For years, I have been wondering why all the efforts of our local parishes to catechize our youth have brought about so few results. After spending four years on the road and examining this specific question, it became very clear.
The Great Assumption:
Most Catholic parishes operate under what I have come to call the Great Assumption. The consequences of utilizing this assumption have influenced the decision we make about our catechetical efforts in just about every program we run, most of the homilies preached, and in the expectations of the parish staff.
Assumption – We assume that just because a person is Baptized/Confirmed they have the Holy Spirit activated within them.
We know that the Church definitively teaches that when a person goes through these two sacraments, they receive the Holy Spirit – this is true. However, the New Evangelization is a call to go back into our parishes and evangelize those who have been sacramentalized, but never evangelized.
The Church Fathers have come to recognize that something is not right. The gradual and now drastic attrition from our ranks has forced us to evaluate what is going on and how to rectify them. I believe that so long as we live by this assumption, our efforts on a mass scale will fail. So what do we need to pay attention to?
Under this great assumption, Catechesis has replaced Evangelization. We are spending most of our time teaching people what it looks like to be Catholic rather than equipping them with what is needed to become Catholic. (An intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, through the active indwelling of the Holy Spirit)
We make little to no attempt to look for evidence of the Holy Spirit’s presence in the hearts of new believers. We Baptize and Confirm our children while many of them still question whether God exists.
God makes us truly Catholic, yet if the Holy Spirit is not actively engaged, our catechetical efforts tend to push our youth away from the Church rather than draw them closer to Christ.
Catechises should always be at theservice of Evangelization. (GDC #33) Instead of thinking that knowledge is faith, we must restore catechesis as the vehicle that only assists in leading one into an authentic faith that actually enables a believer to trust in God.
Evangelization is a process that cannot be simply marked off a checklist because you covered the content.
If we want to bear a bountiful harvest of fruit, we are going to have to restore the process of Evangelization and see Catechesiss as a tool toward leading hearts to Christ.
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Amen Deacon Ralph! I agree whole heartedly. Too many think that its enough to come to church, give an hour to be in good standing with our Lord. There is so much more to it than that and truly they are missing out with that mindset. On the other hand, I have 4 grown children, 3 of whom are not attending church. I realize now that they were not fed what they needed, authentic teaching. We need to hear the truth; the good, the bad and the ugly. While the truth may condem us or make us uncomfortable, for truth does not lie, it also offers us a better way to live; hope, love and redemption.
No comments yet? This is odd. With 2.6 billion Catholics in the world one would think #newevangelization would be trending constantly on Twitter and people would be anxious to discuss how to turn things around and get this ship of the Church moving.
I gathered from a talk by Father Privonka the idea we should create environments where people of all ages will have the greatest probability of having an encounter with Christ. What we catechise might need to include the information required for a person to recognize an encounter with Christ when it comes. Beyond this people will not “get it” until they are new creations in Christ, when their Baptism and Confirmation are allowed to come out from under the carnal self.
Father Dimitri Sala http://www.stainedglasscurtain.com/about-fr-dimitri-sala.html
once suggested to me it does no good to talk about spiritual things to people who have not experienced regeneration because it will make no sense to them. Until people encounter Christ and experience a new birth all you can do is teach them Bible stories. Concepts of grace and spiritual power will go right over their heads until a person turns everything over to the Holy Spirit.
The fruit of what occurs through the Sacrament of Confirmation will not show up until a person encounters Christ and experiences regeneration. Old things are passed away, all things have become new. New creatures in Christ.
Right on. Many Catholics are catechize but not EVANGELIZED! And, we need to teach that the baptism of the Holy Soirit is the inheritance of all Catholics. Without the Holy Soirit and I would say a personal daily relationship with him there will be no evangelization. Keep up preaching the truth, Ralph, and, thank you!
Deacon Ralph, great job at the Bosco Conference! You lit some fires, by directing people to the source- the Holy Spirit!! While we need to be able to articulate the beauty of the faith, without the Spirit leading the conversation, it’s like the Charlie Brown teacher talking to our students, Blah, blah.
I will pray each day (now that I wrote it, I will be accountable!) for the gifts of the holy Spirit to lead me in articulating the Truth. God bless you and your family and ministry!
Blogging is good, but isn’t there more that modern concmniuatioms can offer?Perhaps encouraging congregations as a whole to be visible using current technology is at least as important as asking just the clergy? But would would be the nature of the way somebody outside the parish physically (even in a different country) might spiritually interact with a priest or be part of a congregation around the world? Could it be as good as being within a conventional faith community? Could it be better and occupy more of their life? Do people setting up such concmniuatioms as an outreach to the world, or to improve communication within their community need to be prepared for something beyond their experience? Where could it go? Are there risks of it becoming something less spiritual than it should be? How big could it grow? Is big good? Is there a small step to take first? For example: can a parish youth group as a whole interact with an (Anglican?) youth group in another country and culture? The technology is available to allow a combined service of some sort linking congregations in countries I’d like to see that happen, but for it to really work shouldn’t we also all be prepared to interact on a personal level with the remote group, else it would be like strangers coming to a theatre for a performance, never really caring about the body of believers we are worshiping with? (How many q’s is that??)