Catechist's Challenge: Instructing the Ignorant, Counseling the Doubtful

Last week, having volunteered to help my parish DRE as a substitute, I found myself in front of a classroom of 16 young teens (all but one of Hispanic descent) who were entering their second year of Confirmation preparation. I assumed this would be a one-night stand (OK 2-3 at the most), as have my prior experiences as a sub, so I jumped right in. Handed a catchumenate-style resource which began with a discussion of what sacraments are, I began the lesson by asking how many had seen a baptism, by connecting sacramental celebrations with familiar rituals such as a birthday party - standard stuff, to be sure.

Students seemed to be understanding the material pretty well until we got to the exercise which asked them to choose something in their life that shows that God loves them and talk about how they would ritualize (celebrate) that.  When I asked if anyone could name something in their life that showed God's love for them, they blinked and stared back. Knowing that teens sometimes have a peer-pressure issue about not talking about personal things, I re-phrased the question several times to make it less threatening. Still nothing. I finally asked how many know that God loves them. Not one hand went up. Shocked at the realization that this was new territory for them, I then "backed up the truck" to have them think over and name - over the next week until the next class - what is good in their life, with the intention of using what they name as a basis for building an understanding of God's love.

When, after class, my DRE asked if I would be available the next few Wednesdays, I said yes... and then she slyly said she was kind of hoping I'd do this for the rest of the year.  Stealth recruitment at its finest, I must admit. However, I was hooked anyway, by the need to do primary kerygma with this group - the opportunity and challenge to evangelize them in a deeper way.

This is part of the challenge to today's catechists. So many of our kids come to us, their parents sending them mostly for sacrament preparation, with no lived understanding of the love of God. They often do not know who God really is... only what they may have been told. Even beyond that, my experience with kids in this culture is that most of them do not even know the basic outline of our faith story - that God created all people, we sinned, Jesus came to earth born as a human baby laid in a manger, and that after teaching us, he died and was resurrected. In past encounters with kids in our parish program, especially those in their first year of formation, I have found they not only do not know the story, they have no idea why this happened... hence, they do not know that God so loved the world... and them.

So, I am in fact hooked. I will be staying on as their catechist, because I feel a call to help them understand the love of God, the reason for Jesus, and how all of this is meant for each and every one of them. It's enough to make me want to haul out that old chestnut, the "Jesus Movie"...

Roman Missal Implementation: "Mystical Body, Mystical Voice" Workshop Review

I had the opportunity on Friday to go to the Liturgical Institute at University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, to participate in the free diocesan leaders' preview of "Mystical Body, Mystical Voice" - the training on the new Mass translation which our diocese has chosen for our own leadership. I wanted to experience it so, in my role in our diocesan office and as chair of the Catechetical Formation Committee for Year of the Eucharist, I could speak intelligently about it. I also, frankly, hoped to find positive ways to present it to parish leaders who are not accustomed to "mandatory" training events. I have to say, the overall experience was very good.

Although there was a definite academic flavor to the all-day experience, it was not oppressively so. The presenters, Father Douglas Martis and Cristopher Carstens, took the approach that if the worshiping assembly understood the words we pray, our experience of the Mass would be very much enriched. This was not so much about implementation of new texts as discovering the beauty and sacramental richness which has for centuries been present in the language of the Mass. As such, it was high-quality liturgical catechesis, delivered in-depth, with reverence, humor and a nod toward the practicalities (and admitted difficulties) of implementing the new texts.

The morning was geared toward helping people understand Word - in all its richness. Providing background in Scripture, theology and Tradition, the presenters developed an understanding that the liturgical words we speak "mean" Christ.  They also showed how participation in the Mass is participation in the Liturgy of Heaven. Sacramental words, they said, "are porters, for they carry and make present the reality they symbolize. This reality is the eternal divine dialogue [among the Persons of the Trinity] restored in Christ, and carried on today in the Mystical Body [the Assembly at Mass]"  Fr. Martis talked about the difference between "gathering" and "assembling" a people - the former being more a sense of bringing people into one place physically, the latter meaning putting the parts of the Mystical Body of Christ together.   When we, as the Mystical Body, speak liturgical words, we participate in the conversation among Father, Son and Spirit.

Although this was not mentioned in the workshop, I know of no better way to explain it than to connect it to The General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours, which defines this participation in the Liturgy of Heaven well in paragraph 3 -

When the Word, proceeding from the Father as the splendor of his glory, came to give us all a share in God's life, "Christ Jesus, High Priest of the new and eternal covenant, taking human nature, introduced into this earthly exile the hymn of praise that is sung throughout all ages in the halls of heaven." From then on in Christ's heart the praise of God assumes a human sound in words of adoration, expiation, and intercession, presented to the Father by the Head of the new humanity, the Mediator between God and his people, in the name of all and for the good of all.  

Coming out of a seminary background enriched by a deep understanding of Liturgy of the Hours, the presenters link this understanding of the Liturgy of Heaven to what is going on in the Mass.  This speaks to the need for a "universal" language - and to the accuracy of all vernacular translations around the globe, in all times and all ages. We need as a people not bound by time or space, to speak with one voice the same "words".

The presenters proceeded to work though an understanding of sign, symbol and sacrament. Then, they laid the context for the Third Roman Missal in the history of liturgical renewal from the beginning of the 20th Century to Liturgiam Authenticam, the 2001 document which laid out the principles that resulted in the new translation which we will be implementing beginning November 27, 2011.

The "Workshop Philosophy" from the Mystical Body, Mystical Voice website is a great summary of the backdrop presented in the first part of the workshop:

• The Mystical Body, Mystical Voice program sees the implementation of the third typical edition of the Roman Missal as a providential opportunity for heeding the call of Vatican II to enrich the liturgical participation of the faithful.

• Mystical Body, Mystical Voice is based on the liturgical principle lex orandi, lex credendi, holding that the Church says what she believes when she prays and means what she says.

• Mystical Body, Mystical Voice recalls that the Sacred Liturgy is safeguarded by the Church and its purpose is the glorification of God and the sanctification of humanity. To that end, the texts of the Mass are seen in light of the Paschal Mystery and the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.

• Mystical Body, Mystical Voice reiterates that the words we say make a difference in worship and in life because language itself is sacramental. The language we use communicates what we believe.

• Mystical Body, Mystical Voice understands that the instruction Liturgiam Authenticam represents an ongoing implementation of the Second Vatican Council.

Having laid this groundwork in the morning, the presenters spent the afternoon on specifics about new wording for Liturgy of the Word, Liturgy of the Eucharist, and some tips for Catechesis.  (I see a need for these to be expanded to include some more specific tips for parish leaders.)

Bottom line: this workshop is a very good experience. Yes, it's "heavy" and may stretch people who do not have academic background. That may mean that the presenters will have to vary their approach to assist those for whom thinking about liturgy in these kinds of terms is new. Will it help with the implementation of the new Mass translation?  Yes - by providing parish leaders with a personal understanding and way to talk about the new translation - and by helping them understand that liturgical catechesis is an ongoing imporant priority in all parishes and not just an occasional thing or a one-time process to get people to pray with new words.

Moving Forward with the Roman Missal: Laying the Groundwork for Change

I finally started reading my copy of With One Voice, a book of short essays from Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions, last night and lo and behold, the opening essay from Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson is about change agency and what is needed to implement the new Missal. While I agree with most of what he says, I strongly feel that catechetical staff and parish faith formation boards need to be a part of the implementation, not just liturgy committees. 

Bishop Kicanas comes from Chicago, and now Tucson, both places where there is likely to be large, well-developed liturgy committees in parishes. I think he is not realizing this is often not the case. Many smaller parishes do not have well-formed functioning committees, and often may have only a part-time musician who is not trained in liturgy.  That fact aside, I strongly believe that liturgical catechesis is the responsibility of both the liturgical and catechetical personnel of the parish (and the diocese).  Implementation of the new Mass texts is an opportunity to work together to provide a better experience of the Mass, and as sacramental enrichment, is rightfully shared ground and an opportunity for collaboration. If the two areas of parish administration work together, implementation may well be perceived by the people as more of an imperative, and not just the agenda of one group in the parish. If liturgists and catechists in a parish have not worked closely together before, this, too,  will be an area of change - and growth for them.

Bishop Kicanas cites a number of experts on change-agency, but the most useful thing I took away from his essay is the contention of William Bridges, an expert on organizational transition. Bridges says there are three stages to change: letting go or losing something, a neutral period of adjustment, and a new beginning.  He says we cannot short-cut this - we need to go through all three stages.

I suggest that parish and diocesan leaders are going to have to engage in these three stages before we can help the people do that. As in the familiar Kubler-Ross stages of grief, we may indeed revisit the loss stage at various points in the process, but to become a change agent, we have first to be convinced ourselves of the need for change. We have to go through our own sense of loss, our own time of neutrality, before we can be energized to move forward to lead implementation. 

"Training the trainers" workshops have been taking place around the country for exactly this reason. Far in advance of the actual implementation, leadership needs to be helped through their own process of letting go and accepting this change, formed, so that they, in turn, can form people in parishes. In our diocese, we will gather parish leaders, beginning in the fall, to talk this through. We will gather them in December to hear Fr. Richard Fragomeni talk about the mystery of the liturgy and liturgical spirituality -- the "soul" of the liturgy that must be addressed even before we discuss changing the words we pray. 

In the spring, our parish leaders will experience the Mystical Body, Mystical Voice event from the Liturgical Institute in Mundelein.  As follow-up next August, we are planning a practical workshop on helping children, youth and adults to deepen their understanding of the Mass (speakers will include Jerry Galipeau and Bob Piercy.)  We will have to talk about the new translation at regional cluster meetings, at adult faith formation leadership gatherings, and on the liturgical side, our diocesan office will be doing the same with their constituents as they, too, have practical workshops on changing the Mass responses, music and more.

Before we can enter this period of re-assessment, renewal and growth, we have to take the time for grieving, anger, resentment, and ultimately, letting go. To become an effective change agent, leaders must first be convinced  of the validity of the change. Personally, I'm well on my way to getting there. 

In upcoming posts, I plan to deal with skills for change agency for church leaders.

Let Us Pray: New E-Resource on Teaching the New Roman Missal

In the days to come, as the implementation of the Third Edition of the Roman Missal gets closer, many dioceses are planning workshops for leadership on the changes. However, good materials to use on the parish level to help liturgical ministers, leaders, catechists and people in the pews will be needed.  I just purchased a downloadable e-resource that has a lot of potential for parishes looking for an inexpensive alternative to more expensive parish kits for implementation.

Let Us Pray: Teaching About the New Roman Missal in Your Parish by Leisa Anslinger and Bill Huebsch, with Fr. Jan Schmidt, is a creative e-resource available as a download at http://store.pastoralplanning.com/iusprabremii.html  for a mere $9.64.  The kit includes several complete plans for parish presentations, complete with prayer services, scripts and handouts. 

The kit includes:

• A customizable newsletter-format handout "Changes in the Words We Play at Mass" with explanations and the old and new assembly texts side by side. This would be a great resource to send home with every family so that people can have the new texts with them for their own reflection and to get familiar with them.
• A 15-minute explanation - a short prayer service and session general information on the changes - adaptable for all ages - including tips for catechists on helping children understand the new wording
• The 45-Minute Parish Meeting - a longer session for a general audience of adults, with options for sharing and discussion
• The 90-minute Full Review with Liturgical Catechesis - a deeper process of learning and reflection which makes use of three of the Growing Faith handouts - designed to be used with liturgy committees, liturgical ministers, etc.

No videos, no PowerPoints, no bells and whistles, one simple reproducible handout on the texts instead of a sheaf of costly individual brochures - this is a simple, easy-to-use, solid resource for information and opportunities for reflection and discussion. It looks like it will be a great way to help people on the parish level understand the changes and the reasons behind them.  Leisa and Bill have come through again, providing  something not only useful, but economical and easy to use.  Take a look.

Living the Easter Season - It's Not Business as Usual

An interesting reality is that many people do not really know how to live the 50 Days of the Easter Season - how not to drift back into "business as usual."  For Catholics, Easter is not just a day, but an entire season, lasting until Pentecost.  It is supposed to be a 50-day celebration of joy. Wilted presiders, liturgists and musicians, exhausted by the preparation for and celebration of the feast, will make a stab at it. Most likely, the music at weekend Mass will be "bigger" while art and environment people work to maintain the flower-decorated space as the lilies continue to open. However, as the lilies fade, much of our enthusiasm of the community for the Resurrection will too. 

Now is the appropriate time for large parish gatherings, social celebrations and more. Yet with the fish fries of Lent over, the reality is that the community's attention is turning to First Communion, in some cases, Confirmation, and to preparations for graduations and the other "rites of spring."  Yes, these are celebrations.  The challenge is how to connect these, which in the U.S. normally take on the cultural framework of family celebrations in the life of the individual person, to the community's ongoing celebration of Easter.

Certainly, music is one way to do that. But unless it is an obvious Easter hymn, such as "Jesus Christ is Risen Today," do the people in the pews even notice? And, if a familiy does not have anyone celebrating any of those sacraments or key moments, it may be more likely that they see this time as baseball season or the gardening season than the Easter Season.

I believe we need to instill an Easter Season spirituality in our people. Their way of dressing, acting, and their priorities should continue during the 50 Days to reflect a sense of joyful celebration. It should not be something that only happens in church.  Good catechesis on the Easter Season helps people see that Easter is a way of life.... certainly each Sunday is a "little Easter" - but the joy of the Resurrection should be a year-round thing. We should celebrate the love of God that is so great that he gave his only begotten Son to live with us, and to die for us, in everything we say and do - most especially during the Easter Season.

If, as Augustine said "We are an Easter People and Alleluia is Our Song," we need to tell our faces.

If We Don't Even Give it Much Attention, Why Would People Bother?

I am hard at work finalizing a resource list for our bishop's approval for our diocesan Year of the Eucharist - gathering information on books, media, web resources, text supplements, etc. for enrichment for people of all ages on the sacraments of Eucharist and Penance (Reconciliation)  but I am finding it difficult to locate much for the latter that is not related to preparation of children for the sacrament. While Catholic authors, teachers and publishers have expended great effort to resource our ability to enrich adults to understand Eucharist, and rightly so, there is quite a bit less to support an updated understanding of Reconciliation for adults.

With relatively few Catholic adults participating in the sacrament on a regular basis, apparently either it is difficult to explain in a fruitful way, or there is not much market for such resources. High-quality pastoral resources, like the little book Reconciliation by Bishop Robert Morneau (Orbis RCL?Benziger adult spirituality series) and the small-group resource from Archdiocese of Milwaukee/LPI, Reconciliation: The Unfolding Mercy of God's Mercy and Love are relatively few.

So, I have to ask - if we don't bother - if we put little energy into updating people's understanding of this sacrament - why would your average Catholic adult change their mind? If people think of Confession as unpleasant, irrelevant and unnecessary - and they associate images of the old-fashioned confessional box, such as pictured above or shown on TV or the movies with the sacrament, it's no wonder few avail themselves of it.

Liturgical Catechesis: Taking the Pulse of What the Average Catechist Understands about Liturgy

As I begin another cycle of facilitation of University of Dayton online courses, I have been dismayed that in the Sacraments course only half the students even mentioned liturgy when answering a question on their own memorable experiences of the "liturgical life of the Church." Instead, half referred to their catechetical ministry, to service experiences, or other elements of parish life. They seemed to evade the question of liturgical experience altogether and focused instead on the general life of the Church.

What was it about the word "liturgical" that made it so easy to ignore? Did they perhaps find it disconcerting?Is the term "liturgy" no longer common coinage for people who are not directly involved in parish liturgical ministry?  In the opening discussion board, a question on "liturgy as the work of the people" has revealed that initially most of them understand that to be the work of liturgical ministers - readers, musicians, altar servers, etc...and it has taken some coaxing to get them to talk about the "work" of the Assembly - the people in the pews.
And these are people who are forming children in religious education and Catholic schools and are teaching them about liturgy! The sad thing is that I am not sure this is not a pretty average sampling. Of even greater concern is the reality that very little liturgical catechesis of adults takes place in most parishes. The average parish director or coordinator is poorly equipped to deliver this kind of formation. It was not part of their own formation - and the fullest forms of liturgical catechesis are not normally a part of parish programs.

While faith formation textbooks for children or youth certainly have chapters on liturgical seasons and the meaning of the Mass, there is little available for the catechist to guide students through the unpacking of the actual experience of liturgy. Since parish catechists normally do not have the opportunity to take children or youth to Mass, this leaves them to wring their hands about families who do not take children to weekend Mass. (I have watched that discussion surface a number of times in the online courses.) Even Catholic school teachers, who do take kids to Mass, often focus on discussion of Mass etiquette and participation of children as ministers at Mass - not on the primary ministry of the Assembly in the pews - the work of all the people. Catechists, parents, and others still seem to understand that role as that of a mildly participational audience rather than part of the primary ministers of the Mass.

Liturgical catechesis at its heart is experiential, rooted in the actual celebration of a ritual or experience of a symbol  - and based in mystagogy - the consideration and discussion of what was experienced and what it means in the lives of participants. Our best diocesan workshops for parish leadership on the topic over the past few years have provided such experiences. My concern is whether the participants understand how to move from their experience at a workshop to actual practice when they go home. 

While there are a few good resources out there to assist leaders and catechists to conduct liturgical catechesis for families, my sense is that these are not being widely used. Textbook publishers need to provide such resources as part of programs - perhaps even embedded int he grade-level texts - so that good liturgical catechesis -good mystagogy - becomes normal in catechesis of children, youth - and adults - and not the occasional exception.

Failing that, this is a call to parish leaders to not let textbook publishers design their parish programs.  The text is merely a tool, part of the program. The program of catechesis in the parish needs to be created to fit the needs and culture of the parish, and when there is something lacking, should go beyond a "canned" published program. More than that - since the General Directory for Catechesis names the catechist as the primary resource for catechesis, this is clearly a call for better liturgical formation of catechists.

Liturgy for Dummies - the Missing Resources

Where are the good, current textbooks on liturgy? Struggling over the past few months in a collaboration on the revision of the University of Dayton VLCFF "Introduction to Liturgy" course to find a good up-to-date book on liturgy designed for the average Catholic to use as a textbook. I am talking about the catechist or DRE, or faithful member of the assembly, who has no connection to liturgical ministry.

Much of what is out there is very much out of date. There are good theological books (mostly on the Eucharist) that are more current, a few very nice books on understanding Mass (soon to be out of date when the changes take place), and some great resources for individual liturgical ministries, but the basic general stuff about what liturgy is and about non-Eucharistic celebrations is just not available. There are some great articles, online resources and Catholic Updates, but not books.

One of the best older books, Liturgy with Style and Grace by Gabe Huck and Gerald Chinchar, is out of date, but no longer going to be revised. Mark Searles' Liturgy Made Simple is from 1981. There are others, but they, too are 10 years or so out of date. Perhaps, since we have known for a long time that the Roman Missal text will be changing, authors have been waiting. I do anticipate there will be some good books on the Mass.

However, that still leaves room for resources on general principals - on that "style and grace" - on the meaning and quality of ritual, on liturgical celebration in general. Is it the writers or the publishers who are hanging fire on this one? I wonder. Who, out there, is writing book-length, usable generalist resources on liturgy?

Preaching on the Ritual Actions of the Liturgy?

In the most recent issue of America, Edward Foley, O.F.M. CAP, of Catholic Theological Union, has an interesting article on re-thinking the content of the homily. Preview the article here: http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=11678 . He points out that the liturgical documents do not require that the homily always be from or about Scripture, but that as "The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation" (21 & 24) points out, it must be "nourished" by scripture, which is not the same as preaching from a particular text.

Foley quotes # 52 in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy": "By means of the homily, the mysteries of the faith and the guiding principles of the Christian life are expounded from the sacred text..." and then points out that "sacred text" can be interpreted as not just Scripture, but any text from the ordinary of the Mass. (See also #92 from 2003 "Introduction to the Order of the Mass" which mentions preaching for other "texts and rites of the liturgy."He goes on t o suggest the importance of preaching the liturgy itself and expounds on what we lose by hearing preaching based only on Scripture.

What would change if priests and deacons preached about the Eucharistic prayer texts? Or any of the Mass texts? Would the people not become more familiar with not just the words, but with underlying tradition, theology and meanings of these texts? How might this enrich their understanding of the Mass? How might this be an effective way to catechize the folks about the text changes coming soon?

Now, the question is - are the clergy up to this challenge?