By Jay Brunelle
What follows is a reprint of a Facebook exchange/debate I recently had with a dear old friend who, many years ago, was quite devout in the practice of his Catholic faith. Yet, not unlike countless other adolescent Catholics of Gen X, his ultimate rejection of, and departure from, the Catholic Church is, in this author’s estimation, not so much the fault of my dear friend as it is the fault of a serious crisis of catechesis within the countless parishes and Dioceses throughout America.
Going a step further, this catechetical crisis of which I speak and of which I have been a first-hand witness, as a volunteer middle-school CCD instructor, is but one of a multiplicity of symptoms that have sprung from this widespread, ubiquitous crisis of faith that we are now witnessing , the magnitude and severity of which would justify a socio-religious diagnosis of full-blown apostasy. For, as I have witnessed in various parishes, countless religious educators themselves are gravely ignorant of many of the most fundamental tenets of Magisterial teaching and the essentials of Catholic theology. Yet, what is far worse, said “educators,” instead of being encouraged by their parish DRE to become better informed and more knowledgeable regarding the faith by taking courses in theology and Religious Education, are instead re-assured that they know much more than they think they do, and are encouraged to simply “share their own personal experiences of having encountered or experienced the presence of God in their own lives.” Certainly, this suggestion would be quite appropriate if the CCD teacher’s main function was to give a one-time public witness – one that included a miraculous, supernatural healing or conversion. Yet, the Christian faith that we are called to hand on consists of the public, Divine Revelation of God to humanity, as recorded in Sacred Scripture and safeguarded by Sacred Tradition. It is precisely of these latter two that a religious educator must possess a fundamental knowledge and understanding. Ideally, the effective religious educator conveys the Sacred Truths contained within the deposit of faith, which have been publicly revealed by God; a Revelation which took place throughout the course of ancient Israel’s history, and which was brought to its completion and perfection in the person, words and works of Christ Jesus, the Eternally Begotten Son of the Father.
Further, many DRE’s are often in such desperate need of religious education teachers that they’ll literally accept anyone, provided the individual’s CORI and other criminal background checks come back clean. How can we possibly expect our children to receive an adequate understanding of the faith when the sole criterion for choosing and accepting so-called “educators” is, simply, not possessing a criminal record?
Read More marianapostolate.com
What follows is a reprint of a Facebook exchange/debate I recently had with a dear old friend who, many years ago, was quite devout in the practice of his Catholic faith. Yet, not unlike countless other adolescent Catholics of Gen X, his ultimate rejection of, and departure from, the Catholic Church is, in this author’s estimation, not so much the fault of my dear friend as it is the fault of a serious crisis of catechesis within the countless parishes and Dioceses throughout America.
Going a step further, this catechetical crisis of which I speak and of which I have been a first-hand witness, as a volunteer middle-school CCD instructor, is but one of a multiplicity of symptoms that have sprung from this widespread, ubiquitous crisis of faith that we are now witnessing , the magnitude and severity of which would justify a socio-religious diagnosis of full-blown apostasy. For, as I have witnessed in various parishes, countless religious educators themselves are gravely ignorant of many of the most fundamental tenets of Magisterial teaching and the essentials of Catholic theology. Yet, what is far worse, said “educators,” instead of being encouraged by their parish DRE to become better informed and more knowledgeable regarding the faith by taking courses in theology and Religious Education, are instead re-assured that they know much more than they think they do, and are encouraged to simply “share their own personal experiences of having encountered or experienced the presence of God in their own lives.” Certainly, this suggestion would be quite appropriate if the CCD teacher’s main function was to give a one-time public witness – one that included a miraculous, supernatural healing or conversion. Yet, the Christian faith that we are called to hand on consists of the public, Divine Revelation of God to humanity, as recorded in Sacred Scripture and safeguarded by Sacred Tradition. It is precisely of these latter two that a religious educator must possess a fundamental knowledge and understanding. Ideally, the effective religious educator conveys the Sacred Truths contained within the deposit of faith, which have been publicly revealed by God; a Revelation which took place throughout the course of ancient Israel’s history, and which was brought to its completion and perfection in the person, words and works of Christ Jesus, the Eternally Begotten Son of the Father.
Further, many DRE’s are often in such desperate need of religious education teachers that they’ll literally accept anyone, provided the individual’s CORI and other criminal background checks come back clean. How can we possibly expect our children to receive an adequate understanding of the faith when the sole criterion for choosing and accepting so-called “educators” is, simply, not possessing a criminal record?
Read More marianapostolate.com