Franciscan at Home

Is there such a thing as Catholic culture in America anymore? And if there is, is it capable of producing religiously committed Catholics across generations? Or would we have to consider it simply a fading vestige of ethnic or familial identity? From John Paul II to Benedict XVI to Francis, the renewal of Catholic culture in Western societies has been considered an intrinsic dimension of the New Evangelization. With regard to a so-called “Catholic culture,” however, the movement from ideal to real—from exhortations to concrete renewal—is sobering and presents many practical questions. Are there any social mechanisms by which new generations of Catholics can acquire a strong sense of Catholic identity, an entire worldview animated by Christian intuitions regarding humanity and society, and the will to remain committed to these principles over the long term? Can such reinvigoration occur anywhere at an appreciable scale?

If Dr. Christian Smith, a prominent sociologist of religion at Notre Dame, is correct, any reply to these questions must take special account of one institution: the household, with its deep interpersonal bonds, its wealth of practices, and its highly compelling power to impart identity. In his landmark National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR), Smith studied the specific religiosity and spirituality of millennials, observing the widespread drift of these young people from any substantial notion of religious identity or practice. However, he also realized that the religious outcomes of these young people were not at all a generational anomaly. Rather, the single greatest predictor of emerging adults’ eventual level of religious commitment was the religiosity of their parents.

Consider that, of the most religious quartile of NSYR young adults ages 24-29 (individuals whose religious attitudes Smith had been tracking since high school) an impressive 82% had parents who reported each of the following: that their family regularly talked about religious topics in the home, that faith was “very important” to them, and that they themselves regularly were involved in religious activities. By comparison, only 1% of the least religious quartile of Smith’s young adults had parents who reported this combination of religious attitudes and practices. Thus, according to the NSYR, the single most decisive difference between Millennials who remained religiously committed into adulthood and those who didn’t was the degree of religiousness exhibited by their parents.

El autismo ha captado la atención de muchas personas gracias a los medios masivos de la comunicación, mas sin embargo, perdura mucha ignorancia sobre el tema. La organización, Habla el Autismo (Autism Speaks), afirma:

Trastornos del espectro autista (TEA) y autismo son ambos términos generales para referirse a un grupo de complejos trastornos del desarrollo cerebral. Estos trastornos son caracterizados, en grados variables, por dificultades en la interacción social, la comunicación verbal y no-verbal y comportamientos repetitivos.[1]

Para algunos, su conocimiento del autismo proviene de las películas y de la televisión. En 1988, Dustin Hoffman y Tom Cruise protagonizaron la película Rain Man, que trata de la relación entre dos hermanos. El personaje de Hoffman, Raymond Babbit, es autista con síndrome de savant (que significa sabio en francés), un término que "se refiere a personas con autismo que tienen habilidades extraordinarias que la mayoría de las personas no exhiben"[2]. Este personaje tiene la capacidad para recordar todo lo que ve y oye, aunque no sea capaz de sostener una conversación significativo. En la mente de muchas personas, esta es la cara del autismo, cuando de hecho esto rara vez sucede.

En este número, miramos específicamente a la catequesis para niños cuyas edades oscilan entre los cuatro y los trece años. En el próximo número de The Catechetical Review, nos dedicaremos a los jóvenes de la edad típica de la educación media superior juntos con los adultos.

Los niños

En todo nuestro discurso sobre las personas con discapacidades, repetimos continuamente que nuestra actitud debe de ser la de Cristo. En esencia, eso significa que debemos de amar. Jesús amaba a los niños: "Dejen que los niños vengan a mí, y no se lo impidan, porque el reino de los cielos es de quienes son como ellos" (Mt 19:14). También nos dice: "Les aseguro que si ustedes no cambian y se vuelven como niños, no entrarán en el reino de los cielos" (Mt 18:3).

Podemos prever que tendremos niños con muchas discapacidades diferentes en nuestros programas de catequesis. La discapacidad más común será alguna dificultad cognitiva o retos en la comprensión de la lectura. Muchos de nosotros veremos a un niño que se ubica dentro del espectro del autismo. Puede ser que los catequistas voluntarios quienes tengan muy poca preparación para el manejo de estas necesidades especiales relinchen ante el tener a un niño así en su salón de clases ya que se consideran mal preparados para un reto de esta índole. Esto es comprensivo. Sin embargo, Jesús nos dice que dejemos que los niños vengan a Él. No incluía ningún límite ni reserva. Por consiguiente, hay que asegurarnos que todos los catequistas reciban una capacitación básica en la catequesis de niños con necesidades especiales. Fundamentalmente, sin embargo, los catequistas deben de poseer un gran amor por el Señor y un gran amor por los niños.

Whether it be Captain America and Iron Man fighting over whether or not the Avengers should submit to governmental authority, or the constant slew of stories that portray the bad guy as the good guy, Hollywood loves moral ambiguity. “The Walking Dead” is still popular not only because of the horror of zombies but also because of the constant moral dilemmas the protagonists must face: if a child is bitten by zombies and will become a zombie in a few days, should we kill the child before she becomes a zombie or should we wait until she might kill us? Such questions seem unanswerable.[i]

This continual barrage of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” scenarios is symptomatic of an ethically relativistic society, and leads young people to the conclusion that there is no “right” answer to moral dilemmas— whatever the person decides is best. Like all heresies, there is a measure of truth in that statement. People of good conscience can still make bad decisions. However, we do teenagers no favors by posing the most difficult of moral situations, when the vast majority of their day to day decisions have far clearer answers to questions as: “Should I cheat on this test or lie to my parents?”

If we wish to assist learners in forming a Catholic conscience, it is important for us to understand how individuals typically grow and change over the lifespan with regard to moral thinking and reasoning. The way we approach moral catechesis and conscience formation will vary somewhat depending upon the developmental level of the individual. One characteristic that is common to all learners, especially during the childhood years, is their need to access the material in multisensory ways. Some individuals are visual learners. Some are most engaged when material is presented verbally. Still others need to move and interact with what they are learning. The following is a brief discussion of conscience formation at various ages, with recommendations for multisensory activities to aid in teaching at each developmental level.

Wonderful Words of Life Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life; Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life; Words of life and beauty, teach me faith and duty. Sweetly echoes the Gospel call, wonderful words of life; Offering pardon and peace to all, wonderful words of life; Jesus only Savior, sanctify us forever, Beautiful words, wonderful words, Wonderful words of life; Beautiful words, wonderful words, Wonderful words of life.[1] This favorite hymn from my childhood affirms the life-giving power of God’s Word. The hymn’s simple lyrics lavishly praise Scripture’s goodness and beauty connecting the “wonderful words of life” (Sacred Scripture) to the Gospel call and to Jesus as Savior. Although the author was not Catholic, he clearly found sustenance for life itself, and expects to meet Christ in the words of Sacred Scripture, as have thousands of Christians, young and old wherever they have had access to the Bible. Children’s hearts and minds are especially attuned to the words of Scripture. When properly prepared, children welcome the opportunity to enter into the mysterious reality of Jesus made present in a particular way in the reading of his Word. Today’s parents and catechists are increasingly aware of the capacity of children for a serious life of faith. This capacity includes an ability to receive and be nurtured by the living word of God.

In this issue, we specifically look at catechesis for children from four to thirteen years old. In the next issue of The Catechetical Review we will include high school age students with adults. Children In all our discussions regarding persons with disabilities, we continuously repeat that our attitude must be that of Christ. In essence that means that we must love. Jesus loved children: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Mt 19:14). He also tells us, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”(Mt 18:3). We can anticipate having children with many different disabilities in our catechetical programs. The most common disability will be some sort of cognitive difficulty or challenges in reading comprehension. Many of us will see a child who is somewhere on the autism spectrum. Volunteer catechists who have received little training in addressing these special needs may balk at having such a child in their class because they feel ill prepared for such a challenge. This is understandable. Yet Jesus tells us to let the children come. He included no limits or qualifications. Consequently, we should make sure all catechists receive basic training in catechesis for children with special needs. Fundamentally, however, catechists must possess great love for the Lord and great love for the children.

Immediately visible when walking into the classroom is a picture of Jesus smiling and a holy water font. The classroom is filled with images—a statue of Mary, Jesus on the cross, and prayer posters. Rosaries are always available to the students. Quotes from Mother Teresa (“do all things with great love”) and the Bible are displayed as well as the Ten Commandments. We have a prayer wall, which is a big, blank laminated sheet of poster paper on which students write their prayer intentions. Students often ask, “Ms. Eyth, can I add something to the prayer wall?” or “Will you pray for this special intention?”

Trying to catechize a young adult who has never had a conversion to Jesus is like trying to teach marine biology to someone who has never seen an ocean. We might be able to transmit some knowledge, but we might also leave him or her disinterested to the reality that the ocean is dynamic, beautiful, and powerful.

Herein lies the issue in many of our current catechetical models with young adults in the Catholic Church: our sequence, method, and execution of young adult faith formation is not working because it is out of order, ineffective, and unattractive to young people.

The statistics tell us only one side of the story, yet they also help frame our problem with young adults in the Catholic Church. According to Pew Research, only 30% of Catholic adults are still “practicing” their faith (that is, attend Mass at least monthly). Another 38% self-identify as Catholics, though they rarely attend Mass. That leaves nearly 32% who no longer identify as Catholics.[i] In the young adult population, the numbers are even worse.
Other questions arise: How many of those who go to Mass are intentional disciples who understand their identity as children of God? How many are open to sharing their faith? How many are seeking out opportunities to serve the poor? How many have a personal prayer life? How many are making good moral decisions?

While the numbers can seem overwhelming, the opportunities to make a change to something better are everywhere. For decades, the Church’s mode of operation with young adults in the average local community hasn’t changed much. Consequently, most young people feel disenfranchised from the Church and many have stopped caring about faith issues at all.

The family has a privileged place in catechesis. The Catechism states that “parents receive the responsibility of evangelizing their children” and calls them the “first heralds” of the faith.[i] The family is also called “domestic church”—the church of the home.[ii] Catechesis in the parish can give structure and support to faith formation in the home. Parish catechesis is systematic and comprehensive, while the formation that parents provide is more organic and focused on particular occasions in the life of the family. Parents play an indispensable role in helping the faith come alive for their children. The family is the first place where each of us is called to live the faith that we have received. Despite the important role of family in catechesis, many catechists and catechetical leaders find it a challenge to involve parents in parish faith formation programs. Here are six keys to engaging parents and families in catechesis[....]