By Msgr. Noel C. Burtenshaw

Maria Friedrich is an Atlanta Catholic. She will tell you that sisters taught her from the very beginning in classrooms that were Catholic from A to Z.

“We went to St. Anthony’s for grade school. Then it was over to old Sacred Heart for high school until it closed and St. Pius opened. I graduated from St. Pius.”

Maria’s children are Atlanta Catholics too, but that same road through the Catholic educational system is not there for them. Along with thousands of other children in North Georgia, Maria Friedrich’s three young ones go to the religious education program of her parish.

“It’s different,” says Maria, who along with her husband Dave, attends Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. “When I was coming up it was a lot of memory stuff. We learned the do’s and don’ts. And they do too. It is less memory today and more love action in their lives. I think maybe it’s harder today. But we’re into it.”

Both Dave and Maria work and Sunday is a day of rest and relaxation for the family. But participation in the parish program of religions cuts into that needed weekend rest.

“There’s no way around it,” grins Maria. “We simply have to get them up and go to class on Sunday mornings. Then we know that along with class we must get them to Mass. It shoots down Sunday morning, but our children need this program.”

Maria Friedrich will tell you that she knows parents will send the children to Sunday school and not to Mass because of the inconvenience. “I can’t do that. The religion program and the Mass are all part of our faith. We work it out.”

From a parent’s point of view, with so much to do in her home and at work, Maria continues to have enormous admiration for the staff and teachers who make the religion program possible for her three children. “They are great,” says Maria from the shoe store she runs. “They are so well prepared and I think the children do get a lot out of it. I want to mention one teacher in particular over at IHM, Julie Cashin. She has been really great. Last year she got Dave and I involved too. It was something.”

Seemingly, Mrs. Cashin was teaching a class on marriage to her fourth grade class. So she invited Dave and Maria to come and speak to the class about their marriage.

“We enjoyed it and the kids really got into it. We explained how home life meant sharing, togetherness and support. They asked us how we shared at home and really it was funny. You see, Dave likes to do things in the house like cook. I’m the opposite. I like the outdoors so I cut the lawn. Some of those kids said ‘Hey that’s not what Moms are supposed to do.’ But we explained that’s how we best share our lives as married people.”

“And we brought our wedding pictures. They loved it. Now that never happened when I went to school. Those kids really learned, it was fun for them, and, really, it was fun for us. We learned lots, too.”

Sunday mornings can be hectic and touchy to get going for the Friedrichs. The three children, Mike, Karen and Catherine aren’t always thrilled to get over to class. “Sometimes it’s a hassle to get them started, but I admit, once they get there, they love it. And I’m glad because they need it.”

Maria and Dave Friedrich recognize that just sending the children to Sunday classes is not enough. “We have to be involved too. And it’s hard. We work and making the time for the family and what the children learn at Sunday school is difficult. We need to go over the lessons and oversee the homework. It is not always done and that’s the problem we parents run into.”

Like so many parents today, Maria Friedrich feels she would want a Catholic school education for her children until she really dwells on what her children are getting in the parish religious education program.

It is not what she got, but, in some ways, thanks to the efforts of so many, it is better.