I am writing this in response to many questions that have been asked recently by parents: Are the children expected to continue to attend faith formation after First Communion? The quick answer is yes. If we think about it there is much to know about the Catholic faith and religious practices. If we only focus on learning through the age of 7 we are not helping our children have adequate knowledge of God , Sacraments, Scripture and the History of our faith to name a few. Attending faith formation provides an opportunity for our children to learn about our salvation history, how Jesus intended us to live, what does it mean to be part of the kingdom of God here and now and how are we to stay connected to our lord and grow our relationship with Christ. If you remember at your child's Baptism you as the parent were asked "You have asked to have your child Baptized. In doing so you are accepting the responsibility of training him/her in the practice of the faith. It will be your duty to to bring him/her up to keep God's commandments as Christ taught us...Do you clearly understand what you are undertaking?" you answered yes. The expectation was that as parents who are the primary educators of their children in faith the children would be provided an opportunity to grow in knowledge, understanding and practice of a relationship with our God. The parish is your partner in that responsibility, as it offers classes and resources in these various areas: what is faith, grace, who is God, Trinity, Salvation History , Scripture prayer sacraments etc . If the children are provided an opportunity to grow in their awareness and understanding of these various aspects, of what it means to be a child of God, as they grow and are able to discern their relationship with the Lord and how He is calling them to live their life I believe they will be far better prepared to live in this world and look forward to the kingdom to come. Faith formation was never intended to be two or 5 years; it is intended to be lifelong. Like any relationship with a loved one we are continuing to learn, grow and be in a loving relationship with our God. Our faith and religion are not simply a subject we learn and then put in a box to pull out when needed, but a way of living in relationship with our creator and growing closer to him each day, month and year of our lives. The goal of our life is to be with our God in Eternity what are we doing to achieve the goal?