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Dear PREP Parents:
Welcome to St. Mary’s Parish Religious Education Programme (P.R.E.P). We look forward to helping you with the important task of teaching your children the faith and morals of the Roman Catholic Church. We would like to inform you of a few significant aspects of our programme designed to help deepen your child’s understanding of, and love for the Catholic faith.
ACT Ministry Participation
To encourage fellowship with the greater community at St. Mary’s Parish, we require all students in Grade Seven to attend ACT Family organized activities, between the beginning of September 2022 and the end of May 2023. Students expecting to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation must complete this requirement before the date of the Confirmation Mass (usually in May). Failing to attend this will warrant a conditional passing where Confirmation certificates will be released only upon completion.
Education Requirement for Confirmation
We have determined that Grade Seven alone is generally not sufficient for adequate preparation to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. We require the completion of two upper-level grades in order to be eligible to receive the sacrament. This means a student who is about to enter Grade Seven in public school but has not completed Grade Six PREP, will be enrolled in Grade Six PREP. In most cases also, those that are incoming Grades 8 & 9 students must likewise complete two years of preparation prior to receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Confirmation students will also be required to render 20 hours of service to the community and parish within the ministry year once health restrictions are lifted and the current situation allows it.
Missed Lessons and Family Vacations
When assessing the readiness of a student to progress to the next grade, we consider the nature and number of his absentee days. Please make sure your child attends the classes and participates fully. A student who has missed six or more classes without good reason will fail the grade. If you are expecting your child to receive a sacrament in the current PREP year, please do not make vacation plans for the weeks leading up to the day of the sacrament. Those weeks are especially important for your child’s proper preparation to receive the sacrament.
Parent Participation
Our Parent Participation Programme, for all grade levels, is aimed at actively engaging PREP parents to be equipped with building faith foundations and strengthening parents’ resolve to be primary educators of their children. We have adapted the parent participation concept done in Catholic private schools, where parents are requested to put in the time to do volunteer activities. In lieu of doing volunteer time, parents are asked to attend seven (7) sessions of Parent’s Classes within the PREP ministry term or other ministry seminars, workshops & teaching sessions such as St. Mary’s Bible Study, Padre Pio Prayer Group, Mission Ablaze, Couples for Christ, Missionary Families of Christ and Feast Vancouver, to name a few.
For PREP Term 2022-2023, the schedule is as follows:
• PREP Parent’s Class: twice a month; schedule to be announced as the term starts.
• First day of PREP: September 21, 2022, Wednesday
Should you have any concerns or questions, please feel free to e-mail me at [email protected]. Thank you and God bless.
Edwin Cruz
Religious Education Programme Director
