Welcome to the Parish School of Religion (PSR) program at Holy Spirit Parish in Avon Lake!

Registration for Holy Spirit PSR begins May1 for the 2023-2024 school year.

Revised 2023-2024 PSR Calendar Calendar Here

In-Person and Online PSR options serve children in Grades 1-8:

• In-Person Grades 1-8 meet on Tuesdays from 5:30 - 6:45 p.m.
• Online PSR is a home-based learning program offered in conjunction with My Catholic Faith Delivered

Holy Spirit PSR provides a home-based Kindergarten program for families utilizing the Gospel Weeklies by Pflaum Publishing Group. Please contact the Parish Office for information and registration regarding Kindergarten PSR.

2023 -2024 PSR Registration

Click Here for PSR Registration >>

PSR AND CHILDREN’S FAITH FORMATION AT HOLY SPIRIT PARISH

“’Let the little children come to me; do not hinder them. For it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ And [Jesus] took them up into his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. ~ Mark 10:14-16

The mission of the Holy Spirit PSR is to assist Catholic families in the faith formation of their children in Grades K through 8. We honor the parents’ God-given role of raising their children in the Catholic Faith, and accompany them to fulfill this sacred responsibility so that one day we may all partake in the eternal joy of heaven.

“Parents must be acknowledged as the first and foremost educators of their children. Their role as educators is so decisive that scarcely anything can compensate for their failure in it…. The right and duty of parents to give education is essential…and it is irreplaceable and inalienable, and therefore incapable of being entirely delegated to others or usurped by others.” ~ Saint John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio 36

Understanding that God has created all things for His glory and our benefit, the challenge of being a living witness to the Gospel holds central places to the development of every child. Therefore, at Holy Spirit, hearing Jesus and His message is essential to knowing Him, loving Him, and serving Him in this world, so that we can be happy with Him forever in Heaven.

“So then, faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.” ~ Romans 10:17       

The Magisterium, also known as the Teaching Office of the Church, has consistently taught that the parents, by the sacramental grace received through both their baptisms and marriage, have been gifted with the spiritual means needed to instruct their children in the Faith.  For the education of children, the Church has a supporting role in relation to parents, and the parish is to become more involved during the years of sacramental preparation.

“The Christian family, as the ‘domestic Church,’ also makes up a natural and fundamental school for formation in the faith: father and mother receive from the Sacrament of Matrimony the grace and the ministry of the Christian education of their children before whom they bear witness and to whom they transmit both human and religious values.” ~ Saint John Paul II, Christifideles Laici 62

The core elements listed below form the foundation and strength of the PSR program at Holy Spirit:

• Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture are the two sources making up the revealed Deposit of our Catholic Faith
• All content of teaching (doctrines and morals) is faithful to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Magisterium
• Faithfulness to one’s duty to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation is emphasized
• Frequent reception of the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist is promoted
• Devotion to Mary, the ever-virgin Mother of God, is encouraged
• Study and imitation of the lives of the saints is promoted as examples of great virtue
• The importance of liturgical prayer, above all the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and personal prayer, for example, the recitation of basic prayers, Scripture reading, the Rosary, Stations of the Cross, are stressed as a necessary source for growth in the spiritual life

Through these elements, Holy Spirit PSR seeks to cultivate the minds, hearts, and souls of families so that they may become the domestic Church that Christ calls them to be.

“’The Christian family constitutes a specific revelation and realization of ecclesial communion, and for this reason it can and should be called a domestic church.’ Ultimately, the family is an image of the ineffable communio of the Most Holy Trinity…and as such it is a great force for evangelization in the Church and beyond.” ~ Saint John Paul II, Ecclesia in Oceania 45

May God bless you and yours,

Chris Hoag
Parish Catechetical Leader