By Jessica Easthope
In a traditional catechesis classroom, 10-year-old Christopher Padilla would be reading a passage one time in front of other kids and a teacher.
But at home, he can read it, re-read it, and discuss it as much as he likes because he’s doing it with his mom, Dawn.
“When the teacher is talking about it, she can’t go back in a whole lesson just to talk about it with you all on your own. On your free time you get a whole book, you can go back to it and just keep on reading it for yourself,” Christopher said. “So I think that’s great.”
“It’s great that we have time at home together with us bonding and learning but he’s also able to go participate in actual in-person events at the church so it’s great for us to be able to do both,” Dawn said.
Christopher, Dawn, and her husband, Christopher’s dad, Randolph, are parishioners at St. Anastasia Church in Douglaston. Christopher attends P.S. 221. When it came time to enroll him in catechesis, their family opted for a unique set up, a model that’s totally online.
At first the main reason was scheduling. Dawn is the executive assistant to the chief financial officer at NASDAQ. Randolph is a mortgage broker. Their jobs didn’t afford them the flexibility to take Christopher to catechesis at 4 in the afternoon on Wednesdays.
“Getting him to class and home and coordinating is difficult for me,” Dawn said. “So being able to have the ability and flexibility at home is amazing.”
Rose Ruesing, the director of faith formation at St. Anastasia, created the parish’s online family life catechesis. The model takes scheduling conflicts out of the equation, and adds in something invaluable.
“We found that families were comfortable teaching their kids, we would offer them advice, offer them help and it was also great for flexibility,” Ruesing said. “The best feedback we’ve gotten is that parents are saying they’ve learned things they forgot after going to Catholic school or religious ed themselves.”
Dawn found she was relearning her faith, and she was gaining the confidence to pass it on.
“I do believe that in the home you’re the first educators for life in general, but absolutely faith,” Dawn said. “This is something that we want to carry on and our legacy that we’re leaving behind for our children that God is our guide in this life and He’s the one that we go to and we answer to first and foremost.”
The program has allowed the Padillas to strengthen their family and their home church all at once.
“When we’re baptizing our child, it is said in the ritual we are the first teachers of our children,” Ruesing said. “We are the first catechists and the responsibility falls on us. It’s our job to learn the faith and transmit the faith.”
Christopher isn’t just learning about his faith but how to live it.
“We’ve gotten a lot closer because we can say stuff about what we’ve learned and how that’s so cool,” Christopher said. “It’s a refresher for them and it’s knowledge for me so it’s like we’re all learning and I feel like that’s just great and I feel like more families should do it as well.”
There are nearly 27,000 children just like Christopher who participate in catechesis across the diocese of brooklyn, and 2,700 catechists who guide their religious instruction, most of them are volunteers.
So what does it take to teach them?
First you must be 19 years old and fully initiated in the Church.
Diocese of Brooklyn officials also require that you’re a practicing Catholic and active parishioner.
You must be comfortable witnessing the faith and working with the youth.
You have to be open to an interview, background check, and attending “Virtus” training, which helps you protect young people from sexual abuse.
If you meet all these requirements, just reach out to your parish for more information.