Friday, July 14, 2017

Pope Calls Catechists To Be Witnesses


Bishop Gregory Mansour shares the following article with all catechists of the Maronite eparchies!
Pope Calls Catechists To Be Joyful, Creative Witnesses Of Christ 

By Elise Harris

Vatican City, Jul 12, 2017 / 02:18 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a message sent to catechists from all over the world, Pope Francis stressed the need to not only make Christ the center of their lives, but to be creative and adaptable in finding ways to reach the people in their area.
“The catechist is creative; they search for different means and forms of announcing Christ,” the Pope said in his July 12 message.
Believing in Jesus is “beautiful,” he said, because Jesus is the way, truth and life “who fills our existence with joy and gladness.”
“This quest to make Jesus known as supreme beauty leads us to find new signs and ways of transmitting the faith,” he said, noting that while the means might be different, what's important is to imitate “the style of Jesus, who adapted to the people he had before him in order to make them close to the love of God.”

To change and adapt oneself in order to make the message closer to the people is necessary, he said, but stressed that at the same time, the message being transmitted is “always the same, because God doesn't change, but renews all things in him.”
Pope Francis said that in the quest of making Jesus known to the world, “we must not be afraid because he precedes us in this task. He is already in the man of today, and there awaits us.”
The Pope sent his message to participants in the First International Symposium on Catechesis, which is taking place July 11-14 in Buenos Aires.
The event is being offered through the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina (UCA), and is organized by the Episcopal Commission for Catechesis and Biblical Pastoral Care.
Pope Francis opened his message, sent in Spanish, by referencing a quote from his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi.
He noted that at a certain point, when one of St. Francis' followers asked to be taught how to preach, the saint responded by saying: “Brother, when we visit the sick, help children and give to the poor, we are already preaching.”
“In this beautiful lesson is enclosed the vocation and task of the catechist,” he said, explaining that catechesis is not simply a job or a task external to the person of the catechist.
Rather, “their whole life revolves around this mission,” he said, noting that to be a catechist is “a vocation of service in the Church, which is received as a gift on the part of the Lord and must in turn be transmitted.”

To do this, one must return to the first encounter with Christ that changed their life. This moment, Francis said, is “the fundamental announcement that must resonate again and again in the life of the Christian, and even more in the one who is called to announce and teach the faith.”
The Pope then pointed to the importance of respecting popular piety in the people, saying it's important to “care for the potential of piety and love that popular religiosity holds so that they transmit not only the contents off the faith, but a true school of faith is created which cultivates the gift of the faith that has been received.”
A catechist is also someone who journeys both from and with Christ, he said. “They are not a person who starts from their own ideas and preferences, but who allows themselves to look to him, to this gaze that makes their heart burn.”
The more that Jesus is the center of our lives, the more he teaches us to go out of ourselves, Francis said, adding that we are then “decentralized” and able to be close to others.
“This dynamism of love is like the movement of the heart,” and Jesus himself gives us an example of how to live this when he retreats to pray, and then “immediately goes to the encounter of those who are hungry and thirsty for God in order to heal and save them.”
“From here arises the importance of the 'mystagogical' catechesis, which is the constant encounter with the Word and with the sacraments, and not something merely occasional prior to the celebration of the sacraments of Christian initiation,” he said.

Pope Francis closes his speech by thanking catechists for their work, “above all because you walk with the People of God,” and encouraged them “to be joyful messengers, guardians of the good and the beauty that shines forth in the faithful life of the missionary disciple.”

Don't forget to email me (cathysgeorge@gmail.com) if you would like to be on the Inter-Eparchial Committee for Religious Education.   
We need directors, teachers, media specialists, and others from both eparchies who are willing to work on a unified effort to improve and disseminate our Maronite faith to our children and their families.

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

July Conversations - Looking Forward!

Inter-Eparchial Committee:  Would you like to volunteer?   Bishop Mansour and Bishop Zaidan are looking for writers, DRE’s, and teachers to serve on a committee to assist with resource materials for religious education.   Please email Cathy George: cathysgeorge@gmail.com if you are interested.

At the NAM Convention, I attended Father Vincent Farhat and Father George Hajj’s session:  A Pastoral Approach to the Catechesis of the Maronite Church in the USA; Practical Resources and Challenges.   It was great to see representatives from both eparchies attending!  Father Hajj defined catechesis as the study of what we believe.  He said that we need to take these materials and the realities of the Catholic faith and put them into practice.  This is evangelization.  Father Hajj said that our students are catechized but not evangelized.  He and Father Farhat pointed out many realities in our parishes:
  • We have some teachers who have been teaching for many years and refuse to try anything new.
  • Sometimes teaching is done during liturgies, so children are not attending.
  • For some parishioners, the most important thing is learning prayers in Arabic.
  • For some parishes, they have to offer Arabic classes to bring them to religious education classes.
  • Many go to sports instead of church on Sunday.
  • Religions education programs from Latin churches are available online.
  • Those who are enrolled in Catholic schools, often do not go to Maronite religious education programs.
  • Volunteers do not have all the training they need.
  • Parents often pull their students out after First Communion or after sixth grade instead of allowing them to go through high school.

Father Hajj and Father Farhat stressed that the first education in our parishes should be at Baptism for the parents and godparents.  They should receive the education to enable them to take the role of spiritual guides for the children.  The Faith of the Mountain series is available and is based on grade and subject levels.  Help is need for parishes that need to combine grades.  What are the ramifications of having it online?  The Divine Liturgy is another source of education for our families, especially the Hoosoyo - a source of the catechism.   

Several suggestions were made:  
  • Implement the Maronite “Commitment to Christian Life Service” in the high school senior year.
  • Have a parent religious education session at the same time as the children’s.   Have sessions on “How to parent your teens.”
  • For high school students, use the YouCat (a Youth Catechism) and Kahoots (https://kahoot.com) to supplement the high school program.
  • Emphasize the Maronite iconography, the lives of the saints, children’s liturgy, prayers, liturgical year, art, parts of liturgy, scripture, and how we are connected, Syriac language.
  • We need an online resource center with Maronite Arabic videos translated into English.  
  • Access http://maronitefaithformation.blogspot.com/ for suggestions and lesson plans.
  • Creating our own vacation Bible school events:  one church adapted the Good Shepherd catechesis and made vestments as their “armor of God.”   

The session concluded with the proposal of an Inter-Eparchial Committee to work on materials for religious education.


Catechist Materials for 2017!  Please take a look at these documents!
2017 Poster
What is Evangelization?
Catechetical Certificate
2017 logo
Christian Discipleship
Catechist Prayer Card
Taking the First Step
By Their Fruits You Will Know Them
Catechesis and Church's Commitment to the Family
New Evangelization and Social Justice
Letter to the Pastors

2017 Table of Contents
Go & Make Disciples
Accompanying Youth and Young Adults on Their Journey