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.
- 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 PosterWhat 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
