Faith begins with family, catechists told

Published: 2007-11-20

WILMINGTON, Del. (CNS) -- The experience of God "is all family," Kathleen Chesto told catechists of the Diocese of Wilmington during a recent diocesan catechetical congress. "Everything important does not happen in church," Chesto, a nationally recognized speaker and retreat leader, told teachers from schools and religious education programs. She gave two sessions on the role family plays in faith formation. "The most important things that happen in the process of religious education happen at home and happen long before you're going to see these children," she said. That education begins early, she said. "Our very first sense of who God is happens the very first time we're picked up, the first time we're cuddled and held, the first time our mother takes us to her breast and nourishes us," she said. "The first time we cry out at night and somebody answers, we come to believe there is something beyond us, something so good, so loving and powerful," she said. Chesto is a Connecticut mother of three who holds a master's degree in religious studies and a doctorate in family ministry.

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