Send Me the Certificate

Here’s a good one (and it’s a true story).

A DRE friend of mine told me that one of her Confirmandi was ill the day of Confirmation and was unable to attend the celebration. The DRE spoke with the mother of the child on the phone and offered her all of the upcoming opportunities for the child to celebrate the sacrament at neighboring parishes. The mother replied, “Can’t you just send me the certificate?”

Ugh!

What an impoverished understanding of the sacraments! This is just another example of how much work we have to do in terms of catechizing adults.

I like to remind people that, according to Canon Law, each of us has a right to catechesis. When we encounter adult Catholics who have little or no catechesis, rather than blame them, we need to view it as a violation of their rights and we need to do all that we can to see to it that their rights are being protected.

Of course, along with rights comes responsibilities and we need to remind all adult Catholics of their responsibility to seek a full understanding of their faith.

When these rights and responsibilities are embraced, the result is growth in knowledge of the Lord.

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