Generations of Faith -
How is the curriculum for Generations of Faith determined ?

The Church

As the parish design team sits down to plan the yearly curriculum for Generations of Faith we are guided by several church documents. The first is the General Directory for Catechesis (GDC) a document issued by the Vatican in 1997 to direct how catechesis (faith formation) is to be done globally.

The second is the National Directory of Catechesis (NDC); in this document the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), particularly their committees on education and catechesis took the GDC and applied its teachings to a more culturally specific implementation in the United States. This resulted in the NDC, issued in 2005.

The third is the USCCB document Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us, a document issued by the USCCB in 1999 that addressed adult faith formation and lifelong learning. (http://www.usccb.org/education/ourhearts.htm)

We also follow church teaching/ doctrine as set forth in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (issued in 1994 and revised in 2003). (http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text)

The Diocese

In addition to the above documents we follow the guidelines for catechesis issued by the Archdiocese of Boston. In summary all these documents tell us that each year catechesis should accomplish six “tasks” for people of all ages, they are:

• Scripture
• Sacraments
• Justice & Service,
• Prayer
• Spirituality and Creed.

This means that each year all of these should be interwoven with our primary topic.

The Parish

The parish determines what methods will be used for faith formation. St. Isidore uses a method called Whole Community Catechesis (WCC). Our program uses as its foundation the structure of a specific program called Generations of Faith. The parish design team takes all of this information and uses it alongside a six year curriculum cycle that focuses a year of formation and information in each the following areas: Church Year: Feasts and Seasons, Sacraments, Following Jesus, Creed, Living a Moral Life, and Justice & Peace. To date we have completed four years of the six year cycle, Church Year, Sacraments, Following Jesus, and Creed.

Next year we will focus on Living a Moral Life and the following year Justice & Peace. Then we will start over at the beginning of the cycle, and address each topic from another perspective. Children who have been involved will again have the opportunity to learn and experience the topic through the lens of a different level of maturity and understanding.

How do we fulfill the “six tasks” of Catechesis?

What exactly is “Catechesis”? The word catechesis means to “echo the faith”. The General Directory of Catechesis tells us that this is the shared responsibility of the entire faith community (GDC # 202) "Catechesis is nothing other than the process of transmitting the Gospel. (GDC, no. 105). In doing so we help others to hear it, desire to understand it more deeply, live it in their daily lives, celebrate it through prayer and worship, and to communicate it to others.

This is the responsibility of the entire ecclesial (church) community; the community forms adults and children alike, and parents continue to form their children in their home (the domestic church), with the parish community supporting them in their role as Catholic parents. If we are to support our parish children and their families, we all must continue to be catechized (formed in our faith) and to catechize (help to form others).

To review: the six tasks of catechesis are Scripture, Sacraments, Justice & Service, Morality, Prayer & Spirituality, and Creed.

The Design & Implementation Teams

Once the calendar for the academic year has been set, the design team (comprised of volunteer parishioners and staff) takes the curriculum for the year and designs the specific curriculum for St. Isidore. We take into account the topic for the year and decide what we hope people will understand and practice as a result of that monthly session. We then develop the specific session plans using the resources from Generations of Faith, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) and other faith formation texts and online resources.

Finally we design a home kit that will offer adults additional reading on the topic and families some suggestions & activities that allow them continue the topic at home for the month.

As the design team completes it’s curriculum for each month, the implementation team works to acquire and prepare any of the materials that will be used in the sessions. (Example: they prepared the materials for the resurrection eggs that grades 1 -5 made in our session on We believe in Jesus’ Death and Resurrection).

Fulfilling the six “tasks” of catechesis During the 07/08 year of GOF our primary topic was Creed. In learning about the Creed we formed people in a deeper understanding of the creed and how it is our primary statement of belief.

Some of the ways we met the other 5 tasks were:

Scripture: when we explored the gospel story of the Beatitudes in preparation for All Saints day, the Advent readings about the Jesse tree, the O antiphons, and Luke’s gospel stories of the Annunciation, Mary’s visit with Elizabeth and the birth of Jesus ; when we explored the gospel stories for Holy Family Sunday, the Easter triduum, and Pentecost.

Prayer & Spirituality: when we learned the four types of prayer (praise, thanksgiving, sorrow and intercession) , learning to pray the rosary, making a rosary, praying a litany to Mary, our May crowning of Mary, making a prayer box and using it at home, learning about the ways we can use blessings and prayers to celebrate Advent & Lent in our homes, our shared prayer at each GOF gathering, the use of our home prayer space kits, and our parish statue of the Holy Family was hosted weekly in many homes from the feast of the Holy Family in late December through July 13th ; in each home a family prayer for peace was said daily and a discussion of what we can do to be peaceful people was encouraged. These helped to increase our awareness of the vital role prayer plays in our lives.

Morality/Living a Moral Life: We furthered our understanding of what it means to live a moral life, as we examined the Creed itself. How do we incorporate those beliefs into our daily lives? What does it mean to be “marked or branded” as we are by the 4 marks of the church? What difference does Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection mean for our lives? What implications does the Communion of Saints have on us individually and as a community?

Sacraments: as we explored the sacraments of initiation in relationship to the Easter triduum, celebrated the Sacrament of reconciliation during Advent, and looked at the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit as we prepared to celebrate Pentecost and Confirmation in the parish. (Our parish families celebrating First Eucharist & our Confirmation candidates developed a deeper understanding of those sacraments through study, retreats, and the actual celebrations.)

Justice and Service: we lived our lives with a better understanding of this as we instituted our “Bring Back the Bag” program; when you brought home your home kits in a bag, we asked you to replace the contents with a donation to a selected charity for that month and to return it at all Masses on a designated weekend. We served many including the Stow food pantry, Fr. Butler’s hospice in Haiti, the annual parish baby shower, Jumpstart an organization in need of new pre-school books, we contributed over $2000 to a community on the Gulf Coast which remains devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Through these efforts we highlighted the needs of those who are underserved.