There has been a lot of talk in the blogs about the importance of catechesis. And with the new translation of the Roman Missal finally approved, the need for catechesis on every level is going to be even more important.
That said, while I have seen a lot of gripping and complaining, I have not seen any ideas as to how to implement this catechesis.
How do we get people to understand that coming to church is not just “getting your ticket punched until the next week?” Coming to church should not be an “obligation” it should be a desire.
I attend Mass each week because I want to, not because it is a “mortal sin” to miss Mass.
I am a post-VII Catholic. I, along with the Novus Ordo, am celebrating my 40th this year. My “formal catechesis” as a child was lacking to say the least. It was all “fluff” and no substance. What I have learned as an adult has been on my own, except for the two years I have been a student at SBSTM, and as I have said before, what I have learned there has also made me look deeper. I have heard from most of the Catholics I know who were catechized in the pre-VII model (the Baltimore Catechism of the 40’s – 60’s & Catholic school), that what they learned was just rote memorization that had no meaning or substance to them, and has left them with a serious lack of understanding about the Church and her teachings.
Which begs the question, if people before VII didn’t understand their faith, how can we expect their children and grandchildren to understand it?
Ideas, anyone?
it starts with the family. Parents are responsible for their children's catechesis. It would be nice to think that parish classes will educate our children, but that just isn't the case. Along with catechesis, parents need to demonstrate the faith to their children. That's why it's said that faith is "caught - not taught".
ReplyDeleteAlso, being obligated is not in opposition to a desire. It's part of the Christian maturation process to grow the desire to follow God instead of just pleasing our parents. But you're right - that maturation process should not be ignored - it needs to happen at some point in everyone's life. But that doesn't mean that children shouldn't be forced against their wills while they are still developing.
1 cor. 13:11
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
I also think parish programs need to be seriously improved. It shouldn't just be babysitting for your kids.
Ben,
ReplyDeleteAMEN and YES!
I am a big believer in focusing our education efforts on adults in our churches. In my very humble opinion, graded faith formation is mostly a waste of time (and I say that as a former 6th grade catechist). Most of the students enrolled in my classes came to church only for religious ed or to receive their Sacraments. I once had a child tell me "we don't go to church on Sunday because that's our 'family day'" Clearly, many parents are not engaged in the faith in any real, long-lasting way.
Our church has tried a number of initiatives to get people involved - all to no avail. Culturally, religion is not important to most people. They see it as something to be endured in a very limited amount. Sure, they come to Christmas Eve Mass with the kids and take pictures of everyone in nice clothes, but it goes no deeper. They have no relationship to Jesus and I think that's where most of the apathy is rooted.
Like you, Persis, I go to Mass not out of fear of committing a mortal sin, but because I need to be with Jesus and I need to worship in a formal way with like-minded people. But the only way I have reached this understanding is through catechesis that involves both the "whats" and the "whys."
The pre-VII people may not have understood everything they did as Catholics, but clearly Mass attendance numbers were significantly higher. And in the end, they were going, participating (even imperfectly) in the Mass and receiving sanctifying grace. Today we have people staying home, avoiding the Sacraments and woefully lacking in sanctifying grace (and subsequently, actual grace). I would bet most people are ignorant of the ramifications of a soul lacking sanctifying grace. The thought of an eternal separation from God, our Father, is unimaginable to me. But many people are headed down that road.
So, back to your question. I think it is all about cultivating a relationship with Jesus Christ and, through Him, a relationship with God, our Loving Father. We can build a relationship with Christ as we do with other people. We have to spend time with Him (in adoration, at the Mass, at confession), we have to talk to Him (in prayer), we have to learn about him (learning our faith, going beyond just the bare minimum), we have to devote ourselves to Him and doing His will (corporal works of Mercy), and we have to look for Him in every person we meet. Most importantly, we have to be convinced that God desires a relationship more than anything else on earth. Just as physical parents desire loving relationships with their children, so does God. And that is why Jesus came.
Thanks for listening.
Ben & Nerina, I agree with both of you 100%!
ReplyDeleteTo keep the conversation going, a couple of thoughts...
While I agree catechesis starts in the "domestic Church" of the home, isn't that maybe part of the problem?
If,I as a parent (which I am not, btw), lack a foundational catechesis, how do I teach my child?
As to "spiritual maturity", Nerina, you put it so well, it is about cultivating a relationsip with Jesus Christ. I am in the middle of the 19th Annotation retreat and it has been the most wonderful experience, and has really heled me to deepen and cultivate that relationship. It has been a lot of hard work, has challenged me to re-evaluate my relationships with family, friends and with God. It has not always been pretty or pleasant, and I will admidt that I have thought about quitting a couple of times, and I stick with it, because I believe that this is what I am being called to do, and it is not about my will, it is about His.
And that is were I think the biggest problem lies~
How do we get people to "want" to?
Leading a faithful life is not easy, and the rewards are great.
How do we help others to understand this, embrace this and help to teach others?
I didn't agree with them all the time, but I loved my time at St. Bernards.
ReplyDeleteI will 2nd Nerina about adult education. We need more of it - and we need more community. I took it for granted as an Evangelical that every church has multiple bible studies, small groups, get togethers (that don't involve gambling), etc. A group of us a my local parish put in a good deal of effort trying to get other parishioners to join in ou humble bible study, but in the end no one was interested. I think a lot of the fire inside needs to be ignited from the pulpit. Just about every Sunday at the Evangelical churches I attended, you had to make a choice - "do I want to follow Jesus (meaning more than just sitting in this seat on Sunday mornings) or do I want to live as the world lives?". If you chose the latter, you wouldn't come back because what the pastor said would make you feel uncomfortable. If you chose the former, then you'd get involved. There's only a couple of local priests that have made me feel the same way. They're scared to make people feel uncomfortable even though the Gospel itself is a very uncomfortable message.
ReplyDeleteI certainly don't claim to have all the answers, but I think looking at some of the more cohesive protestant communities can really benefit us as Catholics.
Persis, you said well (this is a huge generalization) that pre-Vatican II was rote without understanding Church teachings and post-Vatican II has been fluff without understanding Church teachings. Both proved insufficient when the storms hit.
ReplyDeleteA very large factor for me was having as example someone living their faith. Catechesis is definitely important, but it's "just words" if not seen put into action.
As a child that meant going to Sunday Mass even when tired and otherwise not feeling like it. As an adult, it's been moments in every day life.
Nerina, I agree with your statement of "building a relationship with Jesus," but my question is, What brought you to that point? What brought you to wanting catechesis?
Just for clarification~
ReplyDeleteMy comments on pre-VII catechesis were made based on conversations I have had in the past few weeks with a number of family members and friends who have been Catholic their whole lives. Many of them know the "rules", but do not understand or even attempt to understand what the meaning behind those "rules" are.
My comments about my catechesis are based on what my experience was during the 70's and 80's. Neither of these comments was meant to be a generalization of all Catholics, just some observations from my own circle.
That said,
Mary Kay, you bring up exactly the point I was trying to make.
I know what brought me to the point of needing to have God in my life and it was not an easy thing to do. I was fortunate to have some wonderful friends who helped me to come back to the Church, and have had some wonderful priests who have guided me and taught me on my journey. But the first step was, and always will be mine.
So back to the question,
how do we help others to understand and embrace the teachings and traditions of our Church, and bring them back into the fold?
I think we are taking part in a debate that has been going on as long as the Church has existed.
ReplyDeleteThere will alsways be a core of committed people who will seek education and spiritual growth, but the vast majority of people treat faith and Church as something that's only important at key events (marriage, birth, death). The Church has had to experience renewal after renewal - such as the rebuilding of the Church that Francis undertook - and will continue to do so.
While there may have been more people in the pews in pre-Vatican II days, if we went back further we'd find lower attendance (like today), and then previous upsurges. We may see an uptick in the next few years, but I bet it will go back down at some point beyond that, and believers will be lamenting about how people "these days" don't seem as well catechised or as observant as they were back in, oh, 2020!
As for practicing the faith, if people were really knowledgeable and committed, how did the Nazis get away with what they did in a country with so many Catholics? Why did the Catholic Crusades involve murder, theft and pillaging of Christian cities like Constantinople? How did the Native Americans suffer so horrendously at the hands of Catholic explorers (watch The Mission!)? Why did so many Catholics raised and educated before Vatican II jump on the birth control bandwagon (sex beats faith!)?
There have been many Catholics who have gone through the motions, but were ignorant of what the faith really means and failed to apply Catholic teachings to their daily lives.
I'm not being cynical. I'm just pointing out the history.
As for now, we need to continue to learn ourselves and to set an example, we need to continue to encourage catechesis in our parishes, dioceses and the Church as a whole, and we need to use and explore new media like the internet to reach out to more people.
And we need to pray.
I certainly agree w/ you Lee that looking at history gives a better sense that "good" times come and go. There are good circles and bad circles in all ages.
ReplyDeleteAs I strap on my ipod to do some vacuuming I had a "duh" moment. Catholic Radio and EWTN are probably the one of the best and most readily available forms of teaching the faith that exist right now. I would encourage everyone to help support those ministries financially.
ReplyDelete"what they learned was just rote memorization that had no meaning or substance to them"
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting to me, because I was homeschooled from 7th grade through highschool graduation (1999) and we used the Baltimore Catechism for a couple years. I remember having to memorize the questions and answers, but also that there were explanations of all the catechism, complete with illustrations.
I honestly don't remember the word-for-word answers, but I definitely remember the substance to many of them. If any of the explanations seemed "off," I would look them up in our "grown-up" catechism for further clarification.
Part of this may be that it was coupled with a very intense Religion course every year (thank you, Seton Home Study!), and my parents were extremely devoted to our education.
Personally, as a parent (albiet to a 16-month-old), I firmly believe that I can never take my child's education for granted. In the future, I don't care if an educator tells me that they are teaching a, b, and c. I will most certainly verify that my child(ren) has/have LEARNED a, b, and c. I think a lot of parents assume that their children are being taught, whether in school or religious ed, without checking for themselves that the lessons are being absorbed.
Underhermantle,
ReplyDeleteLooking back, I would say three things inspired my relationship with Jesus: 1)the Sacraments, 2)friendships with both a devout Evangelical and a devout Mormon, and 3)being Catholic in the South.
Though I was raised in a completely areligious home, my mother was culturally conditioned to baptize her children. I am so thankful that she did for I think that powerful Sacrament was the foundation for my future conversion. Though its long-acting effects lay dormant in me for many years, they soon took hold as I received other Sacraments. Most notably the Sacrament of Marriage (during which I received the Sacrament of First Eucharist) and Confirmation as an adult.
When teaching our children about Confirmation, I read in the catechism how important Confirmation is in "completing and deepening the effects of baptismal grace." (Now I see why the Church makes efforts to have adults confirmed if they missed this Sacrament in their younger years). Again, in hindsight, I can the relationship between my reception of this Sacrament and the deepening of my faith and desire to enter into a relationship with Christ.
As for my friends of other faiths, they showed me through their actions what their faith meant to them. They were not afraid to speak about their faith nor live it every moment of every day. I found their witness not only inspiring, but challenging.
Living in the "bible belt" forced me to become more knowledgable about my faith. Missionaries of all stripes were constantly at my door and, frankly, I wanted to win arguments. I know that's not the most holy reason for learning the faith, but I didn't want people telling me I was "fooled" or "misguided" or "led astray" or worse, "deceived." So I set out to prove people wrong and in the process fell in love with Christ and His Church. Thanks and praise be to God!
Persis asked, "Which begs the question, if people before VII didn’t understand their faith, how can we expect their children and grandchildren to understand it?"
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I accept your premise that all of us who were raised pre-VII didn't get an understanding of their faith. It's true that religion instruction in the Catholic elementary school I attended (St. Charles Borromeo) consisted of little more than eight years worth of memorizing the Baltimore Catechism, but you have to remember that those nuns had 50 kids per classroom back then and there really wasn't a whole lot more they could do, given that circumstance. By the time we got to 7th and 8th grade one of the assistant pastors would come in occasionally and give talks on various topics and take questions, but that only happened maybe three or four times a year - not enough to make a big difference.
Those of us who went on to Aquinas (and, I presume, McQuaid - the only other boys' Catholic high school at the time) experienced a much deeper catechesis. I'm not just referring to the four years of religion classes, although they were pretty good in themselves (and presumed that you had the Baltimore Catechism memorized, as many of them built on and expanded that rote knowledge), but the whole atmosphere of being in a school staffed almost exclusively by priests and men studying for the priesthood. Most of these guys lived and breathed the Catholic faith and it wasn't very hard to get them to talk about it.
One for instance: Fr. John Ware was my freshman English teacher. By the end of October we also knew that he had been a Air Force chaplain during the Korean War and had seen some pretty horrific things (which he related in detail), things that had seriously tested both his faith and that of the airmen with whom he served. While he was a good English teacher, his war stories and how they ultimately strengthened his faith are what I remember most from that year spent in his class.
Fr. Ware was far from alone in sharing his faith. It was entirely possible for a theology mini-seminar to break out during just about any class with just about any priest, especially if the guy had 10 or 15 minutes left at the end of his lesson plan, and the lunch room almost always had some kind of impromptu theological discussion going on somewhere. To this day I remember a priest in the lunch room going through a couple of St. Thomas' five proofs for the existence of God from memory and having it dawn on me for the first time that this makes sense!
I also went on to St. John Fisher, back when the Basilians were still running the school. The "Catholic atmosphere" I had experienced at Aquinas was somewhat diluted at SJFC, probably because there were many more lay teachers (I was a chemistry major and all the chemistry profs were laymen). Some of my profs weren't even Catholic; e.g., my German prof was a Reformed Jewish rabbi. But I still took 4 years worth of theology and philosophy classes that were taught primarily by priests and I got quite a bit out of them.
I graduated from SCB in 1957, AQ in 1961 and SJFC in 1965, so all of the above is pre-VII experience. With the exception of SJFC it should parallel that of anyone who had attended a Catholic high school.
(Continued below.)
I believe we are all agreed that there was a substantial fall off in the quality of catechesis post-VII. A friend some 20 or so years younger who attended religious ed classes describes her experience as "felt banner" catechesis, as making those banners is just about all she remembers of it.
ReplyDeleteHer generation is almost completely lost when it comes to understanding their faith, so I really just shake my head when I hear people say that parents are supposed to be their children's primary catechists. Yes, that's the ideal, but you cannot pass on what you do not have. I remember getting into a big argument with a DRE who shall remain nameless about a dozen or so years ago on this very topic. The poor woman thought that these clueless souls were somehow going to pass on the Catholic faith to their children just because the parish had given them a book they could read together. I thought it was going to take a bit more effort on the part of the staff than that, but she already had enough to do, thank you. (BTW, the parish involved will be closing June 30th due to a massive drop off in Mass attendance. I wonder if there might be a connection.)
Okay, so I see the problem as catechesis, and adult catechesis in particular. How do we carry on with that mission, especially given the fact that many adults don't care about learning their faith.
I believe that it has to start with the bishop, as he is supposed to be the chief catechist in his diocese. All bishops know this, although different bishops have different ways of discharging that responsibility. Some bishops use columns in their diocesan newspapers as opportunities to regularly catechize their faithful. Others hold occasional series of talks where they expound on various aspects of the faith and take questions. Still others simply appoint someone to head up a diocesan office of catechesis and then busy themselves with other matters. Which of those approaches, do you think, says to the faithful - as well as to the priests of the diocese - that their bishop believes that their understanding of the faith is important to him?
Absent a serious, visible commitment to catechesis on the part of the local ordinary, I don't think there's much hope of catechizing an uncatechized (and largely indifferent) laity.
I wouldn't say it's hopeless w/out the support of the ordinary. Just look at what Mother Angelica did.
ReplyDeleteMother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles
Mike,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your experiences. There is so much to be said about being immersed in Catholic identity (which clearly you were during your time at AQ and SJF).
I think your point about the Bishop's role in catechesis is very relevant to this discussion. Honestly, when was the last time our Bishop taught publically? (Has anyone seen the "Spirit Alive" DVDs? They are a horrible, syncretized mess). And our priest takes a similar "hands off" approach to catechesis. I think he feels he would be stepping on some lay staff toes if he were to be too visible or too outspoken.
I taught religious ed for three years and the priest never made an appearance except the one time I asked him to come in and speak to the kids about Reconciliation. I don't think most of the kids could recognize our priest (especially since he rarely appears in his cleric clothes outside of Mass on Sunday). My priest is a nice man who really loves being a priest, but his approach to pastoring his flock has led to the loss of many sheep. Now the staff is trying to reign them in, but most have left for good.
Honestly, I don't have much hope for a visible commitment to catechesis from our current leadership. We can't even commit to Catholic schools. The cynic in me sees a purposeful dismantling of the Catholic education system in our diocese in hopes of being seen as "ecumenical." Catholic identity is almost non-existent in Rochester, and it seems that is the way some people want it.
Nerina,
ReplyDeleteYou've hit the nail on the head. Yes, none of that "full immersion" catechesis I related above kept me from wandering off into the wilderness for longer than I care to remember, but I am nonetheless convinced that it played a huge role in my return.
That is the primary reason I'm so passionate about Catholic schools (and so angry about this diocese's effective abandonment of same). Like you, I teach religious ed, but 75 minutes a week for 26 or so weeks a year cannot even begin to have the effect in a kid's life that a quality Catholic school can - and does.
The moral culture out there - including that found in most public schools - is nothing short of toxic and every week it seems that I'm fighting up uphill battle against it. And if I, with a reasonably sound grounding in the faith, am having a hard time, I can only imagine the difficulty these kids' woefully undercatechized parents are having in trying to guide them through the morass.
Yes, I am planting seeds (as my DRE keeps reminding me), but it's still frustrating to know that a good Catholic school could be doing so much more for these kids.