Gemma Mulligan and her daughters Juliette and Charlotte enjoying the parish based MyFaith programme of preparation for the sacraments. The MyFaith programme for sacramental preparation has gone from strength to strength despite the lockdown, Dr Dermot Ryan of Ossory Diocese told The Irish Catholic.
MyFaith is a programme of sacramental preparation which aims to allow children to work towards the celebration of the sacraments alongside their parents, with the support of their parishes. It’s specifically aimed at children preparing for the sacraments of Reconciliation for the first time, Holy Communion and Confirmation.
Dr Ryan said that the average number of logins per day is anywhere between five and six hundred, even during the Christmas period.
“It wasn’t launched for Covid times, it was launched here in the diocese as a way to reinvigorate sacramental preparation, but large components of it are online and therefore it was perfectly suited, as it turned out, for parishes to use during these restrictive lockdowns,” Dr Ryan said. “We’re delighted with it.”
The feedback has been equally positive, with the best proof of the programme’s success being the fact that “the kids are continually coming back to it,” Dr Ryan said. “That they’re really engaging. That’s showing they’re enjoying it, and if they’re enjoying it, they’re learning from it.”
The programme’s success has been such that the diocese received an email from a parent requesting a separate login for a child who wasn’t registered to the course – a sign which can only be a good thing, Dr Ryan says.