Jesus had a special place in his heart for children. One day he sat down, called his twelve apostles around him, and taught them a very important lesson. He took a little child in his arms and told them, “Whoever welcomes one child such as this in my name welcomes me.” (Mark 9:36) He said, “Let the children come to me…It is to just such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs.” (Mark 10:14)
In our diocese, one of our major priorities must be to provide a quality program of religious education, to form children, young people, and adults in the ways of our faith. Catechesis is the process of handing on the faith tradition, helping another person to grow in intimate communion with Jesus Christ through the active practice of our Catholic faith. This happens gradually, over time, as we progressively unfold the message.
Those who teach religious education in our parishes are called catechists. They are answering the call from God that comes with their baptismal mission to proclaim the Word of God.
I am very grateful for all our catechists, youth ministers, and volunteers who are involved in the evangelization and catechesis activities of our parishes. If you have never tried helping in this way, I highly recommend it. When we teach the faith to others, we end up learning a lot ourselves.
Parents also have a catechetical vocation, living out their baptismal call as the primary catechists of their children. Our Catholic Church teaches that the family is the “domestic Church.” God has given to parents the task of being their children’s first and primary educators in the faith.
Parents have the responsibility to evangelize their children in a variety of ways — teaching them the faith, teaching them to pray, praying with them, involving them in the life of the Church, bringing them to Mass, and giving good example of living a good moral Christian life. Children learn in the family how to practice the virtues that they will later live out in society.
Some parents say, “How can I teach my children the faith, if I don’t know the answers myself?” A good first step is to equip your home with good Catholic resources. You yourself don’t have to become a walking Catholic encyclopedia, but you can stock your home bookshelf with some helpful reference materials.
Look at the books that sit on the bookshelf in your home. What do you see? Maybe some cookbooks, photo albums, car repair manuals, children’s books, novels, or popular magazines? Why not also have some books that help you and your family grow closer to God?
I would recommend any of the following resources for Catholic home bookshelves:
Bible: I recommend the New American Bible, the Revised Standard Version, the Jerusalem Bible, or the International Student Bible for Catholics (it has a great index in the back)
Catechism: This could be the Catechism of the Catholic Church (quite technical, also available online), the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults (less technical, easier to understand), or perhaps the Catholic Faith Handbook for Youth (for teens) from St. Mary’s Press
Catholic Bible Commentary (such as the Collegeville Bible Commentary)
Book of the Saints
Catholic prayer book: some examples are Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers (USCCB) and the Manual of Prayers (North American College)
Catholic Encyclopedia: some are a single volume, and some have multiple volumes
Basic question-and-answer book, such as Catholic Q & A: All You Want to Know About Catholicism, by John J. Dietzen
When I was a child, my parents had some of these books around the house. Every once in a while, when they were not looking, I would look up things in those books, to answer my curiosities about God and the Catholic faith. I found them to be extremely informative.
Think about all the things you have around your house. Ask yourself, “How is our home equipped for the practice of the Catholic faith?” Some helpful tools would be movies with a religious theme, Christian music, religious art on the walls, crosses, crucifixes, icons, rosaries, and an advent wreath. Some families have discovered an amazing new online resource called Formed.org from the Augustine Institute in Colorado. This is a digital platform that offers a wealth of informative and entertaining Catholic audio talks, eBooks, feature films, documentaries, and video-based study programs. Some parishes provide Formed.org free to their parishioners; check your bulletin or call your parish for the access code.
I have also known many adult Catholics who have experienced profound growth in their religious understanding through watching a video series such as Bishop Robert Barron’s Catholicism or Jeff Cavins’ Bible Timeline. It is especially effective to gather a group of adults or young adults to watch these videos and discuss them together.
The school year is just beginning. If you have children at home, and they are not in the religious education program of your local Catholic parish, I recommend that you contact the parish office and ask how your children can get started now.
Religious education is not just for immediate preparation before receiving a sacrament. Ongoing formation and education in the faith is a lifelong process. If the only religious education we ever received was as a young child, that is not enough to help us manage the complicated life situations we face in adulthood. We should never stop studying and learning the faith. If we don’t keep the plant watered, it will not grow, and eventually it will shrivel up and die.
Any relationship will suffer if we approach it with a minimalistic attitude. The same is true of our relationship with God. Minimalism debilitates our faith life. For example, if we pray only when we want something from God, or if we go to religious education classes just enough to receive a sacrament, or if we are satisfied with an elementary level of faith education, we are being minimalists. God has much more waiting for us if we will just open ourselves to receive it.
If you are preparing a barbecue, and you marinate the meat in a certain sauce, it will absorb the flavor of that sauce. If you marinate your mind with certain values, you will eventually absorb those values. What is the marinade in which you dwell? Does it provide only the secular, materialistic values of the world around us, or is it a lifetime learning process based in the truth of Jesus Christ?
All of us have occasional experiences of doubts. Whenever we have doubts, it makes a difference where we go with our doubts. Rather than isolating ourselves, we should go to where the Church is, and remain open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. After all, Jesus promised that he would send his Spirit to guide the Church to all truth until the end of time.
Through catechesis, youth ministry, adult faith formation, and reliable Catholic books and websites, we can ask questions and work through our doubts. This is the path to a deeper, more adult level of faith.