Archive for May, 2008
Last night I attended my end-of-the-year meeting with Arlene, my DRE. She schedules grade level meetings to informally evaluate the year and to look at the schedule for next year. So I was with several of my fellow 8th grade catechists last night as we chatted about what worked and what we’d like to tweak for the coming year. It was a good opportunity to compare notes with colleagues and to hear how they dealt with similar experiences. Our conclusion was that we made some great strides this past year in implementing some innovative ideas, especially the confirmation intensives. We committed to doing those once again and decided to schedule a couple of opportunities for our groups to come together for some large-group presentations, particularly for the Church history PowerPoint and the viewing of the segment from the Jesus of Nazareth DVD. It was a productive meeting and I appreciate the attention and affirmation that Arlene gives to all of us catechists!
I’m happy to announce that I’ve had an article published in the June-July, 2008, issue of Ministry and Liturgy Magazine (Resource Publications) titled “Through Hymns, With Hymns, and In Hymns: the Catechesis of Sacred Music.” The gist of the article is to point out how the hymns we sing at liturgy serve to catechize us and form us in faith. Enjoy.
through-hymns-with-hymns-and-in-hymns.pdf
I’m pondering a different kind of homework for my religious education students for next year.
Typically, we think of homework as completing some type of worksheet, writing an essay or a paragraph, or reading a chapter and answering questions.
I’m talking about a different kind of homework: assignments that amount to practicing what we preach. In other words, we hope that what we teach our young people will have an impact on how they live on a daily basis. We are trying to apprentice them into a way of life. Perhaps we can devise assignments that require them to attempt a new “skill” for Christian living with the idea that, on the following week, we could talk about their experience.
What might I be thinking about? Here are some examples based on Catholic social teaching:
- Life and dignity of the human person: Think of someone at school who is often “left out.” Go out of your way to sit with this person at lunch or during recess.
- Call to family, community, and participation: Go out of your way to do a chore at home that will make life easier for your parents and family.
- Rights and responsibilities: Focus on a responsibility that has recently become yours (at home, in school, as part of an extra-curricular activity) and do your best to fulfill it.
- Option for the poor and vulnerable: Select an opportunity this week, either at school or at your parish, to contribute to or participate in efforts to help those who are poor (e.g. a food or clothing drive, Catholic Relief Services, working at the soup kitchen, etc.)
- The dignity of work and the rights of workers: Visit www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/kidsweb/food and find out what FAIR TRADE is all about and come back with one example
- Solidarity - Visit www.hcakids.org to find out about the HOLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION and come back with a story about children in another country who need our help.
- Care for God’s Creation - Keep a tally of how many items you can recycle in one week (e.g. plastic bottles, glass bottles, newspaper, aluminum cans, and so on)
As much as possible, I’m looking for these ideas to be practical and simple enough for an individual to accomplish on their own without requiring them to “make something” (no posters, etc.) and without repeatedly asking them to give money to causes that address these various needs. Likewise, various categories can be used to inspire the assignments. There can be assignments based on the Beatitudes, the Virtues, the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy, and much more.
My inspiration for this is Luke 10 in which Jesus sends out the 70 disciples in pairs with a mission to accomplish and then they report back to him. Likewise, in Luke 24, the Emmaus story, the 2 disciples go on to Jerusalem after their encounter with the Risen Christ and they report what they have experienced. I believe that this is an important part of the process of mentoring: assignments are given and then a “report” is given at which time advice can be offered. It is often in the telling of these experiences that the hand of God is recognized in the experience. I think we need to give our young people more experiences!
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
I’m proud to announce that I will be authoring “What’s Your Catholic IQ?” - a regular feature of Catechist Magazine, beginning with the September, 2008 issue! This feature - 20 multiple choice questions (and insightful answers) about all aspects of our Catholic faith - is a self-assessment for readers’ fun and enlightenment.
For years, this popular feature has been written by Page McKean Zyromski. I’m honored to be following in her footsteps to provide this great resource for catechists. I look forward to “meeting” you there!
The Catechist’s Toolbox talked about HOW we teach. Now, A Well-Built Faith will talk about WHAT we teach. I wrote this book not only for catechists, but for general audiences as well…(think especially, parents of kids in R.E.). I’ll tell you more about it in the days and weeks to come. For now, I just wanted to show you what it looks like!!! Click here!
I’m in the Diocese of New Ulm, MN with their catechetical leaders and youth ministers. I’ll be back to posting on Wednesday. Talk to ya then! -joe
This Sunday is, of course, Trinity Sunday. One problem that we often fall into when it comes to the Trinity is that we are always trying to explain the Trinity. Early Christians did not occupy themselves so much with explaining the Trinity as they did with KNOWING the Trinity. We can KNOW someone or something without fully understanding or being able to explain that someone or something. I KNOW my wife and she KNOWS me but we can’t explain eachother!
So what do we KNOW about the Trinity? We experience God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - a loving community; a loving relationship; three Persons in one God. In essence, God IS loving relationship. When we say that “God is love,” we are not describing a trait of God but the essence of God. God is fundamentally relational and involved. We are made in the image and likeness of God. This means that we are called to live in loving relationship with one another and God. We are called to be relational and involved. In other words, when we engage in loving relationship with others, we bear a “family resemblance” to God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - in whose image and likeness we are made.
Bottom line is, our goal is not to explain the Trinity. Our goal is to know the Trinity and to live like the Trinity - in loving relationship that resembles the Oneness of God.
Most of what I shared above is inspired by a little pamphlet called A Vision for Pastoral Ministry by Dr. Richard Gaillardetz.
I just want to take this opportunity to offer congratulations to all of this year’s graduates that catechist’s are involved with in any way! From students we teach in Kindergarten, 8th grade, senior year high school and college to members of our own families who are graduating to all of the catechists who are completing formation programs and achieving certification by their dioceses! Praise God for these accomplishments and for the grace that enabled(s) all of us to achieve them!
Two of the wonderful Gifts of the Holy Spirit are the gift of Reverence, also referred to as Piety, and Fear of the Lord. How sorely these gifts are needed in our society today! Both of these gifts lead us to recognize and accept the reality that we are humble creatures at the service of our Creator and others. Both of these gifts lead us to recognize the proper attitude and response to take in any given situation. And just what is the proper attitude and response in any given situation? One of humility, selflessness, and temperance. We enter into any given situation recognizing that we are not the center of the universe and that the moment we are a part of is “bigger” than ourselves.
Why do I bring this up? Over the weekend, I attended my son’s graduation from college, the University of Illinois at Chicago (College of Architecture and the Arts). My wife, daughter, and I were absolutely mortified by the behavior, not of the graduates, but of many of the families in the audience. The hooting, hollering, screaming, and yelling was unbelievably immature and disrespectful. What was lacking from so many people there (not from the university, which did a very nice job of the festivities) was any sense of respect for the moment or for others. To scream and yell at the sound of your child’s name being called to come forward for his or her diploma is selfish: it ignores the fact that there are other people present. It is also extremely disrespectful to the family of the next graduate, whose name cannot be heard over the din.
Reverence and Fear of the Lord are not just attitudes that we practice in Church. We are to practice them in life. Isn’t this what we try to teach our students in our religious education classes? We try to teach them that in every situation in life, we are called to humble ourselves, to show respect for others, and to do unto others as we would have done to ourselves. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit enable us to love our neighbors properly…they allow us to live moral lives. Society and community as a whole rely upon the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in order that all members of the community may thrive, grow, and be respected.
Let’s keep right on teaching our young people how to make the best use of the Gifts of Reverence and Fear of the Lord. They may not be “in vogue” but they are not obsolete!
I was getting set to organize my thoughts to say something intelligent about Richard Rohr’s article (actually taken from his Web site) on Eckhart Tolle (Oprah’s current co-teacher on “spirituality”) when lo and behold, a comment came in from a reader who says precisely what I had hoped to say! I thought I would post her comment here in additon to its place with last Friday’s post. Thanks, Maura!
Joe
After reading both your article and the Rohr article on Tolle I had just a few thoughts.
I believe I tend to agree with your concern about Tolle’s popular appeal among those without “mature” faith.
1 thing from the Richard Rhor article that I found particularly troubling was his quote that “He (Tolle) is teaching process not doctrine or dogma.” How hollow and empty to have a process without connecting to a specific meaning. It seems to me that the 2 simply can not be separated. The Sacramental vision that is at the very foundation of our Catholic Christianity does not just call us to recognize generic value in our daily experience. It calls us to recognize that our lives have meaning because of the presence of a God who loves us and wishes to have a personal relationship with us thru the world around us.
Is our goal as Christians to be ““low maintenance” people who can relax and enjoy life” or to engage the world, by seeking to know and be known by the God who loves us?
I believe that “processes” that are an end unto themselves and do not guide us along our journey toward a personal relationship with God are not worthy of our time and attention and can infact distract us from the development of our faith. While great mystics may have found value in simular processes ultimately their process was never abstracted from their purpose of Communion with God.
Peace
Maura
So, what do I (joe) think? What she said!
