Faith Formation
2025-2026
“Catechesis aims at putting “people . . . in communion . . . with Jesus Christ: only he can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy Trinity.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church 426
Dear Faith Formation Families,
I pray that this summer has been restful and rejuvenating for you and your loved ones.
With deep gratitude to Ranae Sperrazza, who has faithfully served as our Director of Evangelization and Faith Formation for the past two years, I regret to share that she will be relocating with her family to Pennsylvania and will no longer serve in this role. Ranae’s joy and deep faith have inspired all who have known her, and she will be dearly missed by our community.
After an extensive search, I am thrilled to announce that Holy Spirit Parish has welcomed Christina Pride as our new Director of Faith Formation. Christina has already assumed her responsibilities with great enthusiasm. A proud mother of six children, she holds advanced degrees in Sacred Theology and brings extensive experience supporting faith formation programs across the country. I am confident that Christina will be a blessing to our community, and I look forward to introducing her to our parish families in person.
Our faith formation program aims to foster discipleship in our youth by providing encounters with Jesus Christ through the truth and beauty of our Catholic faith. We are committed to empowering parents, the primary educators of their children’s faith, and are exploring new ways to enhance our program. In the coming months, we will announce additional opportunities for the entire parish community to grow in faith during the upcoming year.
For the 2025–2026 year, the framework of our program will remain consistent with previous years:
• 1st–4th graders will meet every Sunday morning (excluding holiday weekends) from 10:45 to 11:25 a.m.
• Families may attend either the 9:30 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. Mass. Those attending the 9:30 a.m. Mass can enjoy donuts before class, and parents are invited to connect with other parishioners during our coffee and donut hour.
• 5th–7th graders will meet every Tuesday evening from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
• The schedule for our Sacramental Preparation Programs will remain unchanged this year.
• Parents are encouraged to participate in “Spirit Sundays” after the 9:30 AM Mass, with coffee, donuts and in a discussion of our Catholic Faith.
Trusting in God’s providence, may our parish community’s efforts continue to bear fruit as we provide opportunities for our youth to encounter Jesus Christ, grow in love for God, and serve our neighbors. If you would like to contribute to this mission or have ideas to share, please reach out.
Sincerely,
Father Luke Suarez
Pastor, Church of the Holy Spirit
Registration for 2025-26
Mission
Our Faith Formation program strives to provide a community where families can experience God’s Word and Love so that faith becomes living, conscious and active in their daily lives. We believe that only a meaningful relationship with Christ can allow each child and family to thrive. It is proven that in order for children to accept and be nourished by the teachings of the Church, parents must be actively and directly involved in teaching and living the faith. At Holy Spirit we partner with the family, the “domestic church,” as the most important Christian influence. It is in the home that a child truly learns the faith and comes to know who God is. We support families with faith-filled and formed catechesis, not only for the children but for parents as well.
We recognize as children reach their middle school years they actively call everything into question and their faith, no matter how lovingly and strongly given to them before this, is often also questioned. What we see is in sixth grade they ask all "the big questions" the ones philosophers have wrestled with for ages. But we also see they are hungry for good answers, they still want to believe. Theirs are good questions with good answers.
At Holy Spirit we are committed to respecting our young minds and hearts and strive to show them the way to the good answers to their questions. This takes courage and strong formation on the part of both catechists and parents so as not to shy away from tough issues and to be able to confidently and actively inform teens that the Catholic faith is counter-cultural and better than the secular culture.
Finally, and most importantly, we recognize that formation in the faith is substantially different from learning a subject. Unlike knowledge which simply needs to be known and applied, the faith must be loved, believed and lived. Our hearts must be formed by our love for Christ and belief in the Gospel. Central to acquiring this kind of faith formation is the receipt of super natural graces available to us in the Sacraments, most especially, The Eucharist. For this reason our program has been structured around regular and frequent receipt of Holy Communion and Reconciliation.
Through the cooperative effort of parents, catechists, and students, our children will grow in their love for God and knowledge of their Catholic faith, develop their God-given gifts and talents, and live as contributing, respectable citizens through their commitment to service as Catholic Christians.
Faith Formation Goals
- Message/Word: guiding families toward a deeper personal understanding of our Catholic faith by teaching Jesus’ message of love through Scripture, Tradition and History of the Catholic Church.
- Worship/Prayer: assisting families with spiritual development and prayer by providing a variety of communal prayer and worship experiences that involve people in the sacramental life of the church.
- Family: creating a partnership where all family members feel comfortable sharing their time, talents, and faith.
- Community: nurturing meaningful relationships between families, the parish, and the public and encouraging everyone to take responsibility as leaders in parish and community-wide programs.
- Service and Justice: empowering families to work for social justice by addressing human suffering, serving those in need, pursuing peace, and defending the life and dignity of all people.
Parish Catechists
| Christina Pride | Director |
| Grade 1 | |
| Grade 2 | |
| Grade 3 | |
| Grade 4 | |
| Grade 5 | |
| Grade 6 | |
| Grade 7 | |
| Reconciliation & Communion | |
| Confirmation |
Assistants and Substitutes
Mike Raduazzo - Hall Monitor
Aida Palmer
Ginny Wong
Teresa Fritz
Karen Pritchard
Sandy Rivera
Pat Torchen
Brenda ChandraRaj
