Catechesis in the Third Millennium

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)

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!

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