12/26/2021

Yesterday was Christmas (Merry Christmas to all!), today is the Feast of the Holy Family. It moves the Christmas season along all too fast, but also puts family life and especially children before us. I treasure our families, and would like to promote healthy and holy family life here at SGB. One way of doing that is the way that we educate and develop the faith of our students, both those in our school and those not. Something that I have tried to do is implement a way of teaching religion called Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS).
I would like to explain why. I have noticed that we are having a hard time keeping high school age students active in our parish, as well as getting some children to come to Mass on Sunday. At the same time there is a national trend whereby many people leave the Catholic Church – the second largest denomination in the U.S.A. is “fallen away” (former) Catholics, as the saying goes.
So what does that have to do with CGS? Well, part of the genius of this approach to teaching religion is that it recognizes the religious potential of a little child, beginning at age 3. From the ages of 0 – 6, children are profoundly absorbent, active, and capable of great wonder. They may not conceptualize things or think critically, but they do feel emotions and absorb experiences which are tremendously influential in their lives. These formative years are CRUCIAL. At these ages the children have the religious potential to bond with God at a visceral level and spend time with God, independent of moral/ethical or intellectual considerations. If you wait until they reach the age of reason to get children to bond with the Lord, then intermixed in the relationship are ethical/moral considerations of good and bad deeds and the rewards each (for example, Santa Claus asking you if you have been naughty or nice). An analogy might help. The greatest thing that a father can do for his small children is get on the floor and horse around with the children, allowing them to bond with dad. Then later in life when dad has to set boundaries in behavior or discipline the children, it is done in the context of a bond that engenders trust. That is similar to what we all need to do with God, and CGS provides this experience and the time to pray and develop that bond with God at the most appropriate time.
CGS is about experiencing God as a loving creator and redeemer. That is why their guides are called “Catechists,” not “teachers;” why the room where they work is an “atrium” not a “classroom.” The children are not just learning about God, they are experiencing God and spending time with the Lord. The method is sensitive to the developmental levels of children, and it expands as their ability to understand does. If we get this right, we hope we will have given our children the greatest gift a Catholic school can give, enabling them to become solid Christians who persevere in the faith confident of the Lord’s love.
In the process of implementing this way of teaching, we have discovered something else: the children in their simplicity and innocence often teach the Catechists who are facilitating the experience. Jesus told us that we had to become like little children in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Catechists come to experience what Jesus meant as the children teach them, to the profit and excitement of both.
I fear that our current manner of teaching religion is not preparing our children adequately for the challenges they will encounter in secular society. We have been trying to introduce CGS as a possible partial remedy. It introduces 3+ year olds to God, especially Jesus the Good Shepherd, at an age that they relate to Jesus as a person, and then continues to build on that foundation in later levels. It provides a better foundation – a personal bond with their creator and redeemer – that allows the children to enter more deeply into the rich sacramental and devotional life of the Catholic Church as they grow older.
In order to continue to develop this method, we will need people to be trained to be Catechists as well as some more atrium space. The interest is growing among those who have been involved – parents comment on the improvement they see in their younger children. I want to give our children only the best, and am hopeful that we can do this as a parish. If you are interested in helping, please contact Megan Johansen or myself. There is a training this coming summer.
May we open our hearts to God’s grace this Christmas!

Father Albert, O.S.B.