Franciscan at Home

Dad could hardly believe it. “You’re worried about which door to use? Use any door!”

The boldness of this idea did not comfort me. After all, wasn’t it important to follow the school rules? When the bell rang on the first day, we were to line up at the correct door with our class. Then we were to enter upon the journey of knowledge with our new teachers. This was supposed to happen out of a situation of chaos – hundreds of youngsters (rough-housing and yelling on our big playground) were expected to respond quickly. What if I did not hear my new teacher call me by name? I could end up in class 4-A rather than 4-B! What if I were left alone on the playground?

And yet, somehow, it happened! With the help of my older sisters, the strong voices of my teachers, and the belief that this was the way it was supposed to be, I entered upon the new school year!

I never seemed to have a doubt about what door to exit. We would pour back out onto the playground and make our way homeward to tell Mom how we had fared, by that time forgetting all about the entry door to the new year.

As God’s good children, we have already entered our Porta Fidei and started a New Church Year. Without forgetting what we have embarked upon, how can we use the “exit door” of Lent and Holy Week in the service of catechesis?

Deacon Mike Knuth helps us to understand the meaning of vocation and how to foster a vocational environment.

St. Paul admonishes in Ephesians 4:1, ‘I…urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received…’ Here St. Paul shows us a profound and intimate relationship that exists between catechesis and vocations. In the great tapestry of our faith, two important threads are the call God has placed within us, and the life we live in response to it. How can we live a life worthy of the call if we don’t understand both the call and the kind of life that the call elicits?

The word vocation comes from the Latin word vocare, which means ‘to call’. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) defines vocation in its glossary as, ‘The calling or destiny we have in this life and hereafter.’ Vocation is really a way of life – a living in communion with God now that prepares us for eternal communion.

As we know, catechesis prepares a Christian to live in a community, and to participate actively in the life and mission of the Church. Christian community does not spontaneously happen. It comes about through the careful education of its members. Presenting the Christian message, catechesis not only shows who God is and what His saving plan is, catechesis must also reveal man to himself and make him more aware of his sublime vocation.[i] The General Directory for Catechesis (GDC) speaks of the role the Catechism is to play in demonstrating to man his highest vocation.[ii] Using the Catechism, let’s examine this whole area of God’s call.

Carol Harnett explains why when we give the initial proclamation of the Gospel, it is important both that we begin from the end and also from the beginning.

When we proclaim the faith we need to begin from the fullness of the end, from our destiny. We begin by speaking about purpose: why did God make me? Why did God create? We speak of the fullness to which we are called. Jesus sent His disciples out to tell the world about this great news, that we do not have to be separated from God for ever and that our destiny is to live life to the full, in Him.[1] This new life begins now and continues after our deaths in a glorious existence with Him. In the mean time, we are waiting for his return in glory at the end of time. Paragraphs 1-3 of the Catechism beautifully set the scene; man is called to know and love God, and God freely created us to share in His own blessed life.[2]

Prendiendo fuego a las virtudes teologales por medio de tu enseñanza.

Kyle Neilson nos ayuda a encontrar maneras para despertar a los católicos a sus dones bautismales.

La película de Hombre Araña proporciona una analogía evocativa para el Bautismo. La mayor parte de nosotros conoce la historia: tras ser mordido por una araña modificada genéticamente, Peter Parker descubre que posee extraños poderes nuevos: puede disparar redes desde su muñeca, sus reflejos y su vista son descomunalmente agudos, puede escalar paredes, entre otras cosas.

Fui bautizada en la tradición protestante a la edad de 18 años, y experimenté sus efectos de formas dramáticas. Para ofrecer tan solo un ejemplo, antes de mi Bautismo, era mi costumbre tratar muy mal a mis papás quienes eran en todos los aspectos, ejemplares. Dentro de unas semanas después de mi Bautismo, me di cuenta de la gravedad de mi comportamiento: comprendí el cuarto mandamiento: “Honrarás a tu padre y a tu madre.’ También experimenté un deseo y capacidad nuevos de amar a mis papás. Después de pedirles sinceramente perdón, disfrutamos de una hermosa reconciliación y empezamos de nuevo.

En ese tiempo, este cambio nos sorprendió a todos. Solo fue años más tarde, tras convertirme en católica, que llegué a comprender que tal cambio fue, de hecho, a la orden del día. Como Peter Parker, descubrí poderes que me habían sido dados ‘desde arriba’. La virtud de la fe me permitió comprender la verdad acerca de honrar a nuestros padres, aunque sabía acerca del mandamiento desde mi niñez. Por caridad, me fue dado un corazón nuevo para mi madre y mi padre. Tomé posesión de un deseo inmediato y creciente y un poder para amarlos.

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.

En este número, completamos nuestra introducción al documento profético de Juan Pablo II sobre el Evangelio de la Vida.

Una de las iniciativas más importantes del Papa Juan Pablo II fue su llamada a una ‘nueva evangelización’ – un reavivamiento de la misión primaria de la Iglesia, la cual es proclamar, de palabra y obra, la Buena Nueva de Jesucristo a todos los pueblos. Esto incluye la proclamación del Evangelio a las personas y culturas que habían recibido alguna vez el Evangelio en el pasado, pero quienes han ‘desfallecido’: de ahí que se hace necesaria la ‘re-evangelización’.

En el capítulo final del Evangelium Vitae, el Papa Juan Pablo nos recuerda cuál es la identidad de la Iglesia, ‘pueblo de la vida y para la vida… porque Dios, en su amor gratuito, nos ha dado el Evangelio de la vida' (78.2; 79.2). Me trae a la mente las palabras poderosas del Evangelio de San Juan en el que Jesús hace el contraste entre el ladrón que ‘no viene más que a robar, matar y destruir’ consigo mismo, el Buen Pastor, quien dijo, ‘Yo he venido para que tengan vida y la tengan en abundancia’ (Juan 10:10). La mayor parte de esta Encíclica enfoca la lucha monumental entre ‘la cultura de la muerte’, la cual como el ladrón ‘no viene más que a robar, matar y destruir’, y la misión de Jesús y de la Iglesia para traer y proteger a la vida. Esta parte final enfoca la misión positiva de la Iglesia en la promoción de ‘una nueva cultura de vida humana’: ‘…el deber de anunciar el Evangelio de la vida, de celebrarlo en la liturgia y en toda la existencia, de servirlo con las diversas iniciativas y estructuras de apoyo y promoción.’ (79.4)

In November of 1999, the bishops in the United States issued their Pastoral Plan for Adult Faith Formation in the United States, which bears the title: Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us. Part I of this magnificent document contains the following words:

‘The world is being reshaped by technology. Not only are computers transforming the way we live and work, they enable many adults to pursue lifelong learning to keep pace with the rapidly changing workplace. Communication technology has also made the world smaller through e-mail, global networks, and increased contacts with other cultures. This globalization of society increases our awareness of and interdependence with other peoples and societies. Adults are responding to these changes by self-directed learning, on-the-job training, and enrolling in continuing education courses in large numbers.

‘Throughout the centuries the Spirit has guided the Church so that the Word would be spread to each generation. Today that Spirit is awakening a new evangelization and a new apologetics.’[i]

I can personally attest to the impact educational technology has had upon my own faith life, beginning from my days as an undergraduate student at a large public university. At age 19, should a curious soul have asked me to name the four Gospels, to explain the role of Jesus in my personal salvation, or to elaborate upon why Catholics believe in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, I would have failed to provide an adequate response. When called upon to fulfill these various requests, I floundered before doing what seemed entirely natural; to type Catholic.com into the address bar of my web browser.

That one act led me down a path of virtual adult faith formation. Eventually, I became a regular contributor on several online religious bulletin boards, both Protestant and Catholic. I was engaged in the ‘new evangelization and [the] new apologetics’ before I could begin to articulate what those two terms meant. Immediate, instant access to an online Catholic encyclopedia, a library of well-written, pithy, and organized Catholic tracts, and an electronic collection of the writings of the Early Church Fathers… these and other online resources enabled me to engage in a deep process of ‘self-directed learning’ that eventually brought me to seek out a graduate degree in Catholic theology and catechetics.

On the Spot aims to highlight some of the complex positions, questions and comments experienced by catechists, teachers and parents. It tries to outline the knowledge necessary to be faithful to Church teaching and which will best help those we teach who call us to account for the hope that is in us. This time we look at a question sometimes faced by those who want to respond to the call of the laity to participate more fully in their sharing of the prophetic, priestly and kingly office of Christ.

The young mother at the school gate recognised me and came over to chat. She, a cradle Catholic, had recently attended a parish talk on ministry in the Church, thinking it would increase her understanding of her faith; and now she found that she had been included in the numbers on a course especially to train Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. She was a little puzzled.

‘They didn't ask me if I wanted to be a Eucharistic Minister,’ she said. ‘They just assumed that everyone wants to do this.’

I was reminded of the recent RCIA meeting where two or three of those preparing to enter into full communion with the Church confided to me that they were really looking forward to perhaps being an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist.

Both the reluctant and the enthusiastic would-be Minister of the Eucharist indicate two areas of misunderstanding over the role of the laity in the Church. Firstly, the reality of what it means to act as an Extraordinary Minister; and secondly, the resultant obscuring that can take place of the laity’s true dignity and office.

How, therefore, can we catechize to ensure that the unique role of the laity is brought out?

Alan Schreck completes his explanation of the Encyclical Letter, ‘Ecclesia de Eucharistia’, highlighting John Paul II’s teaching on the Eucharist as a source and deepening of communion with the Trinity and with each other in the Church.

Here we conclude our study of Pope John Paul II’s final encyclical letter, Ecclesia de Eucharistia (on the Church and the Eucharist) published on Holy Thursday, 2003.

Chapter IV of the encyclical focuses on the central theme of the Second Vatican Council: communion. The entire purpose of God’s saving design is to bring humanity back into loving communion with himself and with each other after the original sin disrupted and broke this communion.

The Eucharist is one of the great gifts God has provided to restore and deepen our communion with God and with each other. As the Pope observes: ‘It is not by chance that the term “communion” has become one of the names given to this sublime sacrament… The Eucharist thus appears as the ­­­­culmination of all the sacraments in perfecting our communion with God the Father by identification with his only-begotten Son through the working of the Holy Spirit’ (no. 34). In response to this great gift, the Holy Father urges us to cultivate a constant desire for the Eucharist. He affirms St. Teresa of Avila’s practice of making a ‘spiritual communion’ if one cannot attend Mass (34).

Marlon De La Torre gives pointers from the Church for parents, for catechesis in the family.

Have you ever agreed to take care of something valuable for someone only to realize afterwards that taking care of it is requires significantly more than was expected? Imagine what St. Peter thought when Jesus asked him to cast his nets into the sea, and then told him he would be given a new responsibility – fishing for men (Lk 5:1-11). He received a double responsibility: to care for Christ’s mission and message, and to care for the ‘fish’ he was to catch.

When we teach, we echo the teachings of Jesus Christ. As a teacher in Christ’s Church I agree to hand on only what Christ has entrusted to his Bride, the Church. I agree to ‘guard what has been entrusted to you’ (1 Tim 6:20). I also agree to echo these teachings so that each person can catch the echo. Every audience Christ encountered received a differently crafted instruction. It was the same message – but presented for this particular person. He told the story of God’s love for his children. It is the same story, for each unique person.