No More CCD?

[808Catholic]

The OP said: “My Catholic parish has stopped having the weekly CCD classes. They say it is better if the parents teach their children Catechism. The church is providing the parents some kind of book and instructions to help them along.” This sounds to me like the parents are not just the primary catechists, but the only catechists.

In the OP’s parish, perhaps home schooled catechism is the only way. This is the bishop’s direction and the pastor’s discretion. Let’s say the children are not catechized or poorly catechized: who’s to say they won’t learn on their own or learn it when they’re much older? Many Catholics I talk to tell me they were fallen away Catholics who felt let down by the Church. It was when they realized THEY were called by Jesus and the Church is not Jesus’ baby sitter, so to speak, that they catechized themselves. Being Catholic does NOT give us a birth rite in the sense that Catholicism is passed down by osmosis or genetics. We have to work at it every day! Maybe the lay ministers, priests, bishops, or religious aren’t up to OUR standard; boo-hoo! Get up and take care of this situation. Be the disciple Christ deserves. (Stepping down from my soapbox now.)

 

[808Catholic]

It would seem that the issue is that there are not enough Faith Formation teachers at this parish. People are busy,……always too busy. I would suggest having conversation with the pastor about this matter and get an exceptional push for CCD teachers. I have specifically come to learn with my busy schedule that teaching, teacheth the teacher!

 

[808Catholic]

The quality of the CCD would be an important consideration. My kids were not learning anything at CCD so I pulled them and its been 100% homeschool catechism for the last few years, with great results.

Just for example, my daughter had to attend a meeting with the priest and the CCD kids a few days before their Confirmation. The priest asked them if the Eucharist was Jesus or merely a symbol. The CCD kids all screamed “It’s just a symbol!” My daughter was the only one who understood the True Presence, but the other kids thought she was kidding them. The priest seemed a little surprised by the poor performance of his faith formation program, but they were all Confirmed a few days later, and I feel that the decision to withdraw them from CCD was a wise choice under our particular circumstances.

On the other hand, if your parish had a great CCD program, it would be a shame to lose it.

Agreed. It’s not “either or” but “both.”

 

[808Catholic]

I don’t know about anyone else but when I started school in 1959 (just about to turn 6) I knew the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be, the 10 commandments, the precepts of the Church, the Acts of Hope, Love & Charity, the act of Contrition and the Apostles Creed. We recited those every night. I knew the Christmas story, I’d been going to Mass for 2 years (where I came from it was a rare family that brought infants or very young children to Mass) and was following along in a children’s picture Missal. I knew that my parents received Jesus when they went up to receive. Most of my classmates were the same.

Today we get children presenting for First Communion preparation at the age of 7 who know nothing of the above. There’s a good chance that their parents know about the same amount. A good many have hardly ever set foot in church. That’s why home catechesis here is a no-go.

The Church is a COMMUNITY of Christ. I suggest, if parents feel the parish CCD team is not providing catechism to their comfort level, offer to help them teach; don’t undermine their efforts. If you parish is one where the pastor has decided to go 100% home school, find some like minded parents and form your own catechism group. There is nothing in the Church that says “only” commissioned catechists may teach Catholic catechism. That’s why we have the CCC!

 

[Sugabee43]

Can I just interject here how frustrated I am with CCE? We belong to a VERY large parish; very active and “alive”. Many options for CCE- different days and times to bring the children. The problem, IMHO, is that it’s so dumbed-down for the kids whose parents aren’t engaged that the kids who DO receive informal instruction from their parents and who attend Mass weekly are left bored to tears. My 15 year old, who we held back before kindergarten because of his summer birthday and is a freshman, drags himself (or I must gently cajole him) to CCE. The parish confirmation policy is to begin classes their sophomore year. I literally begged them to allow my son to start this year, since chronologically he’s the same age as the sophomores. They said no- even after explaining our current family situation (very precarious due to sundry problems), and that an infusion of the Holy Spirit as he enters high school is important. It seems all they care about is keeping the kids in CCE until the end of their high school years at any cost (which is what happens when they require two years of Confirmation instruction beginning as a Sophomore).
Can’t there be a way that they can have either “remedial” instruction for kids who are not familiar with basic tenets of the Faith, or “advanced” classes for kids who need more ‘meat’??