It just doesn’t seem right to me that most of the children in our faith community are headed back to school this week.  I’ll never get used to such an early start.  In the days of the Giants, i.e. when I was a boy, we would stay down the shore (what the beach is known as, north of the Mason-Dixon Line) until the Tuesday after Labor Day and then start school the following day.  Of course school did not finish until the middle of June.  In any event to start almost a whole month earlier just doesn’t seem right.
 
I’ve always felt blessed that my parents made the sacrifices to give their six children a Catholic education.  Four of my siblings went to an archdiocesan high school, Cardinal Dougherty H.S.; at one time it was the largest Catholic high school in the world (6,000 students).  My brother Dave and I were privileged to attend a private Catholic high school, LaSalle College H.S.  And I doubt that there was a better school in the Philadelphia area: private, parochial, or public in which to receive an education.  But even with 20 years of formal Catholic education - as good as it was - I still credit my parents for giving us the gift of faith and for developing it.  
 
As pastor I’d love to see all our children attending a Catholic school.  I believe Catholic schools not only offer an excellent education, so students can become productive citizens; they offer sound formation in the faith which allows the student the possibility of an intimate relationship with the God who made them.  In a very real way, Catholic schools can produce not just good citizens, but saints.  This aim is so noble that it truly deserves the support of all Catholics, not just those with school-age children.  So, I was delighted to learn that our parish has a tradition of offering financial assistance to families who choose Catholic education.  The future of Catholic education depends upon the support of the entire Catholic community.
 
Still, the bulk of the financial burden of sending children to Catholic schools is always going to fall upon their parents.  I am grateful for the parents who continue to make the sacrifices needed to send their children to our Catholics in Savannah.  I know that parents must consider a constellation of factors when choosing a school for their child.  I want to offer my heartfelt assurance that we value all the children of our faith community.  As pastor, I feel an obligation to make sure all our children have an opportunity to be formed in the basics of the Church’s teachings, which will strengthen their Catholic identity and help them draw closer to God.  And I am grateful for the great work that Katie Gillen and Ginny Murphy are doing in forming our children in the faith.  But the truth is that no matter what schools our kids are headed back to this week, our children’s religious formation ultimately takes place at home.
 
Vatican II called the family the “domestic church.”   Pope Francis has frequently spoken of the importance of the family in forming children’s faith lives.  Because parents play such an important role in forming their children in the faith, here are some suggestions to help with the challenge:
 
• Get involved -- My parents were actively involved in their faith community.  By their actions they helped us to know what was important in life. We can always use more liturgical ministers (ushers, sacristans, or lectors).
• Take your faith home -- The Catholic Church offers many opportunities to practice our faith at home.  There is a copy of Practice Makes Catholic: Moving from a Learned Faith to a Lived Faith by Joe Paprocki in the Parish Meeting Room this weekend for you to take a look at.  It and many other Catholic books can easily be ordered on-line. Another good book is Building Catholic Family Traditions, by Paul and Lisa Thigpen (Our Sunday Visitor Books). 
• Lead by example -- Let your kids see you practicing your faith.  Pray together with them – especially grace before meals and prayers before bedtime.  Trace the sign of the cross on each other's foreheads before journeys, at bedtime, or before school.  And would visitors to your home have any clue that you were Catholic?  It is important for your children to see religious imagery (at the very least a crucifix) displayed in your home.
• Make your faith accessible –Try to find a way to make the Mass or customs of the Church more accessible to your kids. For instance, find them a child’s prayer book they can take to Mass to help them follow along. Or after Mass, use my “On the Way Home” questions at the bottom of this corner to talk about the Sunday Gospel and other matters of Faith.
 
How do we pass faith on to our family today? The times in which we live call for creativity and imagination. We must be intentional and remember the importance of creating our own family faith traditions.  And we must have the confidence to remember that like my parents, we adults, do have wisdom to impart and can be the best resources of the ways of faith for our children.
 
On the Way Home: The people in today's Gospel took boats so that they could seek Jesus. What do you do to seek Jesus in your life?  How does the Bread of Life, Jesus, satisfy your spiritual hungers?

Fr. Jerry Ragan