Franciscan at Home

Catechesis in Poland

In each Catholic community the essential features of a Catholic approach to formation need to take root in the local soil, a soil that is specific to that environment. The challenges to the local church always revolve around how to engage fruitfully and creatively with this environment, so that Christians can come to maturity in an authentic way.

In attempting to discuss matters of faith I am sure that many catechists teaching the faith have had an interaction something like this:

‘There is a God.’

‘Prove it.’

‘There is life after death.’

‘Prove it.’

‘Jesus is God.’

‘Prove it.’

‘The Eucharist is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus.’

‘Prove it.’

‘A progressivist…is by definition an unhappy person, one who is unhappy with what is. It is only for that reason that he wants to change it…A conservative is someone who thinks happiness consists first of all in enjoying the good things we already have. A progressivist is one who sees happiness first of all in hoping to enjoy the things we do not yet have… the Devil himself was the first progressivist. The other angels were happy with God and His will, but the Devil wanted to progress to something better.’[i]

The philosopher Plato wrote, ‘Any change whatever except from evil is the most dangerous of all things.’[ii] In trying to proclaim the Gospel we live in a culture that frequently is obsessed with what is new and novel, with a correlating disdain for tradition. This is the mindset called progressivism, which in essence is a false theory of progress. Peter Kreeft defines progressivism this way: ‘Progressivism, or “chronological snobbery,” confuses “new” with “true.” It also confuses facts with values, by using a factual chronological term to carry a value meaning. Hence, something “modern,” “contemporary,” or “current” is “truer,” “better,” or “more reliable.”’[iii] Progressivism confuses change with progress. Just because something is new, or because something has been changed, it does not mean that is true or good.

Progressivism affects the work of catechesis in different ways.

First, it makes it difficult to teach the absolute truths of the faith since there is a rejection of the wisdom of the past. We know that what we teach is an inheritance of the precious deposit of faith given to us by Christ through the Apostles. As Kreeft points out, ‘Progressivism clearly contradicts the very idea of a divine revelation. If there is such a revelation, Progressivism corrects it, corrects God Himself, and arrogates to itself the right to edit rather than deliver the divine mail, evaluating it by dating its postmark.’[iv]

Our redemption took place on 'a tree', the tree of the Cross. This is the culminating point for a wonderful teaching we can give on the importance of trees in creation and in the story of our redemption.

Trees occupy a central place in the Scriptures. Stonewall Jackson understood his Bible well, and knew that as he was departing this life he would meet his Creator at ‘the trees’. Just as Genesis begins with a meeting at two trees, the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil and the Tree of Life,, so in the restored Garden of Paradise there is a tree, and in the book of Revelation we are shown that, ‘The Leaves of the Tree were for the healing of the nations.’ (see Gen. 2:17; 3:22; Rev. 22:2). The life giving tree is restored, and we may meet God their again in restored communion. The two trees of Genesis that were meant to be a meeting place for God and Man soon became a memorial of the death of humanity, where our first parents met the serpent and heeded its word instead their Father's.

Scripture sees trees as meeting places. In this arid world of the middle east there is a natural theology of trees as points of encounter between God, or His prophets, and His children. Where the tree is, there is life. Not only do we have the fruit of the tree but also shade and a water source that is feeding it. Time and again we shall see that trees are signs of life, rest and meeting.

There are a large number of trees, plants and shrubs in the Bible. These are 'types', pointing the way to the ultimate ‘Tree’ of Scripture, the tree of the Cross. Typology works in this fashion: there is a progression and construction of types until the final unveiling of the superior 'anti-type', that is, the reality towards which everything else points. Thus there are many leaders who point to the one Messiah; many;; prophets prophesy until the last great Prophet; many meals are taken, which point to the Last Supper; the women of Scripture all point to one ultimate Woman par excellence; plants and trees all lead us to one specific Tree.

Most catechists will have experienced the frustrating situation where those being taught are not actively disagreeing with anything being presented – and yet there is not the smallest spark of interest in what is being communicated. The presentation leaves the listener cold. No spark has been generated.

It is noteworthy, therefore, that the Catechism places a section on the desire for God and for the truths of the Faith at the very beginning of the work (CCC 27-30). At the heart of the catechetical process there must be a desire, in the one being catechised, to receive the Revelation which is being transmitted.

We find similar thoughts centuries before the preaching of the Gospel, in Plato, the Father of Western philosophy, who understood the central importance of motivation for learning. His dialogue the Meno revolves around the question of how knowledge can be gained, and in this dialogue Socrates insists that there is no way that knowledge can be imparted independently of the learner’s desiring to receive it. The learner must be motivated to learn, and must be active in the learning process. The General Directory for Catechesis echoes this idea, insisting that catechumens need to understand themselves to be ‘co-responsible’ in the learning process (GDC 167).

Kelly Colangelo nos recuerda que las actividades de servicio son las primeras y más importantes oportunidades para servir a Cristo en los otros.

San Vicente de Paúl dijo: “Vayan con los pobres y encontrarán a Dios”. Algunas veces, vamos a los pobres, pero se nos olvida que estamos buscando y sirviendo a Cristo. Sin embargo, el servicio comunitario es la donación de nosotros mismos para ayudar a otros, más que tan sólo un “proyecto completado” u “horas contabilizadas”. Como Jesús dijo: “Sepan que el Hijo del Hombre no ha venido para ser servido, sino para servir” (Mc 10, 45).

En años recientes, el servicio comunitario y el voluntariado han jugado un papel integral en la vida de los jóvenes. Esto puede ser resultado de un requerimiento escolar y/o eclesiástico; sea como sea, la participación activa en el servicio comunitario está en auge entre los jóvenes. Con una participación incrementada en el servicio comunitario uno podría esperar que esto significara que más jóvenes estuvieran creciendo en su relación con el Señor y estuvieran poniendo su fe en acción. Desgraciadamente, esto no siempre es el caso. Uno podría sospechar, de hecho, que hay más y más divulgación, pero la presencia de Dios está menguando.

En 2004, el Pontificio Consejo para la Cultura publicó: ¿Dónde está tu Dios? La fe cristiana ante la increencia religiosa. Este documento trata principalmente con la increencia y la indiferencia religiosa que tienen como causa el secularismo, y una nueva religiosidad subjetiva y emotiva como consecuencia. En este artículo exploraremos el problema de esta religiosidad emotiva y su manifestación en la Nueva Era.

Aunque nos rodee una cultura de increencia e indiferencia religiosa, hay lo que parece ser una consecuencia contradictoria, ‘el auge de una nueva religiosidad’ (Introducción, §2). Esto se debe al hecho de que el hombre es de naturaleza un ser religioso orientado hacia Dios. Toda persona tiene un sentido del sobrenatural; el cómo se manifiesta en sus vidas es otra historia muy distinta. Para algunos, prácticamente no se manifiesta. Para otros, su sentido del sobrenatural encuentra expresión en cosas tales como la astrología, el tarot, la lectura de las palmas, y toda clase de involucramiento en actividades de tipo Nueva Era. Es un hecho que el involucrarse en la Nueva Era, ‘por su naturaleza contribuye a la confusión religiosa’ (I.2.5).

‘La gente está nuevamente en busca de la espiritualidad…de una gran variedad de maneras…’ (Hacia un enfoque pastoral a la cultura, 24). Es frecuente, sin embargo, que no exista un retorno a las prácticas religiosas tradicionales, sino que hay ‘…una búsqueda de nuevos modos de vivir y de expresar la dimensión religiosa inherente en el paganismo’ (Introducción, §2). El Consejo identifica ciertos rasgos de la nueva religiosidad de los cuales el catequista debe de tener cuidado.

Primero, ‘este ‘despertar espiritual’ está marcado por un total rechazo de pertenencia, y la búsqueda de una experiencia que es completamente individual, autónoma y guiada por una subjetividad propia. Esta religiosidad instintiva es más emotiva que doctrinal’ (Introducción, §2). Hay una mentalidad de ‘religión sí, Dios no’ o incluso ‘religiosidad sí, Dios no,’ o por lo menos no un Dios personal.

In 2004 the Pontifical Council for Culture published a document that is very relevant for catechetical activity and assisting catechists in their interaction with contemporary culture: Where is Your God? Responding to the Challenge of Unbelief and Religious Indifference Today. The document deals primarily with unbelief and religious indifference, which have secularism as their cause, and with a new subjective, emotive religiosity as its consequence. It this article we will explore this root problem of secularism.

Where is Your God? states, ‘The problem is not that of secularization, understood as the legitimate autonomy of the temporal realm, but of secularism, “a concept of the world according to which the latter is self-explanatory, without any need for recourse to God, who thus becomes superfluous and an encumbrance” ’ (I.3). In this type of culture ‘many [former] believers…are overcome by a hedonistic, consumerist and relativist mentality’. When secularization transforms itself into secularism, there is a serious cultural and spiritual crisis, one sign of which is the loss of respect for the person and the spread of a kind of anthropological nihilism which reduces human beings to their instincts and tendencies’ (Introduction, 1).

The document goes on to connect secularism with globalization. Secularism and its consequences spread more rapidly because of globalization, which is also connected with the modern modes of communication through the mass media. ‘The fires of indifference, practical materialism, moral and religious relativism are stoked by globalization and the so-called opulent [wealthy] society’ (I.3).

It is obvious that the consequences of secularism, unbelief and religious indifference, provide significant challenges to catechesis.

Just when you think that you have climbed to the top of the pile of work, you find that you are sitting at the bottom again. You had been sitting back contentedly, appreciating the wonderful team of catechists in the parish - not only eager, but well-formed; not only dynamic, but working with you rather than independently of you; not only informed but orthodox… and the lead husband and wife in your RCIA team announce that they are moving, are leaving the parish. And your first Communion catechist has a heart attack. And the Confirmation resource you have used for years goes out of print. And the bishop announces that the really supportive pastor with whom you have worked for six years is being moved to a new parish. And you are sitting at the foot of the pile again, contemplating the steep sides of the climb, and wondering whether you have the energy to do it all over again.

It is here that Mary, Help of Catechists, assists us. She helps because she is a mother, and mothers are always at the foot of the pile, contemplating the need to ‘do it again’. The clothes that were washed yesterday need cleaning again today. The children who were nourished this morning need to be fed again this evening. The rooms that were dusted last week need to be attended to this week. The relative who was visited will need a patient and listening ear tomorrow. Things wear out, relationships need renewing, and people need the constant attention of love.

One of the most difficult things about being a DRE is how to handle cases that involve divorced and remarried people who want to become Catholic. They have a strong attraction to the Church and a fervent desire to become Catholic, but because of previous marital situations they’re hindered from entering fully into communion with the Church. Bringing up the subject of annulments is always delicate, and it’s especially awkward when you hardly know the individuals you’re dealing with. Raising the issue of previous marital situations can be painful as old wounds are reopened. It can be painful for the DRE, too.

Experience teaches us, of course, that many cases are relatively simple and rather easily resolved, even if the process takes many months to complete. Even complicated annulments can be a positive experience as they often bring much-needed healing and closure. We’ve all met people who resented having to go through the annulment process at first, but after all was said and done, they were grateful for the process because it allowed them to reconcile previously unresolved issues.

But that’s small comfort to someone who is only just thinking about becoming Catholic. When someone is being introduced to the Church and has taken those first few tentative steps toward becoming Catholic, raising the subject of previous marriages and annulments can be more than a little off-putting. Some people get mad and simply leave, unable or unwilling, for whatever reason, to deal with the issue. Individuals who are facing the prospect of going through the annulment process must be assured of the love of God and the support of the Church despite the circumstances. Such assurances, unfortunately, often ring hollow when those who are divorced and remarried are told that they cannot receive communion until they receive an annulment.