Religious Ed

Welcome to the Saint Mary’s Religious Education page! We hope this page will be a source of inspiration, encouragement, and support for you and your family as you grow in faith. We expect this page to be under constant development so please check back often. We hold Religious Education classes for children in Kindergarten through 10th grade. We have an amazing team of catechists who volunteer to teach and help make the material come alive for our students. Whether you would like to enroll a child in our program or you feel called to teach our youth, we are delighted to welcome you to St. Mary’s parish family.

Religious Education at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish is deeply rooted in its community life. We believe that coming to know and love Jesus Christ occurs in many ways, such as through prayer, reflection, Christian service to one another, regular worship and celebration of the Sacraments, and through study of scripture and Catholic teachings.  

If a parish is really alive with the Spirit of Jesus Christ, it must reflect God’s generous love in its community life. “See how they love one another” was the reputation the early church had among their neighbors. While it can be challenging to live out this call to love, working through these challenges together with the love of Christ in our hearts is what makes us a family of faith.  

The goal of our religious education program is to help foster a love for Jesus Christ in children and adults in order to empower active disciples of Christ. While we are blessed to have so many adults who have answered the call to teach or catechize our youth in our parish programs, we recognize that families are where children primarily learn their faith in Christ. We also recognize that our life experiences affect our faith and offer ongoing formation for adults.

• Fill the void in your child’s life

• Develop reverence

• Grow spiritually

• Experience true friendships

• Develop the next generation

• Form virtuous and pious young adults

Liturgy of the Word – Liturgy of the Word is offered during the 10:30 Mass on Sundays. Children, ages 5 through grade 4, are invited to experience the readings in a way that they can relate to, allowing them to make the Mass their own. Liturgy of the Word breaks for the Summer and resumes after Labor Day.

Vacation Bible School – VBS is held for every summer and is always a huge hit. Our adult and teen volunteers work hard to make this a memorable week for our children, full of games, crafts, and –of course—the message of God’s love for all of us. Vacation Bible School is $50 per child, with a family maximum of $100. All Aboard for mountains of fun with VBS 2021. On the 'Rocky Railway!-God's Power Pulls Us Through',  life's ups and downs! VBS Camp is a collaborative event with our friends and families of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Milford and has been postponed for the year of 2020 and has been scheduled to take place from June 28th to July 2nd here at the St. Mary's Parish Center. Please visit the VBS link at the top of this page for detailed information. 

Journey Youth Ministry – Journey Youth Ministry's mission is to build a sense of community within the youth of the church through prayer and service to others which provides our youth the opportunity for both spiritual growth and social interactions with all ages.
We offer two age groups. A middle school group, grades 6-8 and a high school group, grades 9-12, which meet twice a month. Each ministry group begins a new year in September. The middle school group meets on the first and third Mondays of each month at Sacred Heart Parish of Milford from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. The high school group gathers on alternating Mondays from the middle school group and meets here at St. Mary's Parish center from 6:30 to 7:45 PM.

Our teens who are involved with both the Middle School and High School groups have the opportunity to be part of a mission trip and are asking for your support of prayers and encouragement as they make preparations for the trip. Due to the unprecedented times we are living in, it is necessary for our health and well being to comply with the order of Governor Baker and with the directives of our local ordinary, Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester. We have decided to postpone the Merge Conference mission trip that was scheduled for this summer until the summer of 2021. 
Merge is a week long Jesus-centered program that keeps participants busy with daily activities, featured guest speakers, leadership training classes and on-site community service opportunities. The teens participating will earn 25 hours of community service and receive a certificate with 6 hours of leadership training. 

Once our State of Emergency has been lifted and we feel it is absolutely safe for our teens to be socially active again in our community our teens will continue organizing numerous fundraising events throughout the year to help differe the cost of the misson trip.  Please make sure to check back for updated information.

*We continue to welcome and encourage adults and young adults who enjoy working with children & teens to volunteer as catechists or teen leaders to help assist in some of the youth ministry group meetings. Please consider sharing your time and talents and feel free to call the Religious Education office for more information at (508) 478-7440.