Saint Joseph Cathedral
Family Catechesis and Sacramental Preparation
2025/2026
At St. Joseph Cathedral we are committed to helping our parents lead their families in the domestic church of the home. Our goal as a parish community is to increase our love, devotion, and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ and to glorify our heavenly Father in all that we do.
For catechesis we use a home-based family formation program by Sophia Institute Press called “A Family of Faith” designed to help the whole family grow together in the wisdom and knowledge of our Lord and His Church. In this program parents meet once per month for adult catechesis with two of our parish catechists who teach and equip parents to better fulfill the job of leading the family and living out our Roman Catholic faith in the home.
Acknowledging that the primary and most important catechesis of our parish children takes place in the home, we do offer a few classes for children at the same time as the parent class. This allows the family to come to the parish together once a month for catechesis and it allows for friendships to form within our Parish community.
Children’s Catechetical Classes:
- St. Anthony’s Little Ones: This class is for 3–6-year-old children. This class is modeled after the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and is a gentle and quiet way of learning about the Mass and our Faith with a very hands-on approach.
- St. Teresa’s Class: Our First and Second graders attend this class. The first graders are in a pre-preparatory phase this year, and then in the Spring of the 2nd grade year, these children will be prepared to make their 1st Confession. Our priest meets with the children to talk about confession and penance in March, and then the parents will bring the child to their first confession at either the normal confession times, or by making an appointment with the priest.
- Blessed Carlo’s Sacrament Preparation Class: This is our primary sacrament preparation class in which we teach our children the doctrines of our Catholic Faith using the Baltimore Catechism as well as the “Faith and Life” series by Ignatius Press. The children in this class are in 3rd grade and are preparing to receive the sacraments of Confirmation and First Communion, typically in May.
- St. Peter’s Class:This class is for children in grades 4-8 who have already received all Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, First Penance, Confirmation, First Holy Eucharist) but would still like to be in religious education at the parish. Children in this class will continue learning the doctrines of our Catholic Faith using the Baltimore Catechism as well as a variety of materials from St Augustine Institute, Ascension Press, Ignatius Press and Sophia Institute Press. If there is a child who for whatever reason missed receiving sacraments in 3rd grade, they may attend this class with the goal of receiving sacraments in the Spring.
- Sts. Louis and Zelie’s Parent Class:
This class is for the parents as their children receive their own age level catechesis. We will
discuss various topics including the challenges of being a Catholic parent in today’s world. All parish adults are welcome to attend this class.
Schedule for 2025-2026 Academic Year
All Families of Faith classes will be one Wednesday evening per month from 6:00 -7:30 PM. Please make every effort to set aside these dates. If your child is preparing to receive sacraments, the Wednesday night parent catechetical classes are a critical part of your child’s preparation, and it is required that at least one parent will be present at these classes each month. This year we will be studying ‘Volume 1: The Profession of Faith’ of “A Family of Faith” series by Sophia Institute Press.
- September 17, 2025- First class
- October 8, 2025
- November 12, 2025
- December 10, 2025
- January 7, 2026
- February 11, 2026
- March 11, 2026
- April 8, 2026
- May 13, 2026 - Last Class and Family Social Night