Posted on 05/31/2013 2:44:05 PM PDT by NYer
Do our Catholic children and most adults know what these images teach?
All of us know one of the elephants in the room of the Catholic Church. Our religious education programs are not handing on the essence of our Catholic Faith, our parents are befuddled about their role in handing on the faith and the materials we use are vapid or if good do not make an impression on young minds. We are afraid of asking for memorization and thus most don't remember anything they've learned about God and Church other than some niceties and feel good emotions.
I teach each class of our grades 1-6 (we don't have 7th or 8th) each Thursday, rotating classes from week to week. For the last two years I have used Baltimore Catechism #1 as my text book. It is wonderful to use with children and it is so simple yet has so much content. If Catholics, all Catholics, simply studied Baltimore Catechism #1, we would have very knowledgeable Catholics.
These past two years I've used Baltimore Catechism #2 with our adult religious program which we call Coffee and Conversation following our 9:30 AM Sunday Mass, which coincides with our CCD program which we call PREP (Parish Religious Education Program).
This #2 book has more content and is for middle school, but upper elementary school children must have been more capable of more serious content back when this book was formulated and used through the mid 1960's because it is a great book to use with adults and not childish at all. We all use this same book as a supplemental book for the RCIA because it is so clear, nobly simple and chocked full of content!
Yes, there are some adjustments that need to be made to some chapters, but not that many, in light of Vatican II and the new emphasis we have on certain aspects of Church that are not present in the Baltimore Catechism. But these are really minor.
What is more important though is that when the Baltimore Catechism was used through the mid 1960's it was basically the only book that was used for children in elementary and junior high school. It was used across the board in the USA thus uniting all Catholics in learning the same content. There was not, in other words, a cottage industry of competing publishing houses selling new books and different content each year.
The same thing has occurred with liturgical music, a cottage industry of big bucks has developed around the sale of new hymnals, missalettes and new music put on the open market for parishes to purchase. It is a money making scheme.
Why do our bishop allow this to happen in both liturgical music and parish catechesis? The business of selling stuff to parishes and making mega bucks off of it is a scandal that has not be addressed.
In the meantime, our liturgies suffer and become fragmented because every parish uses a different resource for liturgical music and the same is true of religious formation, everyone uses something different of differing quality or no quality at all.
Isn't it time to wake up and move forward with tried and true practices that were tossed out in favor of a consumerist's approach to our faith that has weakened our liturgies, our parishes and our individual Catholics?
“So, in your Protestant sunday school classes you just hand the kids the Bible and walk out of the room?”
No, but I do that at home.
“and that’s why there is uniformity of belief among all of the Protestant denominations (out) there.”
So, what happens to Protestant kids when they study history and science?
“So, in your Protestant sunday school classes you just hand the kids the Bible and walk out of the room?”
Usually, the study consists of reading and studying the scripture. We recommend everyone read the Bible on their own, and frequently, when not formally going over lessons in church.
In theory, the RCC should be able to do the same, and teach all of its doctrines from it, without having to resort to snippets of catechism that in no way helps a person understand the full meaning of a particular book or epistle. I tend to find Catholic teaching to be... choppy. I can’t explain it any other way.
2Ti 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (17) That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
Of course, in truth, it’s impossible to even come to any understanding of the scripture at all unless one is regenerated in the first place, which is a sovereign act of God.
1Co 2:12-13 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. (13) Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
No matter how good the lesson by man, it is the Holy Spirit who is the only real teacher.
As a Protestant, I never just handed my kids a Bible and said here, read this... we have always guided them... plus we had them study the Puritan catechism written by Charles Spurgeon... they memorized each question and answer... and then were required to explain each answer using scripture...
There’s nothing wrong with just letting the kids read and discover things on their own. I’ve learned plenty of things as I’ve had to answer questions from our kids that I never saw in certain Scriptures.
I am a follower of Christ, but one thing I notice is rule upon rule with a catholic friend, her kids are leaving the faith, but she can’t see that it is the constant focus on rule, her faith lacks genuine joy. That is not abundant living, it is misery.
There is a holy reverence that is lacking is Protestant churches, I say this as one that attend a Baptist church.
I have to say, we avoid text books when it comes to history... we use textbooks for science and math...
You think the bible lacks history, it explains it fully. Science, you think we fear science?
I think you’ll need to explain, “holy reverence” to me.
The link must have been broken when you clicked on it. I just tried it, and it was in English.
i do not think there is anything wrong with it, but i did not expect that my sons would have learned a lot that way... now that our oldest is 17, he is able to do some studying on his own, but often uses concordances and his daddy and me as guidance when he has questions...
Well then, I guess they'll have to lose their faith in non-scientific concepts like the virgin birth and the resurrection. Isn't that what Catholic kids do after studying "history and science?"
You were referring to the virgin birth and the resurrection, weren't you? What else could you possibly be alluding to? Whatever it is, it is no more impossible than the virgin birth, resurrection, or other "new testament miracles."
PS: You surely don't mean that Russell Kirk was an evolutionist, do you?
The current crop of parents were not taught doctrines, but the priests think they were, somehow. They think there is no need to go over “that” again in homilies, but there is.
At least, in this year of Faith, we are focusing on saying the Apostles Creed every Sunday at Mass, and it has been emphasized that we should know it.
You still have to account for the 1500 years between the Pentecost and the Reformation and the carbon dating that shows the universe is quite a bit more than 6000 years old.
I teach, I do not use a Baltimore catechism. I will see what I can do.
Thanks NYer.
You should be able to buy those reprints at your local Catholic bookstore. That’s where I got mine.
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