Bulletin Column for Aug. 27

Dear friends in Christ,

We’re happy to welcome two new faces to our CtR community this week. First, Joe Russell has joined us as our new principal organist. Joe comes to us from Philadelphia and is a student at Rice University studying Music and Organ Performance. Rice has an excellent reputation for those wishing to study organ. You may recall that Joe’s predecessor, Dorothy VanDine, also came to Houston to study at Rice. She completed her undergraduate and then stayed to finish a master’s at the University of Houston (another great school for music performance), and has moved to New York City to continue her education and career. We’re happy to have Joe with us, and he’s fitting in fine with Bridget Wenk, our Director of Music Ministries, and the choir. He’ll be playing at the Saturday evening Mass and at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday mornings. Welcome, Joe!

We’re also happy to welcome Camilla MacKenzie to CtR, who joins us as an apprentice from the University of Notre Dame. Camilla is one of three graduate students assigned to the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in the Echo Program. Echo is a post-graduate, work-study program to train the future lay ministers of the Church. The students live and pray together and are assigned to work in the Religious Education departments of CtR, Epiphany of the Lord and St. Ignatius of Loyola parishes over the next two years while continuing in the master’s degree program at Notre Dame. 

Camilla is a native of Cincinnati and a graduate of one of the best Catholic schools in the country, the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Kathy Kelley, our Director of Religious Education, will be her mentor and help her get a broad overview of parish catechetical ministry. We’re honored to again be selected as a host parish for this highly regarded program. You will recall that we, over the past four years, have had Michelle Ross and Colleen Campbell as our Echo apprentices. Both did great work for us and are continuing to flourish in the field of religious education. I’ve told Camilla the only thing I can guarantee her is that she will definitely get an immersion into the joys and challenges of parish life here at CtR! She said she’s ready to work and ready to learn, so please join me in welcoming her to our staff.

In other news, remember that registration for R.E. classes for Pre-school through 7th grade ends this coming Thursday, Aug. 31. Please make sure you have your children registered by that time so that they will be ready to begin classes the week of Sept. 18. It only takes a few minutes to finalize the registration at our parish website or in the R.E. Offices. If you have a child in 8th through 12th grades, the registration takes place through our Youth Ministry Department. Parents of students who are preparing for confirmation (either Year 1 or Year 2), are especially encouraged to contact the Youth Ministry Office if you have not yet signed up.

Speaking of religious education, I recently came across an informative study of the connection between parents and children when it comes to religious practice. Do you know what the “holy grail” is for helping youth remain religiously active as they move into young adulthood? It’s parents. Mothers and fathers who practice what they preach and preach what they practice are far and away the major influence related to adolescents keeping the faith into their 20s, according to the findings from a study of youth and religion by the University of Notre Dame.

Here’s an amazing stat – just one percent (one percent!) of teens ages 15 to 17 raised by parents who attached little importance to religion were highly religious in their mid-to-late 20s. In contrast, 82 percent of children raised by parents who talked about faith at home attached great importance to their beliefs and were active in their congregations were themselves religiously active as young adults, according to data from the National Study of Youth and Religion.

Other factors such as youth ministry or clergy or service projects or religious schools pale in comparison. That’s important for us all to remember. While we priests, deacons, youth ministry leaders and catechists are happy to be involved in the life of your teens (in fact, we thrive on it) you parents are overwhelmingly the chief influencer of your children.

In research using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, sociologists found that children of parents who believe that religion is very important and display their commitment by attending services are most likely to transmit religiosity to their children. One of the strongest factors associated with older teens keeping their faith as young adults was having parents who talked about religion and spirituality at home. Other key factors included having parents for whom personal faith is important and who demonstrate that faith through attending services. Teens whose parents attended worship with them were especially likely to be religiously active as young adults.

That echoes my own unofficial findings of nearly 20 years as a priest – parents and teens who come to Mass together every week (not just occasionally or when it is convenient, but every week) are more likely to be engaged in the faith. And beyond that, you must talk about what your faith means to you. Why do you believe what you do? Why is it important for you? What does the Scripture say? Why does the Church teach what it does? These are all questions to be talked about as a family. If we never engage our faith except for an hour on Sunday it only stands to reason that it will wither and fade.

The role of parents is even more critical today as trust in institutions decline and many children with more demanding schedules are spending less time in church, the study said. Parents must be mindful that after age 12, their role recedes in the mind of their children and the influence of peers, the media, music and social media take over. That can lead to a tendency for parents to turn their children over to “experts.” Many parents consider that to be the responsibility of clergy, religious education departments and youth ministry groups.

But the work of the Church is to help parents realize their primary role in transmitting faith to the next generation by working with them from the very moment of the births of their children to empower them to take on that responsibility. We want to work cooperatively with all parents and encourage families to worship together.

So in this coming religious education year, please promise to take a “hands-on” approach to living the faith. The Church promises to partner with you to help you communicate the faith to your children, but it all begins by attending Mass weekly, praying together and talking about our big, beautiful faith with one another. Do that with your children and I promise you it will make a difference in your life and the life of your child not only now but for years to come.

Peace, 
Fr. Sean