Catholic Religious Ed Teacher: I Look at My Students, See Future Ex-Catholics

[rug]

Religious instruction needs to start in the family, but parents have been too long left unfed



Mary DeTurris Poust • October 23, 2015

When it comes to teenagers, you expect a certain amount of eye rolling and apathy, but put those same kids in a faith formation class for an hour and fifteen minutes at the end of a long school day and right at the dinner hour and you’ll see a level of teenage disinterest that could make you wither on the spot. That’s what my husband and I faced when we stood before the 21 high school sophomores we teach at our upstate New York parish.

The scene was nothing new and nothing unexpected. We taught most of the same kids last year since they’re in a two-year program that will culminate in confirmation this spring. However, I’m willing to wager that their apathy isn’t necessarily related to a surge of teenage surliness but rather to a lack of foundational catechesis, and I say that while having taught many of these kids in fourth and fifth grade. I have used every trick in the book—from group activities to stump-the-teacher sessions to outright bribery through baked ziti and brownies—to get these kids to hear me when I talk about the Mass, about the Gospel, about our beautiful Catholic teachings and traditions. Yet every year, when they reluctantly return to class, I find I’m grateful if even half of them remember the Our Father.

When I look out at these kids—regardless of age, regardless of whether they’ve gone to Catholic or public elementary school—I assume I am seeing 75 percent as future ex-Catholics.

The blame falls squarely in the lap of the Church, which has, for decades, let the parents of these children go spiritually hungry, through misguided catechesis in their youth and preaching that failed to challenge and engage them as adults. As Pope Francis told priests at ordination this year: “May your homilies not be boring; may your homilies touch the heart of the people because they come from your heart …”

http://aleteia.org/2015/10/23/i-look-at-my-students-and-see-our-future-ex-catholics/

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1. I went through Sunday school

I was a public school student so I went through the Sunday school courses offered by the parish I attended. Once I got to high school it seemed like they just wanted to talk about was abortion. (And I'd wager now they probably slipped marriage equality in too). I stayed in Sunday school long enough to be confirmed, then I stopped going then. I wasn't getting anything out of Sunday school. It's kind of a miracle that I stayed a Catholic as long as I did. I think more than one person in my family thought that I'd be the last person in my family to leave the church. But I did become part of the 75% described above and am now an Episcopalian. There's not a whole lot of us here in Iowa but it seems a much more engaging faith to me. I really like Francis and yes as Rick Steeves suggests I leave my protestant silverware at the door when visiting churches or going to weddings/funerals/etc.

[rug]

2. I remember yor posts when yo did that.