My May Calendar letter

This is the latest on what I've been up to with St. John's CCD. Classes are winding down and now I've got to start stumping for new teachers! If you're in North Jersey give me a call!

Dear CCD Parents,
I am so proud of the First Communicants and the Confirmation Candidates. Their Masses went beautifully well. It is so exciting to see them maturing in their faith. I am going to miss the 8th graders very much. I hope that they join our Emmaus CYO (Tuesday nights at 8:00) and that they stop by the CCD Office every once in a while to say hello. Please pray for these boys and girls and young men and women who received Sacraments of Initiation this Easter Season.
I want to revisit the Operation Rice Bowl project our students and families participated in over Lent. I am honored to report that out students in the CCD Program raised over $2,000 for Catholic Relief Services and for Sacred Heart Orphanage in India. The classes with the highest totals per student won a pizza party. Those classes were:

Monday Night: Section 2M, Mrs. Debby Zboyan
Tuesday Afternoon: Section 3A, Miss Jess Klingaman
Wednesday Night: Section 7A, Ms. Marilyn Zeman

I can’t wait to see how much money we can raise for the poorest of the world’s poor next Lent!!!
We will be changing our curriculum for grades 1-6 next year. We will be using a textbook called “Finding God: Our response to God’s gifts,” published by Loyola Press. We’re making a more concerted effort in the CCD Program to help you help your children develop a relationship with Christ. We also changed around the registration form a little bit this year, so read it carefully and get it to us as soon as possible. I want you to get the class you want, but if your register your child in August, I may not be able to schedule your child for what you need.
I am honored that you entrust part of your child’s religious education to us here at St. John’s CCD. It is important for all of us as parents to remember to claim our child’s religious education as our responsibility. As parents, what we say, what we do, and whether or not we take our kids to Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation means more to our children than whatever they hear from their catechists one day a week.
Pope John Paul II called the family the first church. That means that our children’s attitudes toward God are formed from their birth. Did our kids know about Jesus before they walked into CCD in Kindergarten or First Grade? Do we tell them that God loves them no matter what they do? Do they know that there are certain ways we act and things we do because God expects them of us? If we don’t make sure our kids understand them at home, there is no way that it will sink in from being at CCD for an hour a week.
CCD goes until the week of May 23. This summer, I challenge you to take back your rightful position as your child’s primary educator of what it means to be a Catholic Christian. The first place to start is to bring your children to Mass at any Roman Catholic Church over the summer. There are Catholic churches in Disneyworld! If you’re going away this summer, don’t take a vacation from God. www.Masstimes.org is a great website you can hit before you go on vacation to find out where the Catholic churches are and when their Masses are scheduled wherever you vacation-worldwide. And if your child asks you a question you’re not sure how to answer, just give me a call-I’ll be here all summer.
God bless you with a safe and happy summer. I’ll be praying for all of you!