Dear Parents and Children in Christ,
By God’s special grace and the hard work and dedication of our teachers, parents, children and the whole parish community working as a team, we had yet another successful CCD year in 2010-2011. I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone for their sincere efforts. May God bless you all abundantly and give you the strength to continue to serve him with zeal and spread his Good News in the coming year.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says:
Christ sent forth the apostles he had chosen, commissioning them to proclaim the gospel: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” Strengthened by this mission, the apostles “went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it.” Those who with God’s help have welcomed Christ’s call and freely responded to it are urged on by the love of Christ to proclaim the Good News everywhere in the world. This treasure, received from the apostles, has been faithfully guarded by their successors. All Christ’s faithful are called to hand it on from generation to generation, by professing the faith, by living it in fraternal sharing, and by celebrating it in liturgy and prayer.
This goes hand in hand with the message from our Major Archbishop, Mar George Alencherry who has asked for this year to be celebrated as “Mission Year” in order to bring about more awareness about our missionary responsibilities. The religious education and encouragement that we give our children will inspire them to follow the path of the missionaries and in turn enable them to do their part in handing over their faith experience to the next generation.
Catechism begins at home and the family is where foundational instruction in the Catholic faith should take place. Parents are the primary teachers of their children in the faith, prayer, and all the virtues. The CCD program provides a structured religious education curriculum which supports, accompanies and enriches this faith formation effort of the Parents.
On behalf of all our CCD teachers I want to welcome all the children back into our classes as we help the parents to educate their children in the faith and to assist them in the great task of faith formation and bringing them up in the Way of Jesus Christ our Lord!
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Thomas Kadukapillil (Vicar)
Director, CCD Program