Franciscan at Home

Este artículo es el primero de una serie de artículos sobre la catequesis para y con las personas con discapacidades. Surgen sin cesar tecnologías y medios de comunicación nuevos y se ponen al servicio de este noble objetivo. Desafortunadamente, nuestro tiempo es también uno que es testigo del aborto, de la eutanasia, y del racionamiento médico de la vida de los que la sociedad pueda juzgar como "no necesarios", apropiándose el derecho de cometer estas atrocidades en el nombre de la misericordia".

En la Grecia y la Roma antiguas, mataban abiertamente a las personas consideradas "defectuosas" o se les abandonaba a la muerte. En los Evangelios vemos que si una persona padecía alguna discapacidad, las demás lo atribuían a sus pecados o a los pecados de sus padres. Jesús derrocó esta visión y se puso a cambio a sanar a los ciegos, a los sordos y a los que sufrían de alguna otra discapacidad, Basta leer el Evangelio según San Marcos para saber que Jesús sanaba a los que padecían estas condiciones y hasta resucitaba a los muertos.[i] San Mateo registra la misión que Jesús confió a sus discípulos resaltando el hecho de que aún ellos estarían involucrados en la sanación: "Sanen a los enfermos, resuciten a los muertos, limpien de su enfermedad a los leprosos y expulsen a los demonios. Ustedes recibieron gratis este poder; no cobren tampoco por emplearlo" (Mt 10:8).

It was a warm, sunny day at the end of spring. Instead of spending the beautiful Saturday according to their own wishes, our students were reluctantly settling into their seats in a classroom. I saw looks of boredom on the faces of the youth and noted the variety of ages among those present. I glanced over at the two other members of our team: a young, enthusiastic priest and a very energetic woman who taught children much younger than those gathered before us. We had been recruited to deliver a day-long Confirmation retreat for a Native American community. On our three-hour drive to reach the reservation, Father had emphasized the fact that the culture from which these participants would be coming might present different challenges from those to which we were accustomed. Looking around the room, I began to understand what he had been describing. The ages of the confirmandi ranged from 5th to 11th graders; and some parents or family members also requested to attend the retreat. The sisters who ran the catechetical side of the mission church located on the reservation had already informed us that many of these students failed to attend any kind of courses regularly, and thus their level of catechesis was inconsistent.

Good Advice from a Mentor Priest

In the fall, the 8th grade religious education classes were meeting for the first time in formal preparation for their Confirmation at my parish. I had the privilege of being one of the catechists responsible for catechizing these young teens. There were a total of 17 students for whom I was responsible and the task before me seemed daunting, especially going into to this experience as a new college graduate, but I wanted to be a part of my parish’s religious education program. I had many questions, so I decided to speak with one of my closest mentors, and it so happens, the priest who recruited me for this position in the first place.

When we got together, I explained that I was not certain where to begin. I had never taught before and this group included private and public school kids, honors students and below grade level students, and all levels of interest in the faith. Father smiled and right then and there told me, “I knew I picked the right person for this task.” At this point I gave a blank stare back to Father as this was not the answer that I was expecting. Father went on to say, “Your desire to bring the Word of Jesus to the students is strong, otherwise, you wouldn’t be here asking where to begin.” Father then said, “Teach from the back of the room to the front and rely on the Word.” My blank stare continued, but at this point I was extremely interested to find out what he meant. Father explained that I should start by getting to know my students and their interests outside of class and to “assign homework, but don’t collect the homework. Rather make it a point to review the content of the homework with the entire class. The students who are ready for a deeper understanding will go the extra mile, while those who are not will still benefit from your reviewing of the key concepts.” Father advised me to not only find out their interests but also to show them that I was actually interested, even if I wasn’t. This resulted in my attending many events and activities that I would otherwise not have partaken; but the students saw me and my interest in them. Finally, Father said, “Teach the Word, and Jesus will ensure that each student receives exactly what he or she needs. Text books are useful, but nothing is better than the Word itself.”

Waiting on God

We had just begun our new catechetical year at the parish. Following an opening session that was offered in large group, I made my way around to the various confirmation classes to sit in and see how things were going and how I might better support the catechists and candidates that year.

Those involved in youth and young adult ministry accompany and mentor young people as they center their lives on Christ. We hope you enjoy this testimony written by a young adult woman, who describes a significant instance of this conversion from her own life.

Recently, I spoke to 100 young adults on a retreat in the mountains of Prescott, Arizona. The majority of attendees were single and feeling uncertain about their lives and the direction the Lord was taking them. In addition, many spoke of the ache they have in their hearts—the longing they have to find someone to love them in marriage. I remember this feeling myself when I was a single younger adult praying for my vocation and wondering if God would ask me to be single for the rest of my life. The thought made me feel so sad and lonely. Then something changed.

The Car, the Barn, and the Woods

The goal of the catechist is to lead others to an encounter with the living God, leading them to conversion.

My father, Pat Brueggen, was my CCD instructor, youth minister, sports coach, but most importantly my role model for the faith. The man I got to see after the cleanup from our lock-ins and football games was a person whose faith was intertwined in the way he lived his life. Catholicism was not merely an 8-5 job, but it was what drove every facet of his life. The barn, the woods, and the car may not seem like primary places of catechesis, but this is where I learned my faith and grew closer to Jesus. My dad would listen to Scott Hahn cassette tapes while milking the cows and would always take time to pass that knowledge on to us. I would watch my father in the tree stand dressed in his blaze orange, shivering with a rosary in his hand because of the freezing temperatures. In the car, every time we would pass a Church, he would reverently make a sign of the cross to remind himself and those in the car that Jesus was present there. God was continually working through my father in a way that prompted me to want to have a relationship with God myself.

Over the course of my life, I have seen the Holy Spirit working in my dad, which drew me to want the same Spirit to live and be seen in me.

Andrew Brueggen
Holmen, Wisconsin

The Spirituality of the Catechist
What is the most important element in the catechetical process? Is it the doctrine to be passed on? Is it the method one employs? Is it the catechist’s preparation or the ability to adapt to the age and culture of the students? These are all essential, as the General Directory for Catechesis reminds us. These elements, however, depend on one indispensable and often overlooked factor: the spirituality of the catechist. Why is this so? Unlike subjects in the arts and sciences, the Christian faith cannot be adequately passed on unless the catechist lives that faith—unless it has penetrated his very being and transformed him from within. When this happens, he is no longer merely a teacher, but a living witness to something beyond himself. Like John the Baptist, he points to another, to the Lamb of God. The Guide for Catechists, a wonderful document about catechesis in mission territories, puts it this way: “The work of catechists involves their whole being. Before they preach the Word they must make it their own and live by it. The world…needs evangelizers who speak of a God they know and who is familiar to them, as if they saw the Invisible.”[i] The catechist, in fact, invites those he catechizes to share in the communion he himself has with Christ as a member of his body, the Church. Echoing St. John’s words in his first epistle, catechists can say: what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you, “that you may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 Jn 1:1-3).

A catechist does not merely impart a body of knowledge, therefore; his catechesis “form[s] the personality of the believer.”[ii] The catechist offers his students an “apprenticeship of the entire Christian life.”[iii] The students will acquire from him a way of being, an attitude, a way of relating to the world. Those who have children know that they are deeply affected not only by the content of the words we speak, but by how we speak those words, by how we act, and by our attitudes, in a word, by how we live. Who am I? What gives me joy? What do I love? How do I respond to weakness, to poverty, to sickness, to sin? How do I look at other people in the world? All these fundamental attitudes are conveyed when we catechize. Do our students learn from us what it means to be a Christian?

We invite you to read the following testimony from a catechist, in the hope that, as you respond to your own vocation, you may also find ways of Encountering God in Catechesis.

I left work one December afternoon with a headache, stinging and tired eyes, and a heart full of frustration. It is not glamorous being on the front lines of the battle for evangelization. This particular instance of frustration was the result of my reaction to a hormonal, assertive, struggling-with-senioritis, existentially confused 18-year-old male in my Church History class. He marched into the room, roused his fellow students, and started a small rebellion insisting that we postpone the test until tomorrow. Why? Because he wanted an extra day to study. In my eyes, the kid was disrespectful, defiant, and ill-prepared.

My very being rebelled at the idea of responding in a loving, Christian manner. I pulled this young rioting gentleman aside after the test to call him out for his behavior, fully expecting him to apologize, and all I got was more disrespect. So, like a good religion teacher, I marched my indignant self over to the chapel later that day to deal with my emotions welling up inside. What did Christ the Teacher say to me in that sacred moment? “It’s not about you. Get over it and move on with your day.” Ouch! Not exactly what I wanted to hear!

Yet, as I drove home that afternoon, speaking intimately to God and asking him the best way to respond to this student who was such a “thorn in my side,” I rediscovered my own unworthiness and inadequacy.

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” [Mt 18:20]. These familiar words of Jesus teach us as catechists that we have multiple opportunities to encounter him, not just in communal prayer but also in missionary outreach and every time we step into our catechetical sessions. Yes, even the mundane and hectic are sanctified by God’s presence. Since he called us, he won’t abandon us. The question is: are we watching and waiting for him? And, are we attuned to him and how he wishes to move us and those in our care?

We invite you to read the following testimonies of catechists, just like you, in the hope that, as you respond to your own vocation, you may also find ways of Encountering God in Catechesis.
In the early winter months of February 2014, I joined with four other parishes for a joint retreat. I was struggling through my first year as a youth minister, just trying to make it through and keep my head on straight. When the opportunity to join the retreat presented itself, I jumped on board, as much as to check off the “take teens on a retreat” box on my imaginary youth ministry “to-do” list than to provide them a retreat experience where they could encounter Jesus. Even after only eight months on the job, I was already frustrated with the lack of commitment to faith many of the families in my parish exhibited; I did not expect any teens to sign up for the retreat.

To my surprise, I took three girls from our Hispanic community. Their parents were enthusiastic that they go on the retreat and the girls were excited as well. I felt guilty for my own lack of enthusiasm as I prepared for the retreat; in many ways, I was just going through the motions.

The retreat was beautiful. We started on Friday night and by Saturday’s session were bringing the teens into the presence of Jesus in the monstrance and personally introducing them to Christ. It was amazing to pray with the teens and watch them as they encountered Christ.

This article is the first of a series of articles on catechesis for and with persons who have disabilities.

We live in a time that has much to offer to the education of people who may need some accommodation in coming to know and follow Jesus. New technologies and means of communication constantly arise, which are put to the service of this noble aim. Unfortunately, our time has also seen abortion, euthanasia, and medical rationing threaten the lives of those whom society may deem “unnecessary,” with people often committing these atrocities in the name of “mercy.”

In early Greece and Rome, those considered “defective” were killed outright or left to die. In the Gospels we see that if a person was disabled in some way, people thought that it was because of that person’s sins or the sins of the parents. Jesus overturned this idea and instead cured the blind, the deaf, and those suffering from other disabilities. One only needs to read Mark’s Gospel to see Jesus cure people with these ailments and even raise the dead.[i] Matthew records Jesus’ mission entrusted to the disciples, highlighting the fact that even they would be involved in healing: “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons…” (Mt 10:8).

In this introductory article, I would like to establish the context for the series by drawing from my own experience with persons with disabilities. I beg your patience as I describe the experiences that will inform how I treat the issues raised in this series.