Catholic Q&A

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So, after practically lecturing a supposed RCIA sponsor on the drive home about the Eucharist the other day, it got me thinking of how many people are so poorly catechized. This dude has been in the faith for 29 years… So many people are starving for spirituality.

Every parish has their own collection envelopes. What if on the back of the envelopes, we encouraged parishioners to write down one or two key questions that the priest answers the next week at the end of his homily.

“do we really worship Mary? My neighbor said we do…”
“is Jesus really in there?”
“is this a mortal sin?”
“do i really have to go to confession?”
“what is the immaculate conception? Why the big deal?”
“are we the anti-christ?”
“is this in the bible?”

etc…

Or they could bring their own papers to put in the collection basket. You know, 5-8 minute answer time; doesn’t have to be any longer.

Would this be against any liturgical laws? I think it’s a pretty sweet idea.

-revelations
 
I believe it will be my life’s work to aid God’s children in discovering the beauty of Christ which can be found in the Eucharist and the Catholic Church! Exactly how I am to do that has not been revealed to me yet, but I am working on learning, loving, and understanding the faith in its fullness. Please pray for me on my journey…

…and you have an interesting idea, but I am afraid you may find many who are opposed to it. I’m sure we can find something a little bit more conventional…

👍
 
I for one, think its a great idea.👍

Many parishes offer Faith Formation type of classes for adults, but due to overloaded personal schedules, rarely do these classes fill up, (least that is experience at my parish). The ONE time when most of us are at Church is on Sunday morning.

Sadly, not all adults know their faith as well as they should, I can well remember the blank stares I would get when going through R.C.I.A and asking fellow parishioners questions. Plus, not every child goes to religious education (my 14 year old son for an example–its a MAJOR fight just to get him to attend Mass), so for these kids, a short “teaching moment” as my former pastor would say would be of great benefit.
 
revelations said:
Every parish has their own collection envelopes. What if on the back of the envelopes, we encouraged parishioners to write down one or two key questions that the priest answers the next week at the end of his homily.
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Good idea, except I’d remove it from the context of the mass. The homily needs to relate back to the readings for that day. I am afraid that writing down questions on the collection envelopes would be just another distraction from what’s going on up front.

If the parish really wants to address apologetics, I’d suggest the bulletin. Maybe there could be a suggestion box in the nave, and one question a week gets addressed in the bulletin, or on a flier on the community board…something along those lines.
 
I think it’s an interesting idea. I don’t think a separate Q&A section could be added within the context of the Mass, but I think it could be incorporated into homilies.
ac_claire said:
Good idea, except I’d remove it from the context of the mass. The homily needs to relate back to the readings for that day.
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Yes, the homily should relate to the readings, but there is a lot of flexibility in how topics of interest to the congregation can be incorporated into the homily. If the pastor is aware of the things his parishioners want to learn, he can figure out a way to relate them to the scripture readings — if not this Sunday, perhaps in a few weeks when the readings match the concern more closely.
ac_claire said:
If the parish really wants to address apologetics, I’d suggest the bulletin. Maybe there could be a suggestion box in the nave, and one question a week gets addressed in the bulletin, or on a flier on the community board…something along those lines.
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Unfortunately, the vast majority of parishioners never read the bulletin. (At least this is the impression I have.)
 
I think there are many who are poorly catechized, but then I also think there are probably just as many in some churches who are very well catechized.

In our parish, we have several different adult geared classes, such as having a LOTH class one time and on the Sunday that falls in the middle of the month we have Gethsemane Hour where we have Adoration and religious instruction from a priest. We also try to bring in different speakers sometime about different subjects.

Also, eventhough RCIA is supposed to be for those wanting to come into the church, our RCIA team tells everyone they can attend.
 
PhilotheaZ said:
Unfortunately, the vast majority of parishioners never read the bulletin. (At least this is the impression I have.)
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I do have a question answer column in the bulletin and no one has submitted a question…ever. And my name and number are placed in the bulletin for people to send in questions. They don’t have to put their name on it. So I make up questions each week, hoping that would spark people to send in questions. I have heard that people like to read the answers, but apparently they don’t have any questions…I doubt it.

Speaking of classes I had 25 show up for my class in the rites of the Mass last night. I was so happy with that number given usually only 10 or less show up for courses we give. Let’s hope the numbers stay up or increase for the remaining 4 weeks.
 
there is no liturgical law about what can appear on the envelopes, in a bulletin or “handout”

many parishes including ours have a regular Q&A feature

it is not a substitute for adult catechesis and formation, and any Catholic who really wants to grow in the faith has ample opportunity in just about every diocese. If they choose not to take advantage of it, please don’t blame us (ie. those of us paid to provide those opportunities).

114 people checked “want bible study” on our October survey
14 signed up for the study which began last night
12 showed up

whatever
 
puzzleannie said:
there is no liturgical law about what can appear on the envelopes, in a bulletin or “handout”

many parishes including ours have a regular Q&A feature

it is not a substitute for adult catechesis and formation, and any Catholic who really wants to grow in the faith has ample opportunity in just about every diocese. If they choose not to take advantage of it, please don’t blame us (ie. those of us paid to provide those opportunities).

114 people checked “want bible study” on our October survey
14 signed up for the study which began last night
12 showed up

whatever
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The problem I find is that in our parish nobody wants to lead these things – or is qualified to do so. We have a pastor who wants to do as little as possible. He’s more interested in being a substitute teacher to pay off his VISA bill than in doing anything in the parish. He uses a homily service and often uses 'Chicken Soup for the Soul" as his reference.

He’s of the opinion that any of this stuff should be done by the parishioners – unfortunately, no one has ever been properly prepared to do that. Can you have a Bible study without someone to lead it?
 
Joannm said:
I do have a question answer column in the bulletin and no one has submitted a question…ever. And my name and number are placed in the bulletin for people to send in questions. They don’t have to put their name on it. So I make up questions each week, hoping that would spark people to send in questions. I have heard that people like to read the answers, but apparently they don’t have any questions…I doubt it.

Speaking of classes** I had 25 show up for my class in the rites of the Mass last night.** I was so happy with that number given usually only 10 or less show up for courses we give. Let’s hope the numbers stay up or increase for the remaining 4 weeks.
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I’m rather curious. Outside of the preparation for ordination, what qualifies someone to teach such a course?

There are lay individuals in my parish who hold lofty titles like “Liturgy Coordinator” and “Lector/Eucharistic Ministries” but their formation backgrounds are so suspect (LIMEX correspondence school) that they lack any credibility.
 
Paten said:
I’m rather curious. Outside of the preparation for ordination, what qualifies someone to teach such a course?

There are lay individuals in my parish who hold lofty titles like “Liturgy Coordinator” and “Lector/Eucharistic Ministries” but their formation backgrounds are so suspect (LIMEX correspondence school) that they lack any credibility.
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I hold a certificate in pastoral liturgy from the School of Theology of St. Paul University of Ottawa. Required 130+ hours of class in 9 subjects (2 full weeks each of 3 summers), papers and a project established in my parish (I opted to implement Evening Prayer on the weekday evenings without Mass).

Priests & seminarians who attended the same courses I did (some came from the US and the Caribbean to do so) were the first to tell us that they got very little on “Liturgy” in the seminary.
 
AngelRose81 said:
I think there are many who are poorly catechized, but then I also think there are probably just as many in some churches who are very well catechized.
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This is very true. While everyone bewails the state of catechesis in the average parish (with some legitimacy) I’ve often been amazed at how truly knowledgeable some are about the Faith.

Unfortunately, RCIA depends on volunteers for sponsors and a lot of people just don’t like to volunteer …
 
puzzleannie said:
If they choose not to take advantage of it, please don’t blame us (ie. those of us paid to provide those opportunities).

114 people checked “want bible study” on our October survey
14 signed up for the study which began last night
12 showed up

whatever
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You are right in saying that we should not necessarily place the blame on the leaders and catechists in individual churches. I realize that you cannot catechize people who are not seeking to be catechized, but please also realize that sometimes people who wish to learn more simply cannot find the time to attend meetings and bible studies and RCIA, etc. I know that many of the people in my parish have work or class schedules that prevent them from attending programs they would love to attend! And when people become parents it is likely that they will place getting their child to soccer practice (or some other extracurricular activity) above their own desire to attend a program at their church.

I just want to remind you not to be discouraged by the numbers you presented to us. The fact that 114 people were interested in a Bible study should be something you celebrate! The fact that 14 were able to sign up should be something to rejoice over! We should praise the Lord that 12 people actually made it to the meeting! Don’t let your heart give way to discouragement, and please, please don’t give yourself over to the “whatevers” of indifference. Focus on the 12 that showed up. Contact the 2 who didn’t and ask them if there is anything that can be done to help ensure they will be able to attend next time. Pray for those who were interested but couldn’t sign up. And pray for all the members of your parish (and the Church), that they will all more actively seek to learn about the love of God which can be realized in His most beautiful Church!
 
Phemie said:
I hold a certificate in pastoral liturgy from the School of Theology of St. Paul University of Ottawa. Required 130+ hours of class in 9 subjects (2 full weeks each of 3 summers), papers and a project established in my parish (I opted to implement Evening Prayer on the weekday evenings without Mass).

Priests & seminarians who attended the same courses I did (some came from the US and the Caribbean to do so) were the first to tell us that they got very little on “Liturgy” in the seminary.
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I honestly hope your certificate program is better than LIMEX.
 
RavenousWolf said:
You are right in saying that we should not necessarily place the blame on the leaders and catechists in individual churches…
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It’s been my experience that a great many people who would attend a seminar are often put off by the people leading/teaching them – at least in my parish.

So while a seminar might have 50 people in it if our pastor is scheduled to teach it, only five might show up if Mr./Ms. XYZ teach it.
 
In San Jose some priests do what is called “4 minute catechesis” where for 4 minutes, and generally not a second or two longer, they talk about something. Usually several of these run together to cover one topic. The idea is to be a little more enganging, can use Q & A or have people help with the responses, etc. Some people like it, some don’t. They do it after the closing prayer. While it is nice because you have people there and you are able to teach them more, I am not sure the Mass is the best place for something like this.
 
Exactly what i was thinking. Doesn’t have to be in the homily (even though it is a captive audience!). I think people who come to church want to know more, i definitely always love learning. There is a girl in RCIA who drives me home after class, and she LOVES to death the bland subject matter of our courses. I get her some Corapi cd’s…oh boy…👍

Thanks for all the insight everyone!
 
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