Religious Education

The CCD class
-By Lenny Carlino-

Every Sunday I (and most of the other sons and brothers at the house here in Orange) are assigned to teach a CCD (religion) class at one of the local parishes. I teach 6th graders at Our Lady of the Valley, the church which is next door to the formation house. Every week we prepare a lesson plan for 1 hour of class Sunday morning. These classes may involve reading, arts & Crafts activities, group sharing, presentations, and/or prayer learning. After class we will then go to mass at OLV, which has youth music and a youth choir.

I can honestly say that I believe we learn so much as Salesians from these experiences of teaching CCD. First off, you learn how to work with kids in a classroom setting, and you learn so much about your strengths and weaknesses in teaching, usually surprising yourself with how much teaching ability and talents you really have.

Now not every class is perfect, so you also learn how to deal with kids, especially those who maybe are not as open to learning about their faith, and (for lack of a better term) “trouble-makers” or “energetic”. But that is an opportunity for you to really encourage the kids about the joys of our Catholic faith, and show them what good things God has done, is doing, and will do for them.

I look forward to teaching every week, because every week is a growing experience. Maybe the lesson plan will be interesting for the students, and I’ll know that I shared the faith in the way that Don Bosco would have wanted us all to do as Salesians. Or maybe it’s just one of those weeks where everyone seems to be out of control, and you need to step in. Those times are a chance to really put the preventive system into practice, and slowly learn how to deal with those situations.

In the end, education of the youth was and is one of Don Bosco’s strongest intentions in forming the Salesian congregation. Don Bosco said education is “a matter of the heart”, and the time in teaching CCD is our chance to connect with the kids, practice reason, religion, and kindness (the three basic principles of the preventive system), and bring the youth closer to our Lord Jesus Christ, and to understanding His love for them.