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Education Commission Column
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Catechesis is about sowing seeds.
What seeds of faith have you planted?
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Ten Dollar Words
When you go to the doctor he/she often uses fancy ten-dollar words
to describe your condition; words like “contusion” instead
of bruise, “abrasion” instead of scrape, “presbyopia”
instead of old eyes. Automotive engineers refer to "instrument
panels" instead of dashboards and "glove boxes" rather
than glove compartments. Every line of work uses its own particular
vocabulary, including the Church that has developed an “ecclesial”
or “Church” vocabulary.
One of the most difficult of these “Church words” to define
is CATECHESIS.
In the Greek, katechethes means “echo” or “handing
down”, so, quite simply, catechesis is the echoing of or handing
down the Good News. Catechesis is not a fancy new thing recently
invented by the Church to confuse us; it is part of the missionary
task entrusted to us. For Luke and Paul, who both wrote about katechethes,
it meant being taught about Christ.
Catechesis is handing on a message that will resound or re-echo
in daily life; it must prepare the Christian to live in community
and to participate actively in the life and mission of the Church.
Catechesis is not just handing on a certain amount of information
but is a life-long journey rooted in a community. Even more, it
is a lifelong journey made with a community, not outside it. Catechesis
is about the journey and the fellow companions, not the destination.
“We are people with something good to proclaim. We are
people with some good news to offer to the world in which we live.
The Gospel is so named because the authors and first hearers of
the word were convinced that its contents, in spite of the conflicts
and suffering found throughout the Gospel, were life-giving events
for the world to hear.”
(Bishop Wilton Gregory, May, 1996.)
There is a little story told about the lady who dreamed she went
into a store and behind the counter was God. “What can I buy
here?” she asked him. “Anything you want,” God replied.
“In that case,” the lady said, “I would like peace,
love, joy, and wisdom for everyone in the world.” God smiled
and said, “I think you have the wrong store here. We don't
sell fruits, only seeds.”
Catechesis is about sowing seeds.
What seeds of faith have you planted?
Throw Yourself In
The ninth-grade home cluster group was naming one thing that
made them happy. The first
young person responded with “getting money for my birthday.”
Other similar responses followed until it came to the leader. In
preparation for this session, she was planning to respond with “my
wedding day” or “the days my children were born.”
But with the group of young people waiting for her response, those
answers did not come out of her mouth. Much to their surprise —
and hers — the response was “I am happy when you are all
here and we are able to talk and share and laugh and learn together.”
The looks on their faces were priceless. They were amazed that an
adult was truly happy to have them around — and admit it! This
honest admission changed not only the young people, but the leader
as well. What followed was a powerful discussion of money and material
possessions and how those became less important and other things,
even little things, became more meaningful. The
group continued their sessions, bonding together as they shared
faith and questions and joys and troubles.
This is an example of FAITH SHARING. Often people become very nervous
when they are invited to share their faith with others. Faith is
very personal and for most people it is
difficult to share personal thoughts with others, whether they know
them well or do not know them at all. Sharing faith is what we do
when we talk to one another. It's as simple as
casual conversation. We experience faith sharing simply by sharing
our life and faith experiences. Faith sharing is nurturing faith
and spiritual growth in each other by sharing our beliefs and experiences
through something as informal as a conversation about our everyday
life, or a more formal discussion about scripture. Sharing our experiences
teaches others about our faith, and helps others to grow in their
own faith. Faith sharing is the whole basis for our community catechesis.
The GDC, Article 98 states: “The heart of all catechesis is
not a book or a theology system, but a person.” We find Christ
in one another through faith sharing. We are actually catechizing
and evangelizing and building our faith through our everyday conversations
with one another.
Faith-sharing groups deal with life, where people are invited to
share aspects of their human and spiritual life-story. There are
no wrong answers in a faith-sharing group, unlike discussion groups
concerned with opinions, ideas and what people think. For a discussion
group the question might be “why is the Catholic Church the
true Church?” But for a faith sharing
group the question would be “why are you still a Catholic?”
The second question can only be answered personally.
The next time you are invited to be part of faith sharing, you might
want to remember this little story from “The Golden Key,”
written in 1867 by George MacDonald: “The Old Man of the Earth
stooped over the floor of the cave, raised a huge stone from it,
and left it leaning. It disclosed a great hole that went plumb-down.
‘That is the way,’ he said. ‘But there are
no stairs.’ ‘You must throw yourself in. There is no other
way.’” And so it is with faith-sharing; you just throw
yourself in and do it.
What Kind of Foundation Do You Have?
It's been called by many names over the years — catechism,
CCD, religious education, religious formation. Are we talking about
the same thing and simply changing the name?
Not really. The first three names imply a more purely informational
giving and have little to do with conversion or a changing of the
heart.
FAITH FORMATION is a process of adopting our faith and beliefs and
putting them into practice in our everyday lives. It is a lifelong
process that calls for ongoing conversion, adjusting, and searching.
It is dynamic and not static, as our faith is never completely formed.
Faith formation is trying to follow in Jesus' footsteps and modeling
His ways in our daily life. We experience faith formation by continually
seeking knowledge and learning about our Catholic heritage and our
responsibilities as Catholic Christians in the world. Faith formation
can be as easy as asking ourselves “What would Jesus Do?”
and then putting that into action!
In the parable of the two house builders, Jesus says that anyone
who hears his words and obeys them is like the man who builds his
house on rock. When the storm comes, the rains
and winds cannot knock the house down because it has a strong foundation.
However, the person who hears the words of Jesus and does not obey
them is like a man who builds his house on sand. When the storm
comes, the house cannot withstand the power of the rain and the
wind and falls down — terribly!
Faith formation gives us that rock-like foundation built over a
lifetime of listening to and following in the footsteps of Jesus.
What kind of foundation is your house built on?
The Belt Buckle
“If you have 4 apples, 3 bananas, and 2 oranges, how many pieces
of fruit do you have?”
“Use the word 'geography' in a sentence.” “Write
a 300 word essay on “What I Did Over Summer Vacation.”
“Let's look at this map of the United States. Who can find
the state of Colorado? What is the capital city?” These are
common statements issued by teachers. We are familiar with these
— and many more. We know that a TEACHER is a person who imparts
knowledge or skills through systematic instruction in a particular
subject.
Is a CATECHIST the same as a teacher? For many people, it is. Many
believe catechists should “teach” things like prayers,
the 10 Commandments, and the Beatitudes so that students learn them
by heart and can recite them perfectly. But is this truly what defines
a catechist? Catechists can be defined as people who work with any
age group with a view to handing
on the faith. It is a specific ministry dedicated to help others
develop their faith so that it becomes living, active and conscious
through the light of instruction. A catechist is more
than a teacher. Jesus is the ultimate Catechist and we must look
at what He did to provide a model for catechists today.
If we examine only the issue of prayer, Jesus was often seen in
prayer, celebrating a strong relationship with his Father. Catechists
also send a powerful message when they demonstrate not only the
right words but also a strong understanding of prayer. One of the
major roles of a catechist is not so much to teach prayers but to
introduce people to many experiences of prayer. This would include
formal prayers such as “The Lord's Prayer" and the “Hail
Mary,” the Bible, silence, meditation, and spontaneous prayers
to name a few. It is not the role of the catechist to say what is
right or wrong, what is best or not, what works or doesn't. The
catechist is to offer as many experiences of prayer as possible
to help others — and themselves — develop a personal relationship
with God.
When you are asked to become a catechist, remember the words of
St. Augustine, who wrote in 421: “...to impart such instruction,
it will not suffice to place a small manual in one's hand; rather
it will be necessary to enkindle a great zeal in one's heart.”
John Shea, the gifted storyteller, tells the story of “The
Belt Buckle.” In it, a stranger approached John as he finished
one of his talks and handed John a large, elaborate belt buckle
with a swirl of multicolored beads. “Please accept this gift,”
the stranger said. “Thank you, it's beautiful, but I can't
accept it,” replied Shea. “Why not?” was the puzzled
response. Shea replied, “Well, would you want to call attention
to this stomach with a large, beautiful belt buckle?” “Please
accept this gift,” the man replied. “No, I can't. It's
too expensive,” said Shea. The stranger smiled and said, “Well,
you can give it to someone else.” Shea accepted the belt buckle.
Our faith is like the belt buckle and catechists, like John Shea,
must accept the gift and then give it to someone else.
Are you ready to accept the belt buckle and give it away?
What Did You Do Last Sunday?
What do you say when someone asks "What did you do last Sunday?"
If you actually mention what you did Sunday morning, odds are that
you say, "I attended church" or "I went to Mass."
Rarely does one say, "I celebrated liturgy, then we went to
the beach." Using the terms "attended" or "went"
lumps Mass into the numerous activities in our daily lives that
we go to or attend such as work, school, the store, and meetings.
These activities are not considered celebrations. Many people would
not consider Mass or liturgy as celebrations either. However, Webster
defines "celebrate" as a way to honor a special event
by refraining from ordinary business, publicly with appropriate
rites. Therefore, Liturgy or Mass is a true celebration. We join
with family and friends to sing songs, listen to stories and celebrate
the sacrament of Holy Eucharist. Rituals or rites put into words
those feelings or emotions that we often find difficult to express.
Funeral liturgies are perfect examples; through the liturgical rites
our strong emotions are expressed and the life of the person who
has passes away is celebrated and remembered with story and song.
Thomas Groome, a well-known religious educator wrote in 1986:
"Liturgy is the act of a people who gather with the Risen
Lord to keep covenant with God - to hear God's word, to pray,
to offer thanks, and praise for the marvelous thins God has done
for us in Jesus and to leave with a mission..."
Every part is important
One day a young girl came home from school crying because
she had only gotten a small part in the school play and her best
friend had gotten the leading role. Her mother listened to her,
then took off her watch and handed it to her daughter. "What
do you see? asked to mother. "I see a gold band, a watch face,
and two hands," answered the daughter. Carefully opening the
back of the watch, the mother asked again, "Now what do you
see?" The girl looked carefully and was amazed to see all the
tiny springs, wheels and other pieces. The mother explained, "The
watch would be useless without all the parts - even the tiny ones
you cannot see." The daughter always remembered the watch to
see the importance of small, supporting roles in the duties she
was asked to perform throughout her life.
So it is with liturgy. We often think that the CELEBRANT has the
leading role. But who is the Celebrant? For many years, liturgy
was done for us or to us by the celebrant, but not by us. However,
since liturgy actually means, "work of the people," everyone
is a celebrant at liturgy as we all gather to celebrate and to offer
praise and thanksgiving to God who has blessed us in so many ways.
The question then is what is the role of the priest? He is the PRESIDER
who gathers and leads the community in prayer. At liturgy, the presider,
in his role as ordained minister has the crucial role of calling
each and every person to celebrate the Eucharist together in community.
As with a watch, everything has a part to play, large or small;
and the watch doesn't work well if one of the parts is missing or
doesn't do its job. At liturgy we all have work to do, whether as
celebrants or presider; one doesn't work well without the other.
Liturgy is a verb - done by a community celebrating and living.
Let us all join in doing the work of the people as true celebrants
at liturgy each week!
Celebration Time, Come On!!
Have you ever gone on a vacation somewhere and taken lots of photographs?
Most of us do this, come home and develop the pictures or download
them into our computer, often never looking at them again. But occasionally,
out come the albums or the shoe boxes full of pictures and good
times are relived and thought about once again. The photos serve
as a reminder of the place we were, helps us to re-kindle the emotions
and re-live our experiences. We often encourage others to visit
the same place, sharing our photos and stories with them so that
they too might become visitors as well.
So it can be with the sacraments. As adults, we may not have given
them much thought since we first experienced them. There is a great
temptation to stop thinking about them because we are "grown-ups."
"Grown-up" implies a process that comes to an end or a
stage where we have arrived. It is like there is a checklist of
sacraments that we cross off as we receive each one. Our faith should
always be in a state of "growing-up." It would be sad
if the way we approached the sacraments never changed, never developed,
or if we thought we had "made it" in terms of faith. Ask
any couple about their wedding day, and you will likely hear that
they "got" married at the church and then had a fantastic
reception with all their friends and family. Similar statements
exist for sacraments such as Baptism and Confirmation. One often
hears statements like "I got my First Communion" rather
than "I celebrated my first
Holy Communion!" We do not "get a sacrament" but,
instead, we CELEBRATE A SACRAMENT.
All words such as "getting confirmed," "receiving
Eucharist," and "making Reconciliation" imply non-action
and non-participation on our part. Celebrating implies an active
participation and the recognition that we are part of the Body of
Christ in an ongoing process that affects our lives forever. The
Latin word "sacramentum" means "a sign of the sacred."
The seven sacraments are ceremonies that point to what is sacred,
significant and important for Christians. They are special faith
experiences shared with and in a community of faith that
supports and encourages members on a journey that begins at birth
and continues long after the celebration of a sacrament. They are
special occasions for celebrating God's saving
presence.
In The Book of Sacramental Basics, Ted Guzie writes:
A sacrament
is a festive action
in which Christians assemble
to celebrate their lived experience
and to call to heart their common story.
The action is a symbol
of God's care for us in Christ.
enacting the symbol
brings us closer to one another in the church
to the Lord
who is there for us.
Now, isn't that something to celebrate?
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