Franciscan at Home

‘Attractiveness’ is one of the keys of the pedagogy of the faith that Petroc Willey, Barbara Morgan and Pierre de Cointet write of in The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Craft of Catechesis. In this work we are helped to see how essential this characteristic is considered to be by the Church. To encapsulate this point the Catechism of the Catholic Church has, on the front cover of every edition, the image of a shepherd playing panpipes to attract and comfort the sheep at his feet. Let us look at how to be attentive to the importance of this key in practice.

God himself is, of course, completely beautiful, utterly attractive. Catechesis is about God and therefore it is logical to think that in order to be true to the nature of God, beauty should in some way be integral to catechesis. Catechesis should be attractive, should attract. This raises many questions. What attracts people? What is a Catholic understanding of beauty? When we use the word ‘beauty’ in relation to catechesis, we need to be aware of both the physical resources we are using and, also, spiritual beauty, which has an attraction entirely its own. There can be spiritual beauty even in the midst of ugly physical surroundings. In this sense, we say, faith is beautiful, or, trust is beautiful. The beauty of trust in God can appear even in the most dismal and upsetting of surroundings.

Since its beginnings in 1954, the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd has used the Montessori method of education to incarnate the themes at the heart of Christianity in materials that children can use to nurture their relationship with God.

Montessori’s approach was used both in the development of the materials and their use. Dr. Sofia Cavalletti, a Hebrew scholar, and Gianna Gobbi, a student of Dr. Montessori, were partners in this development. They would create a material for the children, but before pronouncing it finished the material was introduced to the children and their response was observed.

Each material is meant to be used independently by the child after its introduction. This independence creates a space for meditation – a meeting between the child and God – that is not dependent on the adult. Cavalletti and Gobbi watched for repeated use of the material by the children, a sense of satisfaction and joy as they worked, and comments or artwork that indicated the theological content of the material was accessible to the children. When these three conditions were met, the material became a permanent part of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Two key themes of their work are Gift and Sign.

Montessori’s name is associated with a teaching methodology for children that is particularly attuned to their needs and capacities.  We might wish to take this thought as a springboard for how God provides for us as his children, with the provision of a catechetical environment enabling us to receive all that we need for our growth as his free sons and daughters.

What is an effective and truly engaging model for Catechesis? R Jared Staudt argues that a new approach is needed, one that cultivates every aspect of faith to create a dynamic experience of the Christian life for those being catechized.

In a short piece entitled “Models of Catechesis,” Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., describes various approaches to catechesis practiced by the Church in the twentieth century. Foremost among these Dulles lists doctrinal catechesis, which “relies heavily on the authority of Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church,” and whose “objective is to produce Christians who are confident and orthodox in their faith.”[i] It is not surprising that a dire crisis in both confidence and orthodoxy afflicted the Church in the late twentieth century when doctrinal methods of catechesis were virtually abandoned.[ii] In what follows, I will argue that new approaches to catechesis, rather than being completely abandoned, should be integrated in a holistic fashion in which the doctrinal method holds priority. Such “holistic catechesis” will lead to a vibrant spiritual life for those catechized in which the faith that is learned is also encountered and, ultimately, lived out.

In this article Sr Hyacinthe examines the ways in which Notre Dame de Vie’s catechesis provides for an encounter with God to take place.

All catechesis can be thought of as a response to the fundamental human desire for God.

‘The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God’[i]. God is the origin and finality of the human person. Catechesis should never be thought of as something imposed arbitrarily and somehow artificially on children and young people just because Christianity happens to be the religion in which they are brought up. Catechesis is rather there to answer a need which corresponds to a thirst, present in all human beings created for God.

The first part of this article explored this desire for God and introduced the catechetical work of Notre Dame de Vie, a French programme and approach which I believe engages in a profound way with this desire.

In this second part of the article I would like to examine how Notre Dame de Vie’s catechesis provides for this encounter with God to take place and recount some catechists’ experience in using the programme Viens, suis-moi, tracing its impact in the sacramental, moral and prayer life of the children, in these ecclesial expressions of the life of grace.

What does it mean in practice to teach faithfully?

This series is about catechetical methods and how these methods are chosen ‘in the light of the pedagogy of God’ (GDC 148). So far in this series we have covered methods for teaching gracefully, prayerfully, biblically, liturgically, holistically, personally and attractively. By ‘methods’ we do not mean a fixed schema such as the ecclesial method or the method of shared praxis but a host of small practical ways of contributing to a session to enhance its unity with God’s own way of ‘treating us as sons’.

The GDC, as we know, sums up the need for faithfulness in the useful double principle of ‘fidelity to God and fidelity to man’(GDC 145). Fidelity to the Church is a perfect expression of this since it is in the Church that we find both God and man in the mystical body of Christ. The incarnation reminds us that as Christ is fully God and fully man, so our catechesis is to fully faithful to God and fully faithful to man, not a little bit faithful to each. It is useful to keep the distinction in mind, of fidelity to God on the one hand and fidelity to man on the other, in order to ensure that both are properly served because we each have a tendency to consider one more fully than the other. Fidelity to God means being faithful to all that God wants to reveal to his people. Fidelity to man means delivering the message in such a way that people can receive it, receive Christ.

Towards which half of the distinction are you inclined? Let us look at two examples to help identify the two tendencies. Consider a priest giving a faith-filled talk to a parish gathering for families - he spoke at such length that children started wandering around, then babies began crying, mothers began feeding them, fathers began finding games for the children to play quietly at the side of the room and still the priest continued, determined that the fullness of the message of the gospel would be expounded. By the time he had finished most of the people had left their seats empty in front of him. The example is an extreme one but a true story of fidelity to God - with no consideration of the audience.

Thomas Aquinas is not generally thought of in relation to catechesis. In fact, he is not referred to in the General Directory for Catechesis. However, Aquinas can render a valuable service to catechesis today as a model of pedagogy and a doctrinal resource for catechists.

In his essay entitled “Thomistic Theology and Religious Education,” Fr. Mark Heath provides a great service in bringing Aquinas into modern catechetical discourse. He lays out three main points, which he claims define Thomas’ contribution to catechesis: synthesis (systematic), theocentricity, and doctrine. Thomistic theology integrates all true insights (as seen especially in Thomas’ Aristotelianism), treats all things through and in relation to God, and is ordered toward a deeper understanding of the faith. These three points stand in stark contrast to current trends in catechesis, which focus on experience and praxis, as well as theories that emphasize whole-community catechesis. Therefore, Heath’s essay provides a helpful service in addressing the current crisis of catechesis, particularly by bringing Aquinas back into the discussion.

However, Heath’s essay can only be viewed as a preliminary effort. While he effectively brings forth key elements of Thomistic thought, the full catechetical significance needs further exploration. The content of Aquinas’ theology is actually tightly knit into a methodology intended to order one’s mind and heart to God. By focusing on the content of Thomas’ catechetical sermons (as well as of the Summa Theologiae) one can grasp how Aquinas’ presentation of doctrine is meant to draw the listener/reader into a deeper engagement with the realities that he presents.

“No one likes to be called stupid.” This statement spoken to me by a parish catechist attending a seminar I was presenting on The Story of Salvation provided me with a moment of clarity and grace. This catechist was hoping I could provide a way to speak about the accounts of Creation in Genesis that would deliver the truth without “looking stupid”. I had made the catechetical points and the catechist had accepted and acknowledged these. The question was not the faith of the catechist or her own assent to that faith. Neither did the question reflect timidity in proclaiming the Good News. The question was addressing the aspect of catechesis that is very real and perhaps the most daunting; how is the truth delivered to a culture which rejects the basic premise proposed? Perhaps even more to the point: how does a catechist respond, especially in areas where, in popular opinion, science or research seems to disprove, or at least test the credibility of the Word of God. When creation is proposed for belief, the response of the listener often contains terms such as “myth”, “story”, “childish”, “naïve” or just plain “stupid”. And no one likes to be called stupid.

Does a catechist need to know the scientific theories on evolution, quantum physics or genetics? Is it enough to understand how to read Sacred Scripture and that the account of creation was never meant to provide a scientific or even historical explanation of the origin of creation, including man? Perhaps we are not asking the right questions. The question to be addressed is whether the catechist has the confidence to propose the truth in a reasonable and intelligent way. The catechist needs to understand the difference between science and theology and how these two distinct threads of knowing are used in tapestry of God’s design to reveal his truth and glory and our salvation.

“After doing session 2 of Anchor on sin and forgiveness, a participant has decided to go to Confession. She hasn’t been for 20 years.” This was reported last month by a catechist who, together with a group of parishioners, leads the Anchor course in her parish as a formation for parents of children preparing for their first Holy Communion. The parents are prepared alongside the children, equipped to provide answers and a Faith environment at home that will allow the gift of God to take root and flourish in the children’s lives, by first taking root in their own lives. Preparation for the sacraments is a unique moment for evangelisation and catechesis, for children and parents alike.

“Mummy, what is that?” This is a question we often hear in the street or supermarket as we go about in our religious habit. The child is pointing at us and the mother doesn’t know what to answer. This family may come from a Catholic background, or the child may attend a Catholic school (1 in 10 in the UK). Yet children in the Western world are now generally far removed from any superficial layer of Christian culture that may have been handed down in previous generations.

Hence we face a challenge in children catechesis: can children be prepared for the Sacraments in Catholic schools and parishes when neither themselves nor their family have been evangelised? Are their dignity and freedom respected? How can catechesis integrate first proclamation?

A model of integration of first proclamation and catechesis is found in Come, follow me, a catechetical programme for children aged 7 to 11, specifically designed by members of Notre Dame de Vie Institute in France for the types of ecclesial situations we are facing.