8 Key Elements for Authentic Catechesis

The Association of Catechumenal Ministry, an organization that focuses its work on catechizing adults who are preparing to come into the Catholic Church through the RCIA, articulates 8 key elements for authentic catechesis.  They are worth taking a look at for all in the ministry of passing on the Faith.

Key #1: Centered on Christ – (1 Cor 2:2)

“We must therefore say that in catechesis it is Christ, the Incarnate Word and Son of God, who is taught.  Everything else is taught with reference to him and it is Christ along who teaches.  Anyone else teaches to the extent that he is Christ’s spokesman, enabling Christ to teach with his lips.” (Pope John Paul II, On Catechesis in Our Time, #6)

Key #2: Systematic and Organic – (Acts 20:26-28)

“Authentic catechesis is always an orderly and systematic initiation into the revelation that God has given of himself to humanity in Christ Jesus, a revelation stored in the depths of the Church’s memory and in sacred Scripture, and constantly communicated from one generation to the next by a living active traditio.” (Pope John Paul II, On Catechesis in Our Time, #22)

Key #3: Associated with Life Experience – (1 John 1:1-4)

“No one can arrive at the whole truth on the basis solely of some simple private experience.  That is, to say without an adequate explanation of the message of Christ who is ‘the way and the truth and the life’ (John 14:6).  Nor is any opposition to be set up between a catechesis taking life as its point of departure and a traditional, doctrinal and systematic catechesis.” (Pope John Paul II, On Catechesis in Our Time, #22)

Key #4: Promotes the Sacramental Life – (John 6:56-57)

Catechesis always has reference to the sacraments.  Sacramental life is impoverished and very soon turns to hollow ritualism if it is not based on serious knowledge of the meaning of the sacraments, and catechesis becomes intellectualized if it fails to come alive in the sacramental practice. (Pope John Paul II, On Catechesis in Our Time, #23)

Key #5: Driven by Scripture – (2 Tim 3:16-17)

“The Ministry of the Word – pastoral preaching, catechetics, and all form of Christian instruction… is healtlhily nourished and thrives in holiness through the Word of Scripture.”  (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #132)

“The Church desires that in the Ministry of the Word, sacred Scripture should have a pre-eminent position.” (General Directory for Catechesis, #127)

Key #6: Fosters the Moral Life – (1 Tim 6:18-19)

“Conversion to Jesus Christ implies walking in his footsteps.  Catechesis must, therefore, transmit to the disciples the attitudes of the Master himself… This moral testimony, which is prepared for by catechesis, must always demonstrate the social consequences of the demands of the Gospel.” (General Directory for Catechesis, #85)

Key #7: Connected to the Ecclesial Community –(Phil 2:1-4)

“Catechesis runs the risk of becoming barren if no community of faith and Christian life takes the catechumen in at a certain stage of his catechesis.  That is why the ecclesial community at all levels has a twofold responsibility with regard to catechesis: it has the responsibility of providing for the training of its members, but it also has the responsibility of welcoming them into an environment where they can live as fully as possible what they have learned.” (Pope John Paul II, On Catechesis in Our Time, #24)

Key #8: Directed to the Life of Prayer – (1 Tim 2:1-4)

“When catechesis is permeated by a climate of prayer, the assimilation of the entire Christian life reaches its summit.  This climate is especially necessary when the catechumen and those to be catechized are confronted with the more demanding aspects of the Gospel and when they feel weak or when they discover the mysterious action of God in their lives.” (General Directory for Catechesis, #85)

Source: rciablog.com

 

Involving Mom & Dad

Our program is like many others where we share with parents how they are the primary educators of their child’s faith.  The challenge, however, is what are we doing in our programs to actually foster this.  Over the last few decades parents have played less of a role in teaching their children the faith and more of a role of brining their child to the “volunteer experts” (i.e. catechists) to teach our children the foundations of the faith.  Granted I’m generalizing, but I’m hope you get the point.  We who lead Religious Education Programs have not intentionally taken anything away from the parents regarding them being the primary educators, nor are parents disinterested at making sure their children grow in their knowledge and love of the Faith.  Nevertheless, it seems true that parents are struggling themselves to know enough about the Faith to be able to teach their children why as Catholic we believe what we believe or how to connect everyday life with what we believe as Catholic Christians.  It is key in todays busy world to find ways to equip and facilitate parent involvement regarding the most important matter – faith and eternal life.  Here are a few things our program is doing this year for foster parent involvement beyond the classroom:

1) We had parent meeting at the beginning of the year sharing with parents how important their involvement is this year as their child grow in their knowledge and love of the Faith.  We also asked them after that 25 minute meeting to go to their child’s class to meet the catechists and get an idea about what they would be doing this year.

2) In our 1st – 6th grade program we use Faith First and they have a “With My Family” page that we make sure we send home each week for parents and their child to discuss.

2) In 2nd Grade we are giving homework for parents and children to complete at home and turn in.  Also, we are having two days during the year called “Bring Your Parent To Class” giving parents the opportunity to interact with their child as they grow in faith.

3) When children are absent, we are providing syllabus’ on our parish website for parents see what chapter they need to make-up at home.

There are just a few ways we are trying to involve parents in the faith formation of their child(ren).  If we do not find ways to involve the parents then the brief time we have them once a week means little for the overall faith development of the children we serve.  We must collaborate and team up with parents if future generations are to be grounded in their Catholic Faith.

Come Holy Spirit!

 

Helping Students Grow in Their Vocation

Theresa Johnson from Catholic Heritage Curricula wrote some great points about the impact of parents regarding the spiritual lives of their children and how they can help their children grow in their awareness and understanding of their vocation.  Here thoughts are below:

• We introduce our children to their Heavenly Father from their earliest years.
• We train our children to whisper into the very Heart of Jesus, and then to listen for His voice.
• We surround our children with roadmaps of the Way.  In our Catholic homes, we teach them to take the Blessed Virgin’s hand so that she might lead them to her Son.   As a family, we participate in the life of Christ in His Body, the Church.   The very materials that we use to homeschool are selected because we yearn to have our children immersed and formed in Christ.
• We desire nothing more than that our children learn to incline their ears to God’s voice, and be obedient to His perfect will.  This is the secret to their eternal happiness!
• In the depths of our hearts, we pray that our children will respond generously to everything that God asks of them, knowing that He created them for a specific purpose, and that their lives will never be fulfilled unless they respond unreservedly.
• As parents, we also without reservation give our children back to God, for they will only reach the joy of their fulfillment in His glorious and perfect will.

Childhood is certainly the time to begin forming little souls for eternity.  That formation sets the stage for decisions that our children will make as they reach adulthood.  Is God calling them to the vocation of marriage?  To the single life?  To religious life?

A solid, Catholic education certainly plays a part in shaping hearts and minds so that they might be prepared intellectually and spiritually to discern their vocations.  [Remember that ‘discernment of vocation’ isn’t limited to religious life alone, but any vocation to which God calls.]

When making any choice, it is of course necessary to have a choice!  That is, we have to know the options to weigh the options.  Because we as parents have answered the call to the vocation of married life, that is usually the vocation and choice that we, and our children, are most familiar with.  To examine the alternate call to religious life, we must reach outside our families to expose our children to this vocation, this choice.

An excellent website that features solid, orthodox communities along with a wealth of information on discerning God’s call is:

http://www.religiouslife.com/

http://www.religiouslife.com/a_learn_discern.html

 

Family Life…Busy, Hectic…No Time

Brenda Estill (I think she’s a DRE) wrote from an email group I belong some good insights about parents and faith formation that I’d like to share.  She wrote:

“It amazes me everytime I here a parent say that their children won’t be able to attend class or they can’t attend a parent meeting because of another committment which usually has to do with sports.
Now I love sports and I believe that physical fitness is very important but I also think our culture has taken it a little too far. We now have flag football for 3 year olds, traveling teams for kindergarteners, practices and games on Sundays (even our Catholic Schools are scheduling these) and how many kids not even out of high school have had knee surgeries. I had one mom tell me that her niece who is a junior in HS has already had 3 surgeries on her ACL.And how about the kid that is so stressed out by the abuse he is receiving from his football coach that his parents have spent 100’s of dollars trying to figure out why the lining of his stomach and esophagus are raw.
How much time, energy, resources and mental anguish are we going to continue spending trying to make sure our kids “succeed”.
When will we teach them to be still, quite and to enter into silence so that they may find the true direction for their lives. When will we teach them to follow the path that God has planned for them and not what the culture says is the only way to happiness.
We make so many excuses for why our families are stressed and can’t find time to spend together, maybe none of us want to admit that we to have bought into the lie of our culture– The more busy you are the less time for trouble.
But in the midst of this noise and comotion when do we here the voice of God–not often enough–not when practicing on Sunday leads us to miss mass or when we begin to believe as faith formation leaders that maybe we are pushing too hard–are we really? Our teaching isn’t about making the grade, making money, becoming the star athlete or even Rhoades scholar–it is about our eternal salvation. When we as parents say that our children’s salvation is important to us do we back that up with actions or do we fall into the category of “fitting in” with todays culture.
I will continue to strive for families to come and engage in Christian relationships and dialogue– and I will pray that they will not settle for what the culture has planned for them.”

Amen!  I think we need to continue to be strong in our ministry.  We need to help parents see the overarching value of faith formation as foundational to their children’s lives – more than anything else.  Parish programs have a very important role.  It is important to note that parish religious education programs are collaborating with parents, not taking the place of parents who are primarily called to lay the foundation of faith and morals in the lives of their children.  May the Holy Spirit guide busy families to slow down and grow together and in their relationship with God.

 

Beginning of the year with catechists

The year is about to begin and you are getting your catechists in place and books ordered, classrooms ready and contacting parents.  Many programs gather their catechists who will be teaching, sharing, and passing on our rich Catholic Faith for some form of Catechist In-service, training or beginning of the year meeting.  This year this is how I designed our Catechist In-Service.

I. I opened with Prayer using Scripture (Mt. 9:35-38)

II. Catechists shared why they have responded to being a catechist this year and something they are looking forward to.

III. I gave a reflection of the Year for Priest and how catechists can celebrate it in the classroom and at home.

IV. Break Out Sessions – I offered three workshops 1) How to connect with your students 2) How to link the liturgical year with weekly lessons and 3) How media and art can be a teaching tool in the classroom.

Catechists were able to pick two out of the three workshops to attend for a half an hour.  Then we concluded by handing out the Catechist Guides/manuals and notebooks and discussed some important details.

It was a fruitful evening and many catechists were excited as they left for all that God has for them this year.  Praise God…May He be praised through all the efforts of our generous volunteers who have responded to this essential apostolate to echo Christ and help each child be transformed.

 

Alternative Religious Education Program – Part 2

Before summer gets away I wanted to follow up upon my first entry with the same title.  Our 2 week intensive Religious Education or as we call it “School of Religion” Program is the only one of its kind in our metro area.  Many parishes loathe the fact that we offer such a program.  Many even at our own parish believe it is merely a way to “get a year done” quickly.  But there are a few things that need to be pointed out about this kind of program.  First, no program is perfect.  Yes, there is the potential for parents to sign their busy child up for two weeks in the summer so they don’t have to take religious formation classes during the year, but that does not mean they are not learning during the year.  Granted, it is possible that they are not doing anything during the year (other than hopefully going to Mass every Sunday).   Our program now requires students and parents to come twice in the Fall and twice in the Spring for “Enrichment Sessions” where they build community and continue to grow in faith.  Another key advantage of this program (which is from 9:00am to 12:30pm) is that for most of the students this is the only form of “education” they are getting during those two weeks.  During the year students who go to religious formation during the year have been in school all day and then have to come to our parish for another hour and 15 minutes.  This presents challenges of its own that are not a factor in our summer program.  Also, students seem to process and retain the information and formation they are receiving  because they have it day after day instead of only once a week.  Many parents share how they believe their child gets more out of the summer because they are finding it easier for their child to connect the dots about their faith. 

Although I was unsure when I first began working at the parish, I now am an advocate of the summer program.  Feel free to contact me about it and I’d be happy to share more.

 

The Face of Love

I love this video.  It is a great teaching tool. Check it out.

 

Words of Praise

I found this from the Catholic Heritage Curricula website and thought I’d post it.  Praise a great skill to bring into the classroom.  ~ William

Words of praise, indeed, are almost as necessary to warm a child into congenial life as acts of kindness and affection.  Judicious praise is to children what the sun is to flowers.   – Christian Bovee, 19th century English author

Can you guess which teaching tool is age-appropriate for all grades, takes no prep time, warms the heart, and doesn’t cost a nickel?  Good for you!  You guessed it!  It’s praise.

To be effective, praise should not be vague, but must be directed at a specific action or work.

‘What a good boy!’ is vague and ineffective praise.  ‘See what a good job you did, staying between the lines on your handwriting page!’ is specific.  The former is a ‘warm fuzzy’ alone; the latter is a ‘warm fuzzy’ with directions embedded: praise as a teaching tool.

For example, you might say, ‘See how you made this letter ‘o’ stay right between the lines?  This is your best one.  Do you see any others that are really well done, like this one?’  Rather than pointing out only the o’s that are too small or go above or below guidelines, this method of ‘teaching praise’ demonstrates to the child what the goal is, and also points out that he can do it.  Pointing out the positives is a way to point out the negatives without mentioning them specifically. [If the letters that touch the top and bottom line are best, then it follows that dinky or wandering letters aren’t the best.]

Ineffective praise lets the child know that you are happy with him, but without knowing exactly what he has done to please you.  Specific, effective praise not only lifts a dear little heart and brings a beaming smile to his face, but encourages him to continue his efforts, now that he understands what is expected.  ‘Oh, so that’s what it’s supposed to look like!  Hey, I really can do this.’

St. Philip Neri said, ‘If we wish to keep peace with our neighbor, we should never remind him of his natural defects.’  This advice works for children as well.  However, there are times when pointing out errors is unavoidable.  In these instances, offer the child a ‘praise sandwich’:   ‘Look at all these good letters, here and here and here.  Now, see how this one keeps wandering below the line?  I’ll bet you could bring this one up, just like the others.  See?  Here’s another one that is exactly right!  Way to go!’

‘Praise phrases’ are sincere and specific; they point out the positive rather than the negative.  ‘Beautiful work on your spelling test; you got 16 out of 20 right.  You are improving.’ is much better than the deflating, ‘You missed four this week.  I guess that’s better than missing six like you did last week.’

Some useful ‘praise phrases’ are:  ‘Good job on the———-‘  ‘Look at the nice work you did on—‘  ‘Wow!  Your—–just keeps getting better and better.’  ‘I like the way you are——–‘

Good use of teaching tools, Mom!

In Their Hearts,

Theresa Johnson
www.chcweb.com

 

A Good Slide Presentation

I found this slide presentation and thought it was worth sharing.

Scripture Tradition

View more presentations from terence.monteiro.

 

Alternative Religious Education Program

About 5 years ago my parish began an alternative Religious Ed. Program.  It offers an intensive two week session that is 3 and a half hours a day for two weeks.  This year we have 27o registered.  Granted there are pro’s and con’s to having an intensive summer program, but there are also many advantages.

This year I’ve worked hard to make sure the classes are covering the same amount of material as the school year.  I’ve outlined the chapters for each grade (1st, 3rd – 6th) in order to help the catechists be prepared and ready to execute in such an intense time frame.  Our program also has crafts, music, a church tour, time for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Stations of the Cross, Mass, a service project and a food drive.  It’s an exciting program!  I’ll share more soon on the pro’s and con’s of this type of program.  I will leave you with one thought…it is a program that meets a rising need of parents: to make sure their children receive good religious formation in an environment that puts so many demands on parents and kids.