Well, given that most parishes exhibit an alarmingly casual attitude toward liturgy and the Sacraments, is anyone surprised?
I agree. There is also a connection between what we believe and how we worship. Some have noted on these forums that decline in belief follows a watering down of the liturgy.
I must say I was very surprised. Just based on what I’ve read on CAF that if only people were properly catechized… and then I’ve read the really poor catechesis has been corrected and young people are more involved. So now when I saw this thread, yes I have to admit it surprised me from what I’ve previously seen. But now I see the problem is being directed towards parents or teachers who don’t believe or the media or internet. Other influences and experiences I can understand. People thru other experiences come to realize there are other boxes and other ways to think and view life’s complexities. But what’s puzzling to me though is how on the one hand could you say catechesis has improved over the yrs but then now blame faithless parents or teachers? Either catechesis is better and parents have been sending their kids to be taught and the teachers are doing a better job. Or not and catechesis has not really improved over all of these yrs. But It can’t be both ways.
Obviously, you can’t force belief. But the mass rejection of religious faith by many young people is a fairly new phenomenon, which is why it is noted. They don’t, apparently, reject all belief. They believe that they have a right to what they want, that truth is what they decide, and that God, if he is out there, will forgive anything they do, so no worries.
See this confuses me because I thought all this time the children of the 60s and 70s were said to be rejecting the faith in droves.
I totally agree.
I would think there is nothing wrong with homilies on the gospel reading or especially on love. Christ’s 2 greatest commandments were about love.
Exactly so, and I agreed with you in my post. But any homily if restricted to one format only, can tend to become repetitive, and will be tuned out. As to homilies about love, I’ve talked to Catholics who went to years of religious education where the only instruction seemed to have been about love, and in the end, they knew nothing about their Faith, or about Truth, or about Love.
A lot of parents and grandparents may be shocked at what their kids are up to and what they really think, to paraphrase Rick Santorum.
Hi Super L, sure but as you and I guess Rick Santorum
Most all people are looking to get beyond the concept of feeling good about Love. They want solid, tangible, even secular reasons and answers.
So we need to dig deeper to widen the harvest.
said there are other experiences out there that can have an influence. As people experience life and go out into the world, they do see different avenues directing them to answers. That’s why I don’t think it’s so much about catechesis or parents. Take JimR-OCDS and his wife for example. I have no reason to believe they did not as parents do all they could have in living the faith as an example for their children. Neither do I have reason to think they were unaware of life’s potential influences. My sister and her husband I know raised their kids in the faith. They were at Mass every Sunday. Extremely active and involved in their parish. Sent their kids to Catholic schools 5 days a week not just on Wed nights. There was an altar boy or 2, etc in the bunch. But as they grew and are now well into adulthood, they’re all over the map. Same parents. Same upbringing. Same school. 1 or 2 might be faithful Catholics like the mom and dad. Others less so and so on. (Big Catholic family) That’s why I think belief is simply at the root of it all. That’s what it really comes down to in a nutshell I think. Someone can have the most proper catechesis humanly possible and be raised by most faithful Catholic parents. But still frankly if the CC is losing on what people end up believing as they experience life, I don’t really know how you go about changing that. As others have said, you can’t force belief.Some parents don’t care if their kid learns anything at CCD, they’re just glad to have an hour to themselves. We get a lot of 1st & 2nd graders and then they drop off in 3rd and are nearly nonexistent by the time Confirmation rolls around. I’m hoping to change that. My mission is to plant the seed and teach the kids how to make it grow.A lot of parents and grandparents may be shocked at what their kids are up to and what they really think, to paraphrase Rick Santorum.
I don’t think a lot of parents fundamentally understand how the values they’ve instilled in their kids are being challenged from all angles, even from fellow “Catholics”.
I think there’s a big problem with parents today and too many of them are too concerned with what people think of their parenting and having a nice holiday when the kids come home.
There also seems to be this impression that if they drop their kids off at CCD on Wed. evenings, they’ve done their part and don’t need to worry about the Catholic part of their kids upbringing, notwithstanding that many instructors are volunteers.
I was in Confirmation class not too long ago and some of the parents were all about the Fourth Commandment, but not as “determined” shall we on some of the others.
Dawnia, but is that the parents fault or the Church’s? I made my 1st confession and Communion in 2nd grade and was confirmed in 5th. But I also attended catechism classes in 3rd and 4th grades. I don’t recall if it was required back then. I guess not from what you say here. But could the Church maybe make it a requirement for kids to stay in CCD if their parents want them to go on to be confirmed?
Not really.
Well I think I was confirmed at too young an age but I know the Church now confirms it seems to me at an older age. I found myself unknowingly ahead of time at a Confirmation Mass once and the youth being confirmed seemed to be all well into their teens. But before a couple has the right to the marriage sacrament, the Church requires preparation classes. Before Baptism, I know of parishes that require the parents to complete a class along with having other requirements before the Sacrament of Baptism will be administered… I understand you might say in the case of marriage, they are adults. But the child has no control over their situation of being Baptized. At my young age I felt no control over Confirmation even. So with all that said, while I’m still not quite then sure why the Church couldn’t say for instance you need X number of classes, say just for instance grade levels 1-8 before the Sacrament of Confirmation. But I take your word for it if it’s not possible. Thanks for answering.
I think it’s a combination of both. The Church could do a better job of relaying the importance of religious education and do a better job of educating the kids. But, it’s up to the parents to get the kid to CCD and to Mass (or at least enforce their attendance).
Oh no, Jim is quite right. Catechesis is at the heart of this. Catholic Catechesis is just a part of this. The real culprit is the catechesis they’re receiving from the culture!