Religious Studies

Mercy’s four year religion curriculum provides a solid foundation in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, the fundamentals of Catholic theology, moral development, Catholic Social Teaching, Catholic spirituality, prayer, liturgy and ritual. Our Religion program is grounded in faith formation. We guide students to integrate the Catholic theological concepts covered in class with their everyday life experience. Further we strive to nurture each student’s relationship with God and encourage students to participate in their parish faith communities. In response to the call of the gospel, students are required to perform a minimum of 88 Service Learning Hours as a graduation requirement. Students are directed to work with marginalized or underserved populations and complete a written reflection connecting their service experience with their personal faith.

Cognizant of our identity as a Catholic faith community our school begins and ends each day with prayer. Religion classes begin with prayer and all students participate in monthly chapel visits. Chapel visits consist of a short reflection and ten minutes of quiet prayer. We celebrate liturgy as a school community monthly. In addition students participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation during the Lenten Season.

Sandy Flaherty, Mercy’s Director of Catholic Identity and Religious Studies teacher, has published an informative resource for families considering a Catholic education. An editorial, Why Choose Catholic Education? is designed to educate parents on how Catholic education is distinct from other learning environments.