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Basics of Catholicism: The Eucharist Part 1
Announcing: Basics of Catholicism
One project I’ve wanted to do for some time is a series of single-page bulletin articles that explore and explain the core elements of the Catholic faith. Since the Gospel passages for the next month or so come from the Bread of Life Discourse in John 6, this week is as good of time as any to start with a multi-part discussion on the Eucharist.
I’m proud to announce the “Basics of Catholicism” series of bulletin inserts. These inserts are one-page articles that will discuss the basic teachings of the Catholic Church. It’s my hope to release one of these articles each week, and will be available in both Microsoft Publisher and PDF format. The articles, like all the material on my website, is free to copy and modify as needed. The only thing I ask is that I get attribution as the original source.
I will be posting these articles exactly as I’ll be publishing them in St. Mary’s parish bulletin, which means that they will contain some references to local events, such as my homily for the weekend. Most parishes will want to make some modifications to make them connect more closely to their parishioners. While the bulletin articles are not meant to be “camera-ready” outside of St. Mary’s here in Malta, I do hope there will be very little labor needed to prepare them for other parishes’ bulletins.
Please let me know if there are any topics for discussion that you would like to see. I hope these articles will be yet another tool for enriching your faith!
Homily for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Homily for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Homily for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Homily for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Homily for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Homily for the Solemnity of the Nativity of John the Baptist
Passing on the Catholic Faith – what we’re doing isn’t working
If you have any interest in Religious Education and passing on the Catholic Faith to the next generation, you need to read this post. Fr. Simon nails the problem with current RE programs and Catholic schools: they’re not working. The Catholic Faith is not being passed on to the children and grandchildren of our parishioners. Sure, they’re being taught the teachings of the Church, and they’re receiving the Sacraments, at least First Confession, First Communion, and Confirmation.
The problem is: they’re not receiving the Faith. We’re not evangelizing them. How many have made it a habit to regularly (by regularly, I mean at least once a month) receive the Sacraments of Eucharist and Confession after their First Holy Communion and Confirmation? How many develop a great love for the Mass and the Eucharist, and wouldn’t miss Sunday Mass for anything (even High School sports)? How many truly desire a relationship with Christ, and seek opportunities for prayer and reflection on the Scriptures? How many joyfully desire to follow the Church’s teachings, both easy and difficult, out of love for Christ and His Church? Finally, how many are boldly proclaiming their love for Christ and desire for the salvation He promises to their family and friends?
In most communities I’ve seen, the answer to all those questions is essentially none. There might be a handful of kids in any parish that truly develop any excitement for the Catholic Faith and seek to follow Christ with their lives, but that group is an extremely small percentage of kids who go through religious education programs. Worse, it seems that percentage is growing smaller. In this parish, the majority of kids who attend Wednesday Religious Education classes do not attend Sunday Mass. The kids receive their one hour of “church class”, and that’s all they get.
This is not good. This is not healthy. This is not passing the Catholic faith on to the next generation. We are not evangelizing the children in our parishes and communities, because we are not showing them what it means to be Catholic, and the importance of Christ in our lives.
So, what’s the answer? I don’t know, but I think Fr. Simon is on the right track. Instead of worrying about cramming the teachings of the Church into kids’ heads, we need to be showing them by our lives how those teachings are important to us and how they help us to draw closer to Christ. Example: instead of being satisfied by telling kids about the presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, we need to restore a reverence for the Blessed Sacrament in our actions — especially in front of the Tabernacle — and share how important receiving Our Lord is in our daily lives. In other words, we need to walk the walk before they’ll listen when we talk the talk.
To make one thing clear: this will fail if we try to water down the teachings of the Church to make them more palatable. The teachings of the Church are exciting, powerful, challenging, and life-giving, but become dull, powerless, simplistic, and lifeless if we minimize them or try to explain them away. The Catholic faith is attractive if it is first lived in its fullness, then taught in its fullness without excuses or compromises. We trust in God’s mercy, but we don’t demand it by flaunting what He revealed through His Son.
So, what do you say? How do we truly pass on the Catholic faith, and make disciples of the children in our parishes?