I see that Nick Senger has added me to his list of “catechist blogs”, even though I don’t always write all that much about catechesis. Or about anything, I noticed, scrolling through the blog. Apparently a lot of things I thought I’d posted only made it as far as my head . . . oops.
[For my non-catholic readers: “Catechist” is the catholic word for “Sunday School Teacher”. With the difference being that a) there’s a 6/7 chance we don’t actually teach on Sunday, and b) we’re Catholic, so we are required to use as many Greek and Latin words as possible.]
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Since I was just thinking the blog needed some attention, and now we have a topic, I’ll quick toss out my thoughts for what I want to make new-and-improved this year:
-Well, we’ve got to learn those new Mass responses. So as soon as we get the green light, my kids will start practicing. Until then, I’m going to teach some other prayer forms, and let the creed and so forth take a back seat until Advent or whenever we’re told to start teaching the new responses.
-Once again, I’d like to try to get the kids singing. I say this every year. Small problem being I am not a very good singer. Enthusiastic? Yes. On key? Not so much. I keep trying to persuade other people to do music for us. So far no takers. So that leaves me.
-Last year I got really bogged down in going through our textbook chapters too slowly. This year, I want to look through each chapter and prioritize: What are the must-learn items, what are the “just if you need to fill time” items, and what are the “introduce-but-don’t-memorize” items.
–> For example, I’m a big fan of studying the lives of saints. But as I think through it, really what I want is for the kids to make friends with the saints. They don’t necessarily need to memorize life stories. In contrast, understanding the Real Presence or the Trinity, those are some fundamental teachings you need to have straight in order to build a healthy spirituality. (Inasmuch as any of us understand such things — they are mysteries after all. But goodness let’s not throw out all the work of so many councils).
So there we go. A nice catechist post for you. BTW I have been absolutely hanging on to Dorian Speed’s catechist series. Go read that.
PS: Wednesday is our start-of-the-year catechist meeting. So then I’ll *really* know what I’m doing this year. Which might involve puppets. Or a note about how I am to never, ever, stage another VBS play involving so many teenagers with swords. We’ll see.
I’ve been saying my responses in Latin or not at all ever since Liturgiam Authenticam came out. I’ve never understood why it took them so long when Ignatius Press has a perfectly good English translation, and the parts of Divine Liturgy that are the same in the Byzantine Liturgy also have a perfectly good English translation: “The Lord be with you./And with your spirit.. . .. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God./It is right and just.”
By studying the lives of the saints we become their friends. That’s what kept me on the straight and narrow. One of the reasons my parents felt safe pulling me out of CCD was that I was always reading about the saints (first time, after first Commion, was a long story relating to teasing; the second time, in sixth grade, I refused to go after I accused my teacher of heresy)
I’m cracking up, John, with that mental picture of you as a Junior Inquisitor.
Textbook said that Genesis was “a story.” I said, “Isn’t it wrong to say Genesis is a story? It makes it sound like it’s just made up.”
Teacher: “Well, the word story doesn’t necessarily mean made up; it just means a story people tell.”
I said, “Well, *I* understand that, [Pointing to my classmates] but do you think all of them do? And isn’t it intentionally misleading?”
And then you ended up an English professor. Who would have seen that coming . . .
Jennifer, thanks for the link! I missed it back when you originally pointed people in my direction, but I really appreciate it.
My pleasure. I have been really enjoying the Catechist Chat series. (And my students are thankful, too.)