Why We Need GOOD Catechetical Youth Ministers and Teachers!

(major h/t Mark Shea)
AKA: How Millions of Ordinary Slobs Get Their Information about the Catholic Faith

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back. I don't know if you guys are aware of this, but, you know, often times when our politicians are running, you know, the Church gets a little aggravated with that because there's quite a few of them have different pasts and sometimes the Church wants them to be more perfect.

JOY BEHAR: When you say "the Church" which church are you talking about?

GOLDBERG: Well, it's, it's all churches seem to have all kinds of problems with all kinds of candidates. But this particular problem comes when Archbishop Raymond Burke says no communication --

BEHAR: No communion, communion.

GOLDBERG: No communion for Giuliani.

BEHAR: Holy communion on Sunday.

GOLDBERG: Yes, holy communion, you know what holy communion is. For the Catholic Church, you go in on Sunday, you've confessed everything on Friday or Saturday, you're clear, they give you the host, they say you're cool.

BEHAR: Then you get drunk and go out and have fun.

GOLDBERG: Yeah, you're done. But because of Rudy's stance on abortion, he says he can not give him communion and he is persisting in a very serious sin. When asked if the Archbishop would deny those pro-death penalty, pre-emptive war, he says it's a little more complicated in that case.

BEHAR: Because they're adults and they've committed some crimes, they feel that, that's a legitimate reason to kill someone.

ELISABETH HASSELBECK: I always had an issue with priests denying communion. I remember someone in my family went through a divorce. Unless she got her marriage anulled, she wasn't allowed to receive communion. Her ex-husband wouldn't give her an anullment. He wouldn't show up for the anullment. So, then she was shamed, in other words, for not being --

BEHAR: Ex-communicated, yeah.

HASSELBECK: -pretty much not able to walk down and receive what is to be the most intimate, you know, part of the week with God and taking Jesus into your body.

BEHAR: What about Giuliani? He's been divorced three times at least.

SHERRI SHEPHERD: Has he had communion prior to this? Have they been giving him- is this an everyday thing?

GOLDBERG: I assume in other churches he wasn't having an issue or we would have heard about it.

BEHAR: Well, they don't exactly interview you when you're at the rail. The priest doesn't say how many times have you been divorced? They don't do that.

GOLDBERG: But if the archbishop is making that much noise, I assume that this is not the kind of story that would disappear. We would have heard something because it happened with John Kerry, didn't it?

BEHAR: Well, you know, just, just speak to the anullment problem. I remember when the Beatles were around, that you could, that you could buy an anullment. People used to buy anullments.

GOLDBERG: Yes

BEHAR: You know, the Kennedys and people like that could buy anullments, so it meant really nothing.

HASSELBECK: Our family didn't come from a lot of cash, so they weren't buying an anullment.

BEHAR: Well, that's my point. So, I mean, it's not exactly the most moral position.

GOLDBERG: It's very strange that when, when the Catholic god, you know, because there are so many different gods. I'll refer to the Catholic god at the moment. It seems that the Catholic god always says judge lest ye be judged. And always says if I-

BEHAR: They always say that.

GOLDBERG: If you come to me, I'm the only one who can forgive you. It doesn't matter what everyone else says. And yet a priest, the mouth piece to God, would say you can't --

BEHAR: There are amendments. Unless you do this. Unless you do that. (hand gesturing)

SHEPHERD: The priest has absolute say, because I don't know about Catholicism -

BEHAR: No the Pope does.

SHEPHERD: The Pope, okay.

HASSELBECK: No, the Pope does. The bishops are an extension of his, his abilities to say yeah or nay to certain things. There are a lot of rules in the Catholic, you know, Church.

SHEPHERD: So if he says I don't believe in abortion anymore, then he can take communion?

BEHAR: Well, the thing about is that Rudy Giuliani hasn't necessarily had an abortion himself. His wi- you know what I mean? His wife hasn't had one. I don't know if she has or not. He's not saying I'm going to get it or you should get it or you shouldn't get it. He's saying people should have the right to choose whether they want this or not. And that's his position is. The Church doesn't have that position.

[Applause]

SHEPHERD: But did they deny him for leaving his wife or cheating on his wife and marrying another woman?

BEHAR: No, no, no.

SHEPHERD: Why don't they deny him for that? Is that not a sin any more to leave your wife? Excuse my anger, but is that not a, not a --

BEHAR: It is a sin. But he wasn't running for president at the time, so there wasn't an issue.

HASSELBECK: I seems this archbishop needs a little pub. You know what I mean? He wanted a little publicity. He though slamming Giuliani would get him into the limelight.

BEHAR: You think that's it?

HASSELBECK: Yeah, they're all about it.

BEHAR: What about the vows of modesty? Don't they take that also?

HASSELBECK: Some don't. You should see the jewelry they wear. They're, you know.

SHEPHERD: Blinging! Bling, bling!

GOLDBERG: I just find it very interesting that, that, you know, it's like closing churches. I don't understand people who close churches because there's so many, you know, folks that go to church. You know, it's really a big deal for a lot of people. How can you live at the Vatican and say we have to close these churches because there's not enough money when we could, like, sell some stuff?

BEHAR: Well, the Catholic Church is, is in debt now for paying off a lot of the pedophile cases and they have to close all these churches.

GOLDBERG: There's a lot of stuff they could be selling.

HASSELBECK: And they were handing out communion to all those men who were molesting all the boys out there and they didn't have a problem giving them communion.

BEHAR: We were all raised Catholic here, so this is not some anti-Catholic rant that we're on. This is just factual information.

GOLDBERG: No, I'm a little bit on a rant. No you're right.

BEHAR: You can rant. But I was raised -- I had communion every Sunday. I received my communion, my confirmation, all nine yards. My daughter's been baptized, just in case, you know?

GOLDBERG: You are so funny.

BEHAR: And so this is just- these are facts about the Church right now that people have to either live with or reject.

HASSELBECK: That's one area. That's the Catholic Church. There are many other divisions of Christianity.

SHEPHERD: If you're a Christian, you can do communion if you sin.

GOLDBERG: Not in the Catholic Church.

And it came to pass that which was spoken through the mouth of the Prophet Chesterton:

The modern world will accept no dogmas upon any authority; but it will accept any dogmas on no authority. Say that a thing is so, according to the Pope or the Bible, and it will be dismissed as a superstition without examination. But preface your remark merely with "they say" or "don't you know that?" or try (and fail) to remember the name of some professor mentioned in some newspaper; and the keen rationalism of the modern mind will accept every word you say.

The Ecclesial Method: A Proven Plan for Catechesis

As youth ministers, it is part of our responsibility to do Catechesis. It is one of the 8 components (Renewing the Vision) and in all reality, we cannot inform our students that we are trying to evangelize without the content that catechesis provides.

In his book "The Mystery We Proclaim" (see book on left side) Monsignor Kevane gives us a definition "Catechesis is the transmission of God's word to invite people to personal faith".

Wow, there is so much in this book I'm having a hard time keeping this short

Anyway...

Why is catechesis so important? Why this series on the Ecclesial Method? If you are 40 and under you have to realize how crummy your own religious education was growing up. It's a joke that most of us make, but what is not funny is the reality that there was a deliberate effort to undermine the transmission of the faith to thousands, even millions of us growing up. So, we have been left with an anemic faith and an "American Catholicism" that thinks it is independant from Rome. ""Well the Church says...but I think/believe/feel".

It is important because it reminds us that we can have security that it is God who initiates. It is God who comes after us crazy, stubborn sinners. It bonds us to the Church and when we teach, we must be faithful to the Church and her teachings. It is not in our "right" to decide what is right and what is wrong. If you remember, that's how Adam and Eve got into trouble.

No, our choice is to choose the Truth and we cannot take that away from the students we work with. It is not our place to decide what is true and teach it. It is only our place to present the Church's teaching and let them choose it. It just may be a wonderful coincidence that we are able to give testimony to the teachings of the Church.

The goals, as Kevane lays out are easy to remember: 5 C's: Conversion, Community, Content, Contemplation and Commitment.

Conversion: This would be the main goal, and as we know it is a life long process.
Community: "...has the responsibility of welcoming them into an environment where they can live as fully s possibly what they have learned" (Pope John Paul II)
Content: Two words: Be Faithful. Seriously. Read above paragraph
Contemplation: Kevane teaches us that "Awakening those who participate in our programs to the Transcendent as a lived experience must be a goal...While liturgy is the source and summit of Christian life, the quality of our participation in and profit from its celebration is linked to the depth of our prayer life". There is the learning, then there is the praying of it.
Commitment: And then there is the living of it.

In the days ahead, Emily and I hope to pass along to you not only the theory known as the Ecclesial Method, but also many practical tips of how to put these parts into your work.

What we cannot loose is that we are fortunate to be called to serve God and his young people. With this call comes a responsibility that we can not escape. Souls are in our hands and we have to do all we can to invite them and get them to heaven.

Do good work!!

Catechesis Methods

As some of you may know from reading past posts, I am of the mind that Youth Ministry HAS to be all about the 8 Components. At one time I had a serious on the 8 Components and was discussing each of them-then I lost some of the blog and it got wiped out.

I'd like to return to that one day, but for today, I'm going to share about Catechesis.

What? I don't do that in youth group! you might have just said. ACKKK! If you don't think you are doing catechesis or that it's not "part of your job" then honey, you are dead wrong.

Whether or not you have Religious Education or Confirmation prep as part of your job responsibilities you are absolutely responsible to pass on the faith to others. You don't know how?

Let me share about it with you!

It is vital that you find a way to actually teach kids the faith. The days of youth group on Sunday nights just talking about feelings or favorite movies has to go. Comprshensive youth ministry has many facets, many ways of passing on the faith. Direct teaching of the faith is inherent in your work.

I had the privilage of teaching a 9th grade class one year. I absolutely loved it. I highly recommend that if you aren't in charge of the Religious Education that you teach a class:
1. It will get you "in" good with the Religious Education folks (who says RelEd and Youth Ministers don't get along?!?!)
2. You get to know the kids, their lives, their families, their siblings...you have a waiting audience to minister to.

In the next few posts, I hope to talk more about Catechesis. I've learned some great things this past year and even though I'm a veteran in youth ministry and I had already read a lot of the texts I learned things that will sharpen my skills and make me a more effective youth minister and so I'm sharing these things with you, that you can serve God and his youth even better!

Blessings! Know that you are often in my prayers. I may not always know you by name, but the work you do needs protection and prayer. While I can't be directly in ministry right now, I pray daily for those of you on the front lines. Be strong and take heart!!

Divine Revelation

Since Jen wrote about her catechesis on "God, the Father", I felt like I should write on mine. Like Jen, I was not so thrilled when I got "Divine Revelation" on my index card. I like to say it found me, not that I chose it. If there's one thing that I think I would never teach in a youth group setting, Divine Revelation, would be it. But I don't get to be ignorant like that. I walked around with an attitude for a couple days about it and then I got over it. The truth is, we don't get to pick and choose which parts of the deposit of faith we catechize about. We owe all of our kids the truth....the whole truth. So, I snapped out of it and am now digging the depths of the Catechism and reading about Revelation. There's so little that we teach about it and sometimes we come to forget it, but the truth is, we could know very little about God without it.

Revelation is Amazing! I know you guys know that, but having this as my catechesis is amazing. Try breaking down Revelation for a bunch of high schoolers...that's right friends, I'm using the Princess Bride, Matt Maher's "Love has Come" and of course a "gift" to show that God reveals to us gradually and in stages. Perhaps my favorite example that I've come up to teach Revelation is that God has given us everything that we need to know to win salvation. He's not going to start a game with us, and then half way through change the rules, and that friends is amazing. He's laid out for us the clearest path to him: his Son.

In fact, if there's one thing I want them to walk away with, it's this: LOVE HAS COME TO SHOW THE WAY!

I can't wait to teach this tomorrow and I hope that I can only give him Glory and Honor through my words. They will never be enough to describe him, but they are what we have. Please say some prayers for Jen and I as we go outside of the comfort zone to catechize our Church.

As soon as it's done and presented, I will try and post it up here. Jen and I are looking for a place in which we can all post things and have those resources available.

Exam Time

So Em and I have been feverishly slaving over homework and burnin' the midnight oil to get everything done by the end of the semester.

Ok. I'm not. I had one class that wasn't hard. It was a great class, but not difficult by any stretch of the imagination. Really-consider coming to the St John Bosco Conference to learn more about doing Catechesis. YES, even you, you youth minister type.

I knew I was a little above average as a youth minister, in some regards, because I wasn't in youth ministry because "I want to work for the Church and I don't know what else to do". That and I actually went to school to become a youth minister. That and I'm great with people (true) and administrative tasks (false). AND I'm so humble.

But enough about me. I'm going to post a few things from Youth Specialties that I hope you'll enjoy.

MLA...I Shoulda Knowed Ya

So, I stayed up all night writing my first 15 page paper in 8 years, having heart failure because I have so much to say and wondering how I'm going to fit it all in.

And then I thought, I really should check out MLA to be sure I'm doing it all correctly. So I do. And I read through the requirements.

And realize that I have written a 30 page paper.

Yes, folks, I stayed up all night researching, developing and writing a 30 page paper.

Who forgets about the glory of "double space"???

Bishops Give The Smack Down (And They All Said YEAHHH!!)

Being a catechetics student under Sister Johanna is a real delight. This woman, as I've shared before knows the "movers and slayers" of our national catechesis-and is rightfully incensed by them. Moran and Groome are two that she has analyzed and shreds their theory on "process" over content. That is, how people reach the faith and honoring whatever conclusion comes to them from that process, rather than taking the truth of the faith, the content, and catechizing in such a way to effect conversion. (REAL conversion). I mean, her doctoral dissertation is gonna knock them outta the ball park.

So when this article came up, I noted it, but I don't think I understood it's real impact. I was not aware of who Maguire was, but she said he's one of the usual suspects along with Curran and a few others (I don't have my notes with me-Em? help?).

Folks, this is HUGE. This guy has the guts to send this tripe to the Bishops and expects for it to go through??? But this tells you how LAX the system has been! That he really believes that in sending this to them it will change anything.

I know, we're not used to the USCCB layin' the smack down, but with Bishop Lori as chairman (who says he "grew up"with Sister, is a usual at the Bosco Conference and loves the University. He has a real drive and love for the Church and for real catechesis. Stick with him, he'll take you great places!) we can know that at least THIS committee is on the right track.

(PS Bishop Vigneron is also on the Commitee and has been a presenter for our Applied Biblical Studies Conference)

Keep an eye on his story.

And for the love of God, avoid anything by Groome. And Moran. And Jane Reagan. (And, frankly Bill Huebsch while I'm at it)

"Above Post"

Sorry, I've just been a little too busy doing my project.

In short, the "Ecclesial Method" is something that Msgr Kelly talks about in "The Mystery We Proclaim", a must read. While there is no official teaching that would dare to say you MUST teach this way, it is a reasonable, proven and practical way of catechesis.

The project looking before me is to teach the doctrine of St Paul and St Peter doing the first few steps, mostly Preparation and Explanation. (I've found that all five interweave to some degree, but it's a good idea to make sure they are all there).

By Preparation I mean "calculated disengagement" as Sister calls it. It's using the doctrine as background and finding a way to get the crowd to move from the world out there, their problems, their lives to some extent and shift towards an openness to hearing the Truth proclaimed.

Proclamation and Explanation are, I suppose a bit obvious. Proclaim the Truth, then explain the Truth.

Creativity is needed for both. Just an opening prayer will not suffice. Just talking out of the book won't get it done either. We know that as youth ministers. So it's a deliberateness to opening people up to hear the word of God or the doctrine and then giving a presentation that engages them on several levels, and even in considering different learning styles.

I must go now, and I'll get to the last two, Application and Celebration later. I've loads to do. Thanks for the input. Always good.

Looks like this blog is finally working, even to a small degree. It was meant to help each other with the work of ministry, and well, at least I've been getting some help! I believe others who come here will to. Can't wait to have the time to make it even better.

What Would You Do?

If you disagreed with a particular Church teaching, would you tell your kids? (Not sons and daughters "kids", I mean the teens you work with)

Would you teach the fullness of the Church teaching?