Program Announcements 

EVERY child in our program is required to :

1 - Attend weekly Sunday Mass AND submit a minimum of 10 Mass cards.

2 - Attend family meetings & submit any follow up activities.

3 - Attend weekly classes. 

If you would like more details on our program please click  "New To Our Program" on the sidebar or at the bottom of this page. 

Our program includes the essential components of weekly classes, family meetings, and, of course, attending weekly Mass. These requirements were outlined on your family’s registration form. Each student receives a sheet of 10 Mass reflection /Good deed cards in a folder on their first day of class. Feel free to email the Faith Formation team to arrange a convenient pick-up of a new sheet of mass cards. Then just drop a completed card in the basket during the offertory during Sunday(or Saturday evening) Mass. If you forget a mass card you can stop by the reception desk in the lobby of the church and pick one up before Mass.  All cards are to be filled out and submitted by the STUDENT. Remember, you can only submit one card per week. 

Family Meeting #1

Our Faith Formation program kicked off with our 1st Family Meeting for this year.

These meetings were held on Monday September 28th and Wednesday September 30th. The Follow Up activity link is now activated !  Thank you for your patience. 

If you missed our 1st meeting you will receive a  separate email with the make-up assignment for your family. This assignment is in addition to the monthly Follow Up Activities.

Click below for the Family Meeting # 1 Follow Up Activities : 

Family Meeting Follow Up Activities September 2026

Activity submissions are due ! Don't forget to submit your family's Follow Up. 

Classes , Calendars, and Mass Cards

•  All students received a folder with a schedule for the 1st half of the year, Mass cards, and specific grade level information. Please be sure to review ALL the enclosed material.
• Calendars for all levels for the 1st half of the year, will also be posted shortly on the Faith Formation page of this website under the calendars tab. 

Please note there was an error on the Levels 3-4-5 and Older Communion Wednesday calendar.

There will NOT be class on Wednesday, November 25, 2026.  

PARISH REGISTRATION INFORMATION LINK

All families participating in our Faith Formation program are required to be registered in St. Bernard's parish. This is a separate registration from Faith Formation. For information on how to join our parish, please click on the link below:

  Parish Registration Information

What's in a name?

We're getting to know Jesus.  Not just knowing ABOUT Jesus. This is best done when all of us who know Jesus -- even a little bit -- spend time with each other and share our faith. So when we decided to move from calling our program "Religious Education" to naming it "Family Faith Formation", it is a recognition that we're doing more than just educating. And we're doing more than just educating our children.

During two years of Covid we found a physically safe way to continue to share faith at our monthly Family Meetings.  People wrote in to say this is what they liked about these sessions...

"It broke things down to a more understandable level for the kids which allowed for further discussion at home."

"I enjoyed being able to experience the religious education as a family. I also enjoyed how it was kid friendly."

"The sense of community and team learning in a less formal atmosphere."

"It was nice taking a  few moments simply to reflect on posed questions and having open, honest conversations with my child."

"Getting to discuss topics related to church, Jesus and religion with my kids as they were learning it made me happy. It’s one of the reasons we continue to stay with St. Bernard’s."

"The most helpful/meaningful aspects were relating the lesson to the children’s real life, home, school, sports as well as what you can do at home as a family. Anything that is relatable for the kids is the most important."

So we continue to host a Family Meeting .
Reminder: Families are to sit together as a family during this presentation so they can speak with each other.

And there are more things to learn and more opportunities to come to know Jesus -- but on an age-level basis. For the rest of the month, we'll have Weekly Classes for the children. 

And while these are important parts of our program, one of the important aspects of belonging to the church family and coming to know Jesus better is to come to Mass each week. "Attending religion classes without coming to Mass is like going to basketball practice but never showing up for the actual game."
As families plan which meetings and classes they want to attend, they ought to also plan on which Mass they'll be attending. Don't forget to bring your Good Deed or Mass Reflections coupons to hand in during the offertory ! 

Contact Information

Office Phone: (516) 731-8511    Office Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  FAX: (516) 731-7860