We in the Church have an addiction problem. This addiction maybe part of the sinful human condition, but there is a cure.
Before we can be cured of this addiction, we must acknowledge the problem. The problem is with how we in the Church do catechesis. For sometime, perhaps even before I was born over forty years ago, we in the Church have been asking learners to grasp knowledge of the faith. At first glance, this might not seem like a problem; this grasping might even seem worthy. Thus the addiction is deeply rooted in us.
Let's identity the problem: grasping. Grasping is a violent act. We are asking learners to grab, take vigorously, that which does not yet belong to them.
We do not invite learners to ask for the knowledge. Oh, we might include a nice prayer in our catechetical process. But then we immediately go into demanding immediate use of theological concepts. Oh, we might try to appear as if we are easing our approach with introductory life experiences. But flip the page in your parish's basal series and we quickly go in for the kill to immediately consume doctrinal statements. And how are we to expect young learners to live out the faith if creedal formulas are abstract concepts void of a lived experience?
Don't mistake my criticism as the sole fault of the Magisterium, or our local ordinaries, or even our parish priests. The clergy do have their responsibilities, but equally important is also the duty of parents to form their children in the faith. The problem is systemic, all levels are to blame and all levels are needed to reform the system.
Yet is any system the solution? Systematics theology is often viewed as the paradigm from which catechesis takes its cue. Thus catechetical resources align its content to the pattern of the Catechism: the Four Pillars. The problem here is such a system seeks to transform daily living into encyclopedia entries.
Now I love the Catechism, particularly its poetic clarity and rich references to Sacred Tradition. But I do not think this is the proper use of the Catechism. Was this systematic grasping the way of the Master? Are we echoing the methods of Christ the Teacher? No. Then again many Jewish families during Jesus' time took their faith seriously, cherished their beliefs, and passed on what was given to them as the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
We as Catholic must too take seriously the faith given to us through the Apostles. We must cherish the faith as life giving and life sustaining. No other part of our daily living is as important as our faith in Christ. Not work, not play. No academics nor athletics can compare.
The first phase to the cure is for Catholic adults to act their age. Mature in the faith. Our children's lives depend on it. We adults must first acknowledge the problem is personal. Each of us must say, "I am spiritually sick." We must seek Christ the Physician in the "hospital" of the Church. And the Church must act as our desperately needed hospital. The Church must not dispense a degree in medicine but the medicine of grace.
Grace is the medicine that can cure our addiction of grasping. And we must understand how grace is dispensed. Grace is not a measured prescription carefully given only if the patient can pass an exam. No! Grace is abundantly offerred, given, and overflowing. There is no need to grasp grace because we bathe in its baptismal waters. We must not grasp at grace. We must soak in grace!
How do we soak in grace? And how can this soaking lead to knowledge of the faith? That's for my next entry.
