Real presence

[babochka]

IMO, you were lucky. While my primary and secondary studies were completed before 1970, my higher education was during that dreadful decade. It was without question a liturgical wasteland, the effects of which have persisted to the present.

My grade school had sisters in habits for most grades. Maybe that had something to do with it. I think I must have been the last generation in which that was the norm. The materials we used for religious education were dreadful, I must admit. My mom kept the books and I’ve looked through them. All about being a part of a family, as I recall. Yet still, I was taught the faith somehow. I don’t explicitly remember how. Maybe it was attendance at the Divine Liturgy. The Byzantine prayer before Communion is pretty explicit about the real presence. Mostly, though, it was probably having been brought up in a believing family. And yes, school Masses fit in pretty much with the liturgical wasteland of the era.

 

[otjm]

Rote memorization still isn’t widely used in catechesis, but apparently since the 90’s, kids are doing just fine, being properly catechized and all.

I’m not against rote memorization. It has its place alongside other methods of learning, but memorization alone will fail to engage a child or adult deeply on a spiritual level.

I was into college before Vatican 2 finished, so I had my share of rote memorization; I also had 16 years of Catholic schooling, which many of my peers did not.

I am not promoting rote memorization. The Baltimore Catechism was not wrong; but catechesis needed more than just that; and for me, some of that was fleshed out in high school and college - again, where too many of my peers did not go.

So while I can sympathize with the progressives who were at the source of tossing the BC out the window, they made a far bigger mess than they were trying to cure.

My own children have been involved with the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, which is a scriptural and liturgical based approached to catechesis for children as young as three. It is based on the educational methods of Maria Montessori (a physician and devout Catholic, by the way) and pretty profoundly teaches the faith while engaging the heart of each child. I much prefer this method to a traditional or modern classroom-based method of catechesis, particularly for young children. I’m certain that any 6-year-old who has gone through the program understands the real presence, even if they can’t describe it to you in theological terms.

Very well said, and you and your children are blessed.

 

[babochka]

I am not promoting rote memorization. The Baltimore Catechism was not wrong; but catechesis needed more than just that; and for me, some of that was fleshed out in high school and college - again, where too many of my peers did not go.

That’s interesting. While I can say that I had solid catechesis in grade school, in high school I was pretty much taught liberation theology, by teachers who spent their weekends protesting outside the local Air Force base.

So while I can sympathize with the progressives who were at the source of tossing the BC out the window, they made a far bigger mess than they were trying to cure.

I think that you are probably right here.

 

[thistle]

I’m not real sure you know how polls work. Most polls are anonymous. That’s one way to encourage honest answers. And just because YOU are uncomfortable with my assertion does not make it baseless speculation.

So you have conducted a poll of Catholics only (or people who say they are Catholic) in which many of them said they don’t believe in the Real Presence. Is that correct or are you simply anti-Catholic?

 

[WillyAL]

So you have conducted a poll of Catholics only (or people who say they are Catholic) in which many of them said they don’t believe in the Real Presence. Is that correct or are you simply anti-Catholic?

No, I am neither a pollster nor am I anti-Catholic.

Are you purposely being argumentative, or is this anti-Catholic accusation really all you are capable of?