[NYer]

And these are the kids that actually make it to the end - and the Sacrament of Confirmation! There are countless others who drop out after First Communion.

My suggestion would be to begin by educating the parents and take it from there.

[mockingbyrd]

Around here we have a contest called the R.C. Challenge (Roman Catholic Challenge). It's been going strong for twenty years now, with teams from several states and even British Columbia. There are places where good catechisis is ocurring. Theses teams of middle and high schoolers are proof of that. It's a pretty uplifting event.

[Campion]

Really the parents are supposed to be the primary educators of their children, and are primarily responsible for passing on the faith. They should be the people who act as "quality control" for the parish religious ed program, and when there's a problem, they should detect it, and alert both their children and the pastor.

Problem: we are now well into our second generation, and starting on the third generation, of awful post-Vatican II catechesis. The parents (those who are actually left in the Catholic Church) don't know their faith, and so can't pass it on, and can't act as quality control for the parish religious ed program.

[Gerish]

I encourage you to ask your DRE: "Why does my child not know God?"

Why ask the DRE - it is the parents fault. I see parents day in and day out who clearly do not understand that their vocation is not merely to feed and clothe their children, or to even chauffeur them to every sport practice/game, but to assist their children to save their souls. They have that awesome responsibility of leading their children to eternal life.

My oldest child received the Sacrament of Confirmation last Sunday. He is in 10th grade and did what was required of him as far as his community service etc. He attended his classes through our parish, but basically my husband and I did the remainder of his teaching instruction, as we will do for our other children. It is our responsibility and we enjoyed very much having the opportunity to explain and teach him very important aspects of his faith. He chose the name Gabriel and it was so informative the data we found on the web, especially for the whole family.

The article was good, thanks for the ping.

[franky]

What can we expect when the word sin is rarely preached from the ambo. Mothers wear mini skirts to Mass while their daughters expose their belly buttons.. No one on confession lines. Those parents who go and spend 1 hour a week at the Mass and think more about KMart than the Consecration. Kids go to Communion chewing gum. No respect for the Eucharist and walk right out the door with the Eucharist still in their mouths.

And this has been going on for 3 generations.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

"Your child is in the 10th grade, the 10th year of Religious Education --- and does not know Who God is, what the Church is, and why either should have any impact or influence on their lives. Except for their Baptism in Christ and their First (and probably last) Holy Communion --- the significance of which they know nothing --- they are effectively pagans. This sounds harsh. It is meant to be. We need to be shaken out of our indifference and awoken from our illusions."

"For it has come to light that there were not lacking among the leaders of heretical sects some who openly declared that, if the teaching of Thomas Aquinas were only taken away, they could easily battle with all Catholic teachers, gain the victory, and abolish the Church. A vain hope, indeed, but no vain testimony."

- Pope Leo XIII, Aeterni Patris

[rzeznikj at stout]

Excellent post...

Not only do I agree with the point, I can attest to this from firsthand experience (as I went through this but a few years ago)...

And with my Newman group, I continue to learn the faith...8^)

[voiceinthewind]

If a child is homeschooled they should be able to prepare for the sacrament at home. Skip the chaos that passes for RE classes, and insist that the parish has no right to demand the child attend the classes, "volunteer" in pet parish project or attend the mixed-sex weekend retreat.

[goodform]

I believe this article is basically true. I say "basically" because I think it is overly negative. Perhaps things north of Boston are that bad, but my experience has been that things are getting better. Little by little, yes, but still it seems as though the ship is starting to steer back on course.

I see a lot of signs of hope. I meet more and more young Catholic families with lots of kids who are clued in to what is going on in the Church and are making sure their kids are getting properly catechized. Eucharistic Adoration is growing all over the United States. Young, orthodox religious orders are exploding. Some seminaries are starting to get back on track such Sacred Heart in the Archdioces of Detroit.

Signs of hope are there to be seen if we aren't too focused on the negative. I used to be very focused on the negative, but I recognized after a while that this was filling me with despair. I decided to stop reading periodicals such as the Remnant. I figured that I know there are problems in the Church, why do I need to drum that into my head over and over again.

That kid chewing gum in Mass? At least he's there, eh? We are all at different stages of our walk with the Lord. That door is wide open and you never know who the Holy Spirit will lead in and what stage of their faith he or she is at. I only mention this because I use to really focus on this stuff, looking down my nose at that family with the bermudas on and the kid chewing gum. Now I try to focus on thanking God that they are there and that He will lead them further, and me for that matter.

I'm not suggesting that there aren't problems, big problems in the Church. There are, and we just have to pray for those who continue to try to destroy the Church from within wittingly or unwittingly.