R
RNCOSA
Guest
Short Background:
Having been raised Baptist and always actively involved in the Church to the point of being an Elder in our local church (which, honestly, was the turning point for me to start exploring more; what authority did the local church have to lay hands on me and make me an Elder?) I’m surprised to find myself now seeking to enter the Church; my wife is not yet ready for a variety of reasons. One of the major issues we have coming from Protestantism to Catholicism is basically summed up as:
What sorts of quality resources are there to help educate children in the Faith?
We’ve visited several parishes in our area now, and all the PSR/Children’s formation materials we have been shown are incredibly frustrating. The religious education directors seem to find the materials to be wonderful, we aren’t impressed either in form or content (both of us are experienced teachers). The materials focus on the form that the Faith takes, but with little to no discussion of the Faith that is meant to be expressed through those outward forms. For example, the one we looked at last weekend had three Sections on Social Justice (Immigration, Death Penalty and the Care Poor), several sections on the postures and prayers that one says during Mass or at home (no mention about personal prayer though, only rote prayers for different occasions), and only one section on God (that only addressed in cursory form the Trinity). Even the sections dedicated to the Mass were only play-by-play for the physical actions and postures and nothing about internal dispositions or spiritual realities being participated in. It’s a vexing approach since our experience is if children understand the relationship we have with God then the Social Justice and other “Christian activities” naturally flow out.
It’s no wonder that the “ex-Catholics” that we have known in the Evangelical world, including several former Pastors in various places we’ve lived, all explained the faith as a series of rituals and canned prayers that was devoid of relationship. Their catechetical experiences were so focused on the shadows that they never realized that the sun and trees are there just waiting for you to raise your eyes. When evangelicals led them to meet God for the first time as young adults they were captivated and converted (but have sadly lost the fullness of the faith in the process). The Church, the Mass, Liturgy of the Hours, etc. is stunningly beautiful, but only if you know that everything is living, moving and having it’s being in Christ.
So, to restate the question, what resources/books/websites/tools exist to help us teach our children about a Relationship with Christ that is expressed through the forms the Church has chosen?
Having been raised Baptist and always actively involved in the Church to the point of being an Elder in our local church (which, honestly, was the turning point for me to start exploring more; what authority did the local church have to lay hands on me and make me an Elder?) I’m surprised to find myself now seeking to enter the Church; my wife is not yet ready for a variety of reasons. One of the major issues we have coming from Protestantism to Catholicism is basically summed up as:
What sorts of quality resources are there to help educate children in the Faith?
We’ve visited several parishes in our area now, and all the PSR/Children’s formation materials we have been shown are incredibly frustrating. The religious education directors seem to find the materials to be wonderful, we aren’t impressed either in form or content (both of us are experienced teachers). The materials focus on the form that the Faith takes, but with little to no discussion of the Faith that is meant to be expressed through those outward forms. For example, the one we looked at last weekend had three Sections on Social Justice (Immigration, Death Penalty and the Care Poor), several sections on the postures and prayers that one says during Mass or at home (no mention about personal prayer though, only rote prayers for different occasions), and only one section on God (that only addressed in cursory form the Trinity). Even the sections dedicated to the Mass were only play-by-play for the physical actions and postures and nothing about internal dispositions or spiritual realities being participated in. It’s a vexing approach since our experience is if children understand the relationship we have with God then the Social Justice and other “Christian activities” naturally flow out.
It’s no wonder that the “ex-Catholics” that we have known in the Evangelical world, including several former Pastors in various places we’ve lived, all explained the faith as a series of rituals and canned prayers that was devoid of relationship. Their catechetical experiences were so focused on the shadows that they never realized that the sun and trees are there just waiting for you to raise your eyes. When evangelicals led them to meet God for the first time as young adults they were captivated and converted (but have sadly lost the fullness of the faith in the process). The Church, the Mass, Liturgy of the Hours, etc. is stunningly beautiful, but only if you know that everything is living, moving and having it’s being in Christ.
So, to restate the question, what resources/books/websites/tools exist to help us teach our children about a Relationship with Christ that is expressed through the forms the Church has chosen?