Of course there are catechists in Canada! It just so happens that I had the privilege of meeting with a number of them over the last few days in Vancouver, British Columbia! I was presenting at the Catholic Educator’s Conference of the Catholic Independent Schools of the Vancouver Archdiocese.

After I unpack my bags, I’ll tell you more about it!

I’ve put out a request for scripts/outlines for the Living Stations of the Cross for Lent and so far have received 3 samples. Thanks! I’m only passing along 2 of them at the moment, as the third was not really a living stations. Remember, if you have a script or outline for the Living Stations of the Cross, please attach it (as a Word file or PDF) to an email and send it to me at joe@catechistsjourney.com.

A "cast" from Living Stations of the Cross

Here are the 2 scripts I’ve already received (in PDF format)…

living-stations-sophie-p

living-stations-mary-w

ALSO, I’m thrilled that my Lenten FAQ video has been so well received! It already has nearly a coupla-hundred hits on YouTube and my blog had a record high for visits yesterday!  I’ve also received numerous emails telling me that folks plan on forwarding it to their catechists or are printing out the script to distribute or publish in a newsletter or bulletin.

I spent this past Saturday morning with about 100 catechists in the Diocese of Joliet (south and west of the Archdiocese of Chicago) focusing on the topic of catechists and the Bible. I was honored to “share the bill” with Bishop Peter Sartain and to meet and speak with so many catechists from so many parishes.

After a beautiful morning prayer, I was introduced and spoke about 5 ways to “dramatically increase your students’ Bible IQ.” In particular, I focused on the following 5 points:

1. providing students with Bibles and using them frequently
2. teaching them how to “decipher” biblical citation (i.e. 1Pt 2:2-5 = First Letter of Peter, chapter two, verses two through five)
3. providing them with a timeline and a chronology of salvation history
4. dividing the Bible into smaller pieces (using the bookmarks from my book, God’s Library: A Catholic Introduction to the World’s Greatest Book) to increase familiarity with the location of passages
5. understanding the role of figurative language in the Bible

After a break, Bishop Sartain then gave a very inspirational talk on how catechists can make “scripture practical in our daily lives.” He focused on three main ideas:

1. resources available to help us gain better access to the Word of God (daily devotionals, Bible commentaries, etc.)
2. the use of sacred art in meditating on Scripture stories
3. Lectio Divina as a way to pray with the Word of God

I’d like to send a great big shout out to all of the many fine catechists I met at St. Martin of Tours parish in Kankakee, IL in the Joliet Diocese on Saturday and I wish them continued blessings and success in increasing their students’ Bible IQ and in making Scripture more practical in their daily lives and in the lives of those they teach.

A slightly blurry pic of me with Bishop Peter Sartain of the Diocese of Joliet

The above quote is from the blog of author Robert Hutchinson. I love his January 26, 2009, post about becoming a catechist. He really captures the feeling that many catechist have when thrust in front of a group of kids. Enjoy his account!

I have to say, it’s very humbling to become a teacher of any kind. When you have to stand up in front of a group of people and expound on a given subject, even one you think you know something about, it becomes clear very quickly how little you really know. As the old Jesuit joke has it, “I don’t know anything about that subject; I’ve never even taught it.”

Also, students have an annoying habit of asking questions that are so basic – so antecedent to the subject matter you are discussing – that you can be flabbergasted and utterly at a loss at how to answer them. Students can ask questions that are so basic they’re actually philosophical and therefore quite mind-numbing.

A lawyer standing up and giving a lecture on intellectual property law, for example, expecting and ready to answer knotty questions about the Internet and copyright, can be stopped in his or her tracks by a question like, “Why is it wrong to kill people?” or “What is a crime?” Questions like that are four or five degrees behind, or ahead of, depending upon how you look at it, what the lawyer really wants to talk about.

So it was that I became, kicking and screaming, a Catechist, a teacher for Confirmation. I agreed to do it because I have children going through the whole Confirmation program, my parish desperately needed teachers, I spent 10 years earning a master’s degree in theology, and I ran out of excuses. I also wanted to know what my own 14-year-old was learning from the program.

I’m a writer, not a teacher, but in the past whenever I imagined myself teaching a course of some kind, I always assumed it would be in front of interested, retired people or graduate students. I could see myself teaching Biblical Hebrew… or Kierkegaard… or Contemporary Philosophy of Religion. What I never imagined was standing in front of 15 or 16 nice enough but utterly bored 14-year-old Orange County kids who are being forced by their parents to attend confirmation classes and listen to a bookish, middle-aged guy (me) talk to them about such things as Baptism, Christian Ethics, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and so on, as mandated by the curriculum we were given.

Read more: http://roberthutchinson.com/apologetics/the-humbling-spiritual-path-of-teaching-teenagers/

Did you come on board as a catechist “kicking and screaming?”What’s you reaction to Robert’s account?

As catechists, we all wonder whether or not we are getting through to our young people. Sometimes, we can do formal assessments such as giving an exam. More often than not, we can do informal assessments such as the one I did this past Monday evening. I ended my session by asking each of the young people to state ONE THING that they learned that evening during our final Confirmation Intensive. We had spent the evening learning about the 5 elements of the Confirmation Rite:

1. the Presentation of the Candidates
2. the bishop’s homily
3. the renewal of baptismal promises
4. the laying on of hands and anointing with chrism
5. the general intercessions

"I learned that..."

Here is a summary of what the young people said, as best I can recall. I’ve included some explanatory comments of my own in parentheses.

• “I learned that the anointing is permanent.” (we talked about the indelible nature of the anointing)
• “I learned that when we are confirmed, we are supposed to make a good impression on other people.” (we talked about the fragrance in the chrism and how people wear colognes and perfumes to make an impression on others)
• “I learned that making our Confirmation is like signing a declaration of dependence.” (we used the idea of a declaration of dependence to better understand the presentation of the candidates)
• “I learned that we’re supposed to pray for the needs of others.” (one mini-session was on the general intercessions)
• “we wrote letters to the bishop telling him about ourselves.” (the mini-session on the bishop’s homily allowed for the young people to write letters to the bishop telling him why they want to be confirmed and describing their favorites (songs, movies, TV shows, sports, etc.)
• “we had sacred space with Mrs. Signorelli and prayed about our baptism.” (Mary Kay led guided reflections on the renewal of baptismal promises)
• “I learned that we can pass on qualities to someone else by touching them.” (we focused on the laying on of hands prayer and looked at some scriptural examples of laying on of hands)

Most of the young people offered comments such as the above or slight variations thereof. I was pleased that each of them was able to offer some concrete statement of something they learned that evening. In all, the other catechists and I were very satisfied that this confirmation intensive (and all of them, for that matter) went very well and provided the young people with engaging experiences to help them prepare for confirmation. I personall felt as though some powerful connections were made along the way (you can tell when the “lightbulbs” go on!)

There were only a handful of downsides. During one mini-session, one of the groups got pretty giddy and I needed to stop several times to “collect’ them. The good thing was that, we were talking about the fragrance of the chrism and how people wear fragrances to make an impression on others. I was able to point out that their misbehavior at that moment was making an impression on me…one that was not favorable. I used that as an opportunity to tell them that they need to reflect on the kind of impression they are making on others and to use Confirmation as an opportunity to think about how they can make a good impression on others (the Fruits of the Holy Spirit). By the same token, one other class was so well-behaved that I had the opportunity to tell them that they were already making a strong positive impression on me and that they should keep it up. They appeared genuinely pleased.

The other minor distraction was the little candles we gave them during one of the mini-sessions to remind them of their baptism. Of course, those became toys for them to play with the remainder of the evening (they made for great little “hockey pucks!). Once I noticed that happening, I told each group as they settled in, to place their candles on the table in front of them and to sit back.

Next week, we get back to our usual sessions (75 minutes, as opposed to the 2-hour intensives). We all look forward to that. While the intensives are positive, they are very tiring and make for a long evening after a long day. It’ll be nice to get home 45 minutes earlier!

Today is Fr. George Lane’s 40th anniversary at Loyola Press, the Jesuit ministry in Chicago where I humbly and proudly serve. Fr. Lane, who has served as President of Loyola Press since 1989, is a true legend in Chicago (and in the publishing business) and especially in the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus. In addition to his amazing tenure at Loyola Press, Fr. Lane is also responsible for coordinating the efforts that saved and led to the renovation of historic Holy Family parish on Roosevelt Rd. in Chicago…one of the few buildings that survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The restoration is referred to as the “miracle on Roosevelt Rd.”

Fr. Lane began his career as a teacher, teaching at St. Ignatius College Prep (where I later graduated from). He had some hesitations when asked to move into the publishing business but quickly realized that he wasn’t giving up teaching…he was just going to be teaching in a different way - and reaching LOTS more people!

I won’t go on with numerous details about his life and accomplishment, many (and very interesting) as they may be. I do however want to tell you that each and every day, Fr. George walks through the entire company and greets/chats with every employee, some 80+. What a great role model! When asked if he plans to retire, he always responds by saying, “Why should I? I’m having more fun than most kids my age!” And, whenever he’s told of or refers to some good news about the Press, he always responds or concludes by saying, “Thank you, Jesus!”

Thank you, Jesus, for Fr. George Lane, SJ!!!

From time to time, I do a presentation at a Parent’s Meeting for First Communion. Usually, I go up first and offer a catechetical approach to the Eucharist. When I’m done, the DRE usually follows with specific details about the First Communion Day. It never fails - folks politely sit through my presentation and I get a few nods and smiles but relatively little reaction. THEN…folks amazingly come to life when all the details are being addressed: dress code, videotaping and picture taking policy, date and time of the celebration, and most importantly, who will be receiving at which Mass! Parents become very animated about the details surrounding the celebration. Unfortunately, their desire is often to turn the experience into a pageant (which is how many of them celebrated it as children).

At a recent meeting, parents got into debate with the DRE about the scheduling of First Communion Masses. Being a good-sized parish, the pastor and staff decided to host 2 First Communion Masses. They combine all of the children from the school and RE program and have A-L attend one celebration and M-Z the other. The ensuing discussion revealed that deep down, what some parents were asking for was a “school” event that was separate from the “CCD.”  Sound familiar? I find it very frustrating to watch these debates unfold (although thank goodness I am safely on the sidelines at that point!) and to see how DREs struggle to help parents understand the nature of First Communion as a parish celebration. With them in mind, I offer the following “open letter” to parents whose children are preparing for First Communion.

Dear Parents of First Communicants,

As the day of your child’s First Communion draws nearer, I would like to take this opportunity to clarify the reasoning behind our parish’s approach to celebrating the First Communions of children in the school and in the religious education program together.

On the day that you had your child baptized, you took the first step to having him or her initiated into the Body of Christ  - the universal Church. The Sacraments of Eucharist and Confirmation complete that initiation into the Body of Christ. Nowhere is the fullness of the Body of Christ more evident than in the celebration of Sunday Mass as a parish community. Your child’s First Communion is another step towards completing that full initiation into the life of the faith community. Thus, it is a parish celebration. In fact, ALL Sacraments are celebrations of the whole parish. The parish is welcoming these young people to the Table of the Lord. What matters most on the day of your child’s First Communion is the clear message that he or she is now welcome to join the parish community - and the universal Church - at the Lord’s Table.

Allow me to emphasize again: First Communion is a parish celebration. It is not a school event nor is it a religious education (CCD) event. On this wonderful day, when we celebrate the fact that the Eucharist removes all distinctions and barriers (”there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Gal. 3:28), we come together, not as a school family, not as a religious education/CCD family, but as a parish family; as the Body of Christ. We celebrate the fact that the children will be joining in what the adult community does every Sunday: come to feast at the Table of the Lord.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions about my attempt to address this often thorny issue!

Last evening was our Confirmation intensive during which we presented the Seven Deadly Sins, the Seven Virtues, and the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit using contemporary pop music (see my post from January 8 that provides a complete chart of songs used). It went very well and was a lot of fun! Here’s the scoop:

Each catechist had a CD player and a CD with the appropriate songs for their session.

• I covered the 7 deadly sins (since I was most familiar with the activity, I gave myself the biggest number of songs to go through) while the others divided up the topics as follows: Chris (the Theological Virtues); John (the Cardinal Virtues); Mary Kay (the Gifts of the Holy Spirit that help us to KNOW God’s will); Jim (the Gifts that help us to DO God’s will).
• The kids were pretty animated by the format. I even received a few comments complimenting the choice of songs!
• They seemed to be able to match the songs with the corresponding deadly sin, virtue, or Gift of the Spirit quite easily and were quick to call out the answer when they figured it out.
• The kids were very comfortable swaying to the music, rocking their heads, tapping the table, moving their hands and arms - all unsolicited - just a natural response to music they enjoy. In only a couple of cases did a few kids get a bit silly and overreact…that’s to be expected…the acitivity invites reaction.
• I observed a good deal of “connectedness” during the sessions…kids making eye contact with me as I offered a few comments about the song and the corresponding deadly sin. Kids who are musically inclined were very animated and were eager to show their friends how “astute” they were when it came to the music scene.
• At the end of each mini-session, I tried to see if, as a group, they could name the deadly sins, and they typically did quite well.
• At the end of the evening, I asked each of my students to summarize something they learned. This turned out to be a bit disappointing because they seemed very tired and worn out (almost slap happy) at this point and I can’t blame them…that’s a long day for them…it was coming up on 9 pm!
• Chatting with the other catechists afterward, we agreed that it went very well and that it engaged the kids in a creative manner and acheived the desired effect. We also agreed that one more Confirmation intensive will be quite enough - 4 of them are just right, otherwise the kids will become over-tired and will resent the time being put in, even if it’s a fun experience.

I know that the kids will never be able to hear these 21 songs again without remembering that they relate to either a deadly sin, a virtue, or a Gift of the Holy Spirit! I call it the “lesson that keeps on teaching!”