I’m actually not sure of their practices. But I think I understand the situation more clearly now. I had originally thought that this was a class taught by a group of people. Knowing now that this is just your class, I agree again that they were out of line and out of touch. Confession is a very good thing!
Thank you for your support. I try my best to give these children a good background of what the Church teaches. It breaks me down when I see other people, who are suppose to be role models, treat me and my my work as if it were foolish.
I have prepared children for First Confession and First Communion many times. It is a privilege and an honor. I think you are on the right track. It is not so much that children are capable of committing mortal sin at the age of 7, as it is teaching them to go to Jesus when they need forgiveness. In the wisdom of the Church children are brought into the practice of the sacraments at a younger age than in previous centuries. It is not about “having” to confess their sins, but the practice of asking for forgiveness and receiving grace.
In my heart, I believe the other catechist was wrong becauseI think children at this age are very well capable of committing mortal sin. We teach them that they are breaking God’s laws by disobeying their parents, stealing, etc. Children can meet the three conditions of a mortal sin. The sin must be grave matter. For example, not honoring your mother and father is a “grave matter”. They must have knowledge of the sin. We teach the kids the ten commandments so they know god’s laws. It must be deliberate consent. Kids at this age do choose to do things by their own free will even when they know something is wrong. So if they are meeting these three conditions, then they can committ a mortal sin. I’m not saying they all have done this. It is none of my business, but I am just reaffirming to them the importance of reconciliation and the importance of not receiving communion under a state of mortal sin.
Anybody who says a child of this age is incapable of serious sin simply does not know children or was never a child himself. Because the damage that can be done by a child’s sins is usually small, we tend to value the sin by its material consequences. Now, ain’t that the DUMBEST thing you ever heard?
As for the consequences of childhood sin usually being small, how about the kid who started those California wildfires last year. D’ya think his parents had never told him not to play with matches? D’ya think he disobeyed?
I think we tend to undermine children’s abilities. We don’t hold them to a level of accountability as much as parents have in the past. They know from a very young age of what is right and what is wrong and like you mentioned, sometimes the consequences can be catastrophic.
OK, we’re getting off topic. But I teach 6th grade CCD. In terms of behavior, responsibility, capability, many of my kids are like 5 year tolds. Their parents won’t let them walk one mile in our VERY SAFE suburban town. Some are not allowed to cross the street.
The problem is that these are not professionals - I am guessing. I have 150 catechists in my program and really need closer to 180. I have given a little thought to Professional Catechists. You hire trained people and make sure they give the right message. Some churches do this. I offer classes six times a week for PK-7 and two summer sessions. It is so hard to make sure everything being taught is on the up and up, let alone everyone showing up.