does keeping the Sabbath day holy mean to you and What does your family prayer time look like?’ ” 
She added: “We, as educators, can’t teach these young people all about Catholicism in one hour a week before Mass. Everyone needs to be involved in the Catholic education of our children.  Children see everything, so we all need to be a role model for these young minds.”