January 2017 - Page 2 of 2 - Catechist's Aide

I’ve heard that people feel about teaching middle school students a lot like they feel about broccoli – you either love it or you hate it. Well, I love them both! Yes, middle school students present a special set of challenges, but I have also found these students to be incredibly open and honest, not afraid to ask tough questions, and they have a real desire to learn about their faith.

I initially began teaching Religious Education to middle school students because in our diocese, students are confirmed at the end of the eighth grade. For many students, this is the last year that they will receive any type of formal religious education. When my own son was beginning his Confirmation preparation, I asked to be his catechist. So, I started out teaching seventh grade one year, and eighth grade the next. That way I had the same group of students for what I saw as two critical years in their faith formation. I wanted them to see that I was making a commitment to them, and I think it really worked out well.

There were some overall goals I had as a catechist. First was obviously instruction in the faith. It’s important to know what we, as Catholics, believe. Second, I wanted to focus on how what we believe affects how we live. It’s not enough to be able to rattle off a list of commandments or sacraments, or to recite a dozen different prayers, if there’s no connection between knowing and believing, and how we live our lives. I wanted to stress to these young candidates that the power of the Holy Spirit which they would soon be receiving in Confirmation is transformative, and If they are receptive to the Spirit, they will become true disciples of Jesus, following his way.

Today we celebrate not only the beginning of the new year, but the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and the World Day of Peace.

It’s tempting to focus on the same, tired, old resolutions we seem to make every year. But, celebrating Mary’s Motherhood of Jesus, which all began with her faithful “Yes” to God’s plan, helps us to put things in the proper focus. A new year presents us with an opportunity to ponder what God is asking of us, and to pray for the strength to say “Yes” to it reflexively as Mary did at the Annunciation.

Mary, as the Mother of God, underscores her importance not only as the conduit through which Christ physically entered into the world and humanity itself, but it reinforces her continued importance to all Christians today as a direct conduit to her son, our divine Lord and Savior. Recalling Jesus’ words from the cross, “Woman, behold, your son!’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’” (Jn 19:26-27) further emphasizes that Mary’s role in salvation history did not end when she gave birth.

Some twenty years ago, Pope John Paul II wrote about that moment on the cross:

Jesus’ words acquire their most authentic meaning in the context of his saving mission. Spoken at the moment of the redemptive sacrifice, they draw their loftiest value precisely from this sublime circumstance. In fact, after Jesus’ statements to his Mother, the Evangelist adds a significant clause: “Jesus, knowing that all was now finished….” (Jn 19:28), as if he wished to stress that he had brought his sacrifice to completion by entrusting his Mother to John, and in him to all men, whose Mother she becomes in the work of salvation.

The reality brought about by Jesus’ words, that is, Mary’s new motherhood in relation to the disciple, is a further sign of the great love that led Jesus to offer his life for all people. On Calvary this love is shown in the gift of a mother, his mother, who thus becomes our mother too.

for more on this subject, read: https://www.ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/jp2bvm49.htm

There is something else I’m thinking about this new year. As 2016 drew to a close, Pope Francis spoke about a debt that we owe our young people, to help them find purpose in their lives. It got me to thinking about the even younger people and our collective responsibility to teach them about the faith into which they have been baptized. As a mother and a catechist, I know it’s not always an easy task to get kids excited about their faith, but we do owe it to them, and to future generations. These children are the future of the Church. So this year, I am praying, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother, to help these young people find purpose and value as children of God and a deep desire to grow ever closer to Him.

Why Middle Schoolers?

The Solemnity of Mary

Archives for January 2017