ADULT CATECHISM, YOU BET ------->>>>>> PART 2

There they sit...Then what?

I have been thinking a lot about the 12/1 thought.  I am not satisfied that I made my point clearly enough, so that's why I'm revisiting the thought, and not dwelling too much on the idea.

For years I have been watching the Catholic Church invest huge amounts of time, money, resources, emotional and physical energy "planting the seed" of the faith into children.  On the surface it looks and sounds good.  In practice the returns are not that great.  

Without getting too worked up and too negative, here are some of my observations about what happens to the "seed."  

The children grow up, receive the Body of Christ for the first time and fall through the cracks until they get to be fourteen or so.  Then their parents (you know, the children sitting there in the picture who grew up) harass them to get confirmed because "you're Catholic, you know."  So because the youngster doesn't have anything else to do and nowhere else to go, confirmation it is.  From there, it will be a very small probability that the individual will find the way back to the Church for marriage. We the Church keep pouring sand down that eternal rat hole in the conviction that the children are the Church of tomorrow.

Belle and I decided, some time back, to start exposing adults to the grace of Faith and the Wisdom of walking in the Grace of God's presence.  Slowly but surely, the idea is catching on.  We enjoy shocking parents by asking them if they remember what they were told on the day of their church wedding.  I can say that 5% of them remember that they were told that it is their responsibility to nurture their children in the discipleship of God.  The rest just shake their heads and know that it is time for them to set their hand to the plow.  You should see their face when we quote the admonition of Deuterononmy, chapter 6, verses 4 to 9: 

4  "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!

5 Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your        strength.

6 Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today.

7 Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest.

8 Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead.

9 Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates."

So that's what we do.  Busy and at rest, we dedicate ourselves to the formation of adults in the faith.  Our situation is such that we can do it for God.  He blesses us with audiences of people of good will. It is our conviction, our THOUGHT, if you will, that this should be the template of where the great resources of the Church should be invested.  In this case, it happens to be the thought and the teaching of the bishops of the United States.  I think that they got this one right.

ADULT CATECHISM, YOU BET -- THE ONLY WAY TO GO

ADULT CATECHISM FREE FOR ALL

I'll bet you never thought you'd see the day.  That is indeed a roomful of adults in a Bible/Catechism "class".  We caught them at a rather relaxed part of the session.  But believe me, they are serious.  When they are focused, they are focused and they are a deep "see" challenge for the presenter.  Without telling their names, let me just give you a description of what they represent.  One is publisher of the online magazine, ParishWorld.net; one is a social worker who has come back to the Catholic Church and is one of our very best "plants" in any religious ed group for adults;  one is a doctor (MD); one is a nurse, chaplain to one of the bigger hospitals in the region and one is a housewife.  The young person with his back to the camera is a nineteen year old who attends all the sessions with the family, three boys and one girl and the mother and father.  This is but a small representation of the entire group of 40 plus.  Here we were "learning" about the presence of Sacred Scripture in the structure of the Mass.  The bearded man who was the leader of this study is a long time Bible aficionado, spiritual force in the parish.  He is one of the five presenters who lead a session in the six weeks of this particular period.
The Adult Faith Formation program that we (Belle and Paul) have spearheaded, constructed and support is well received by the church-going faithful of the parish.  We took a survey of the parish in order to find out what adults wanted to learn about.  That was a good start.  The faithful, when invited to a series that they had requested to begin with, showed up and participated. These people will become more and more able and willing to teach their children the truths of our faith.  They tell us as much.  We are grateful to God for guiding us through the maze of material and human obstacles it took to get this up and going.  We pray  that He will help us to keep it going.  This is indubitably a good thought...or is it an idea?