Covenants convey the relationship between God and God’s people.  Scripture reveals numerous accounts of God taking the initiative, calling and forming a people and establishing a covenant as the principle of unity.

All covenants act in love. God calls forth a people out of love, and the people respond to that special calling through a life of worship, fidelity and love.

A covenant such as this invites our  family, parish and faith formation communities to “be-as-one” in meeting the spiritual, intellectual, emotional and physical needs of our children.  Responsibilities are spelled out so that everyone has a clear understanding of expectations upon which trust is secured.

This document, therefore, is designed to educate, renew and strengthen the already unwritten covenant between our Family, Faith Formation and Parish communities; united in the love of Christ and sharing a hope-filled vision of God’s kingdom on earth, where:

V        Parents communicate God’s love and presence among us as through their role as the primary educators of their children.

V        The Faith Formation community is a unique expression of the Church’s educational mission.

V        The Parish gathers as the Body of Christ to offer worship and praise to God through Jesus in celebration of Word and Sacrament.

With these callings from God before us, this covenant is designed to bring us closer together in our identity, purpose and mission within the larger membership of God’s people.

As parents we will communicate God’s love and presence among us as the primary educators of our children through:

V        working to fulfill the responsibility we accepted at the baptism of our child, to train him/her in the practice of the faith. We recognize that it is our duty to bring him/her up to keep God’s commandments as Christ taught us, by loving God and our neighbor;

V        participating, as family, in what the Church teaches to be  the very necessary minimum of prayer and moral effort to grow in love of God and neighbor: (attending Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation; confessing our sins at least once per year; receiving the sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season; observing the days of fasting and abstinence; providing for the needs of the Church);

V        creating a nurturing home environment for positive growth, study and family prayer;

V        cooperating and communicating with pastors, staff, and teachers; and

V        taking an active role in the faith development of our children through participation in the life-long catechetical mission of our Church.