"On the lips of the catechist, the first proclamation must ring out over and over. Jesus Christ loves you; he gave his life to save you; and now he is living at your side every day to enlighten you, strengthen, and free you" (Pope Benedict XVI).
“Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person (Jesus Christ), which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction" (Pope Saint John Paul II).
Religious education is, first and foremost, the leading of another person to Jesus Christ. An encounter with Christ begins when a person is evangelized with the Gospel message – the “Good News” – that Jesus preached and the Church proclaims. The hearer accepts the message and asks to be baptized so as to enter into the Sacred life of the Church Community. Once Baptized, the new Christian is catechized and sacramentalized, experiencing a deeper education about the faith drawing them into deeper conversion in Christ. After Baptism, the reception of the Sacraments of Eucharist and Confirmation fully initiate the Christian into the faith life of the Catholic Church; the Community of believers. The Christian experiences continual conversion and renewal in their life beginning with the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and maturing through religious education, prayer, and Sacraments, into an intimate union of faith and trust in Him. Religious education at St. Paul seeks to collaborate with and supplement the efforts of the religious formation already taking place in the home, which is the domestic church. Parents are the first and primary educators of their children. Religious education assists parents in the Catholic faith formation of their children. We provide safe, loving, and sacred environment where faith may be discovered and shared and encouraged to bloom and grow. We provide the tools of catechesis so young people know what Jesus taught and the Church continues to teach. We prepare them for the reception of the Sacraments of the Church which Christ instituted. We accompany them through our presence into a mature, lifelong Catholic faith through education, prayer, Sacrament, and especially love, into His Presence.