Being the Year of Faith, I hope that those who were poorly catechized do something to remedy it. Thanks to Flocknote, you can Read the Catechism in a year; just sign up on their mailing list and they'll email you a bit of it every day. Advent is coming up in a couple of weeks and it's a wonderful time to immerse yourself in the beautiful, rich history of the Church... at the very least, look into the meaning of the season and why we do certain things during this time of year. There are a ton of other suggestions but first... raise your hand if you were poorly catechized. *raises hand* No shame; it's not our fault.
I promise there is a part two as soon as I get just an idea of how many of us are out there. :D
Okay, so, that if your mission (if you choose to accept it). Let me know if you believe you were poorly catechized, what you think you should've been taught, and/or advice you may have for those who wish to enrich their knowledge of the Faith and the Catholic Church. :)
And now... back to work (writing) and some NaNoWriMo-ing (if I get some time). :D
Thanks for reading and God bless! :D
10 comments:
I'm wishy-washy on this question. I think I received good catechesis (especially in so far as it was steeped in Sacred Scripture) that was very incomplete (in so far as it didn't include much of the Church's teachings). It's hard to fault the catechists in this -- remember that the Catechism is only 20 years old, so there was no standard for what should be included in a complete course of catechesis.
I'm more concerned that I wasn't well formed in the faith, by which I mean I wasn't taught to "do what Catholics do" -- i.e. regular Confession, the Rosary, etc. It wasn't until I was well into college that I even realized that these "catholic-y things" should be part of my spiritual practice. This I mostly pin on family -- the fact that my mother prayed the Rosary almost every day on her commute, but never taught my sister and I how to pray it, baffles me today.
tl/dr: I would have liked to have been exposed to more "Catholic practices" rather than more catechism class.
That is why I'm aiming the question more towards Millennials: the Catechism has been been around since when we were growing up; definitely while we did our first communions and confirmations.
Of course, I'm not saying that it's all the catechists fault; I attended a Catholic in name only (CINO) college where they butchered the Church's teachings. I'm just curious as to how many of us think that lack of good catechesis is to blame for the election results.
Again, I heard it a lot from other people so I'm curious as to how many people would agree with the statement.
I definitely was poorly catechised. I attended 8 years of Catholic grade school and didn't learn of the Eucharist till an adult. Most of our religious education was general morals with a splash of "Jesus loves you."
Well, the Catechism may have been around, but that doesn't mean it was implemented. It wasn't even available in English until two years after publication; it's impact on catechetical texts is still being implemented. (Cf. the still-new framework for high school catechesis.)
Is poor catechesis to blame for the election results? I don't think so -- most Catholics (regardless of their political persuasion) haven't even been evangelized. I think that's the root cause. We haven't turned this generation's heart to Christ. Until that happens no amount of catechesis will suffice.
(For what it's worth I'm 34 which, by at least some definitions I've seen, puts me in the Millennials.)
I agree with you, J Sullivan. We need to evangelize in order to see a difference (this will be my in part two :D).
Millennials (mostly around 1979-2001; 1980-2001 for my Thesis research)
White Catholics voted for Romney in large numbers, while Latino Catholics voted for Obama in larger numbers.
I don't think poor catechesis was to blame for the election results as much as the Republicans' position on immigration.
I'm going to get a lot of smack for this... but I think it's also the welfare thing. One of my mom's co-workers said she was glad that Obama won because she didn't want to stop getting welfare for her children. She works. Her husband works. One of her sons works. Getting the gist?
And this is common -- people who are able to work and earn more than enough cheat the system to drain more money out of the government. Not saying everyone does this (I do know of some people who are truly down on their luck) but so many people are abusing the system and Romney would've tried to make sure that that no longer happened.
I was definitely amongst the poorly catechized....Things that should have been taught?
a. Who is Jesus?
b. How can we know he is who He says he is?
c. Why is the Mass a Sacrifice?
I'd definitely encourage the reading of the Catechisms (both the CCC 2nd Edition, and the Catechism of Trent)...For those that like heavy books, there's Spiritual Theology by Jordan Aumman...I haven't come up with my year of Faith idea for my blog yet, but I'm still working on it.
See you soon
Joe
As a 24 year old "revert", I believe that I was poorly catechized. I attended "CCD" every Sunday up until I made my First Communion. It was not until my reversion, and my personal research/reading that I realized how rich and deep the Church's history really is. All I knew was: there was a God, I was supposed to pray to him and go to church on Sundays. THAT'S IT!
When I started dating my now husband, he took me on my first youth retreat. I was 19. The priest was talking about abstinence and the sin of being pro-choice and the Church teachings on our bodies. I left that retreat more confused and angry than ever. I had no clue I was just beginning my journey into what my Faith and the Church really was.
The first time I was able to vote in an election was the first time Obama ran. Unfortunately, not being educated in my faith, I voted for him. That decision was made purely on ignorance. I am Catholic and Latina and this time around I can proudly say that I voted pro-life.
Sorry for the long response, however, I feel VERY passionate about this matter.
I was poorly catechized. My youth group leaders seemed to worry more about "not offending anyone" and "respecting the beliefs of others" than actually explaining the teachings of the Church. Don't get me wrong, I definitely agree that you should respect others and their beliefs, but at a Catholic youth group, explaining and emphasizing the importance of Catholic teachings should take precedence.
Post a Comment