Mission

To open and grow the desire for God in each and every heart we touch, rooted in scripture, tradition, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Explanation: The desire to know God is the real key for Giao Ly – and requires the gift of Grace which only the Holy Spirit can provide.  As catechists, we recognize that knowledge and understanding of God only comes after such grace and openness to know God.  If we focus on growing the desire in each person – each child, each teen, each student, each volunteer, each catechist — through our interactions, relationships, and friendships, God will take care of the rest.

Program Goals

• Build strong catechists, assistant catechists, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and volunteers, and fill them spiritually.
• Create strong relationships and a sense of community among those involved in Faith Formation.
• Create a sustainable K-12 program for Faith Formation.
• Recruit, retain, and train students to become volunteers and catechists, and then to leaders.
• Build a habit among members to participate in the life, culture, and community of the Vietnamese parish.
• Build a “growth oriented” mind-set and “growth oriented” heart.  A mindset that we can always grow and be better than who we are today.

Program Principles and Philosophy

1. Relationships are more critical than curriculum.   You can have the most amazing theology and scripture lessons, but the students will remember who you are more than what you teach.  Relationships are the key to opening desire.
2. God is the one, true catechist, and we are all still growing and learning.  All of us are still on our journey of faith, journey of skill, and journey of struggle in our lives.  We do not hold things personally and are not here to simply teach, but also to learn, ourselves.  We recognize that Jesus is the one, true catechist, and the best catechist among us.  To reinforce #1, our best lesson is to show our students who Jesus is, with humility.
3. We are committed.  In order to walk with our students, and continually grow, we must be committed to the program and each other so that we can depend on one another in our relationships, and allow the Holy Spirit to work among the tension.   Commitment can create tension and struggles as we strive to achieve what we committed to do.   How we handle those tensions and struggles, in-turn, make us better people and better examples to others.

We strive for holiness, ourselves.   As members of Giao Ly, it is important to set an example of faith, discipline, and openness to the Catechism.   While we may struggle or find some lessons difficult, personally, we also recognize that struggle as an opportunity for God to reveal the truth to us.