Posted on 11/25/2006 2:36:48 PM PST by NYer
My suggestion would be to begin by educating the parents and take it from there.
Around here we have a contest called the R.C. Challenge (Roman Catholic Challenge). It's been going strong for twenty years now, with teams from several states and even British Columbia. There are places where good catechisis is ocurring. Theses teams of middle and high schoolers are proof of that. It's a pretty uplifting event.
Problem: we are now well into our second generation, and starting on the third generation, of awful post-Vatican II catechesis. The parents (those who are actually left in the Catholic Church) don't know their faith, and so can't pass it on, and can't act as quality control for the parish religious ed program.
Truly good news! It was such a struggle getting my daughter through CCD in this diocese. Then again, the materials used were 'new age'. She dropped out only months before Confirmation. After some arm twisting and MUCH PRAYER, she resumed the program the following year and received the Sacrament of Confirmation on a night that featured a very rare 'red moon'. She took the name 'Trinity'. I beamed, cried, and danced under the 'red moon' :-). Thank you, Lord, for this gift!
As are the Godparents. You are absoutely right but, given what I witnessed while teaching the 'confirmandi', let me assure you that few parents understand their faith. The ones who insisted their children pursue their religious education to the end, were relatively few. Sadly, many catholic parents never made their own Confirmation but keep the kids enrolled through First Communion. After that, they're on their own.
The parents (those who are actually left in the Catholic Church) don't know their faith, and so can't pass it on, and can't act as quality control for the parish religious ed program.
A few years ago, someone in Montreal realized this and changed their religious education program to include the parents. The turnout was so large that they had to move classes to a different location. Were I still teaching Rel. Ed. in the RC Church, I would set aside one evening and invite the parents to participate. Of course, in this RC Diocese, that would probably be banned by the DRE and pastor at my former parish. That's why I left.
Our Maronite Catholic parish holds Religious Education on Sundays, before liturgy. The parents are all quite active and involved in the process. Some of these children are enrolled in Catholic schools where they receive religious instruction as part of their curriculum. The pastor, however, insists that they also attend the Maronite instruction, which is solidly faith focused.
Certainly, the main problem is this... I saw a recent poll where 70% of american Catholics do not believe Jesus is present in the Eucharist. Sad,because WE are now living in the greatest loss of faith in the history of the Church.
Solution: Those of us who come to Christ in His Eucharistic presence have to be the closest of friends, because only prayer in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament is going to move the mountain we face.
This is the most important aspect of Catholic education, and the most neglected. Parents pass on what THEY are taught. In the "olden days" the parents taught the kids at home BY EXAMPLE and correction. Nowadays, parents drive their kids over to the church, drop them off for CCD for an hour and a half, then come and pick them up. Sometimes, they take them to church on Sunday, if it is special, like Christmas, less often Easter or Pentecost. Then, they are FLOORED when their kids all head for the door, never to be seen in church again (at least not THIS one), to do their own thing.
The kids aren't dumb; they have seen the way their parents "live out their faith," and if it doesn't mean any more to the parents than the above, the kids certainly aren't going to stick around.
Why ask the DRE - it is the parents fault. I see parents day in and day out who clearly do not understand that their vocation is not merely to feed and clothe their children, or to even chauffeur them to every sport practice/game, but to assist their children to save their souls. They have that awesome responsibility of leading their children to eternal life.
My oldest child received the Sacrament of Confirmation last Sunday. He is in 10th grade and did what was required of him as far as his community service etc. He attended his classes through our parish, but basically my husband and I did the remainder of his teaching instruction, as we will do for our other children. It is our responsibility and we enjoyed very much having the opportunity to explain and teach him very important aspects of his faith. He chose the name Gabriel and it was so informative the data we found on the web, especially for the whole family.
The article was good, thanks for the ping.
Absolutely, yes! Thank you for such an astute observation. Sadly, many Catholics no longer believe in the efficacy of prayer ... that is, until tragedy strikes.
Columnist Rod Dreher wrote the following about 9/11.
Monsignor Ignace Sadek, the elderly pastor of the Maronite cathedral near the Brooklyn waterfront, went to the promenade park overlooking lower Manhattan and prayed for absolution for the dying as the towers burned. When the first building crumbled, and the terrible cloud of smoke, debris, and incinerated human remains began its grim march across the harbor, Monsignor Sadek remained at his post praying. The falling ash turned him into a ghost. Still, he stayed as long as he could. This is a man who came through the civil war in Lebanon, and he doesn’t run."People could see I was a priest," he told me later (he is my pastor). "They ran to me and knelt at my feet, and begged for absolution." Think of that: The people of this proud, defiantly secular city, driven to their knees in prayer, begging for mercy in a hot, gray fog. That is what purgatory must be like.
And, once it was all over, these same people forgot and went about their business as usual. Pope Benedict XVI knows it only too well and has addressed the problem of secularism. Perhaps it will take one of Iran's long range nuclear weapons to wake up the populace. By then, it may be too late.
"For it has come to light that there were not lacking among the leaders of heretical sects some who openly declared that, if the teaching of Thomas Aquinas were only taken away, they could easily battle with all Catholic teachers, gain the victory, and abolish the Church. A vain hope, indeed, but no vain testimony."
- Pope Leo XIII, Aeterni Patris
see post #11.
Excellent post...
Not only do I agree with the point, I can attest to this from firsthand experience (as I went through this but a few years ago)...
And with my Newman group, I continue to learn the faith...8^)
If a child is homeschooled they should be able to prepare for the sacrament at home. Skip the chaos that passes for RE classes, and insist that the parish has no right to demand the child attend the classes, "volunteer" in pet parish project or attend the mixed-sex weekend retreat.
My son will make his confirmation on Saturday. He has been to confirmation classes for several weeks, and attended 2 retreats. He has been to reconciliation, and discussed his desire to be a Catholic with the parish priest. I believe that he is more than ready for this sacrament.
I suppose there are some that really don't know God. I also think there are many parishes and DREs that do a great job of educating our youth. I agree however that the main responsibility for providing religious education lies with the parents. They parish provides a minimum requirement of educational time. The parents should be responsible for making sure that the child's education is complete.
This article seems to have an agenda, and it didn't produce a shred of evidence that the children do not know God. It may be true, but you couldn't tell from the article. Also, I may be really out of it, but when did the sole purpose of rock and roll become fornication?
I believe this article is basically true. I say "basically" because I think it is overly negative. Perhaps things north of Boston are that bad, but my experience has been that things are getting better. Little by little, yes, but still it seems as though the ship is starting to steer back on course.
I see a lot of signs of hope. I meet more and more young Catholic families with lots of kids who are clued in to what is going on in the Church and are making sure their kids are getting properly catechized. Eucharistic Adoration is growing all over the United States. Young, orthodox religious orders are exploding. Some seminaries are starting to get back on track such Sacred Heart in the Archdioces of Detroit.
Signs of hope are there to be seen if we aren't too focused on the negative. I used to be very focused on the negative, but I recognized after a while that this was filling me with despair. I decided to stop reading periodicals such as the Remnant. I figured that I know there are problems in the Church, why do I need to drum that into my head over and over again.
That kid chewing gum in Mass? At least he's there, eh? We are all at different stages of our walk with the Lord. That door is wide open and you never know who the Holy Spirit will lead in and what stage of their faith he or she is at. I only mention this because I use to really focus on this stuff, looking down my nose at that family with the bermudas on and the kid chewing gum. Now I try to focus on thanking God that they are there and that He will lead them further, and me for that matter.
I'm not suggesting that there aren't problems, big problems in the Church. There are, and we just have to pray for those who continue to try to destroy the Church from within wittingly or unwittingly.
Well, when I have children, there will definitely be home religious instruction. Might have to teach them Latin too, I can tell I am going to be loved, lol. Pater Magister (obviously I will have to freshen up my own Latin, its been 18 months since I've looked at any).
You make some excellent obervations on which we all should reflect. Thank you!
I believe the sex abuse scandal was a 'gift' in disguise. Through it, the media shone a spotlight on deep problems in the Catholic Church. These same problems exist in other religious groups but only the Catholic Church was singled out by the MSM. This, IMHO, is yet one more example of the Holy Spirit keeping Christ's Church alive. Actions taken have resulted in changes in the seminaries. Add to this the death of JPII and the election of Benedict XVI, and the stage was set for all those JPII youth to 'answer the call'. As you pointed out, we are now seeing the fruits of these actions. Thanks be to God!
God Bless your son as he prepares for this Sacrament.
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