WALKING BY FAITH

Catechesis for the Twenty-First Century

Reverend Terry Odien

Francoise Darcy-Berube, the renowned catechist, told a story that has had lasting impact on me and on my life as a catechist. While teaching at Fordham University, she surveyed adolescents from a Catholic high school to find out who God was for them, and what prayer meant to them after ten years of Catholic education. One student responded that he didn't pray. He went on to say that for ten years catechists and teachers had been talking to him about God, but that no one had ever introduced him to God.

Since hearing that story I have wondered whether the young people I have catechized over the past thirty years have been introduced to God by me-or have I only talked to them about God? Pope John Paul II reminds us that "at the heart of catechesis we find, in essence, a Person, the Person of Jesus of Nazareth" (Catechesi Tradendae, p. 6).

Where We Come From

We have come a long way catechetically in the past thirty years. We have moved away from a question-and-answer approach and toward a learning model that is interactive, experiential, and aimed at inviting the learner to interact with "the mystery of love that we call God" (Karl Rahner) . We have come to realize that catechesis is not only concerned with providing information, but must also be about the work of formation. The National Catechetical Directory, Sharing the Light of Faith (#5), tells us that the goal of all religious education is to "help individuals and communities acquire and deepen Christian faith and identity through rites, instruction, and formation of conscience."

Challenges Ahead

As we move toward the year 2000, we are challenged to identify the ways in which children learn information and form values. We are living in a world that is changing at a rapid pace. It is almost impossible to keep up with the developments in technology. Even the youngest child is comfortable sitting at a computer and accessing information as desired. This may be effective for gathering information. However, if we are about the work of formation-forming the disciples of Jesus Christ-our efforts must include a willingness to share our faith with those we are catechizing. Pope Paul VI stated it well: "Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses" (On Evangelization in the Modern World, 1975).

If we are to catechize effectively,
not only must we witness to our faith
and be willing to share our faith story
with those we are catechizing,
but we must also employ the best pedagogical tools.

I am reminded of the Chinese proverb:
"I hear . . . and I forget.
I see . . . and I remember.
I do . . . and I understand."

Meeting the Challenge

Walking by Faith recognizes the catechetical realities we've mentioned. And so we bring to this series, the best insights of religious educators and the additional strengths of pedagogical expertise from other disciplines. We supply a variety of lesson modalities. We promote interactivity at all levels and in all components. Integral to the series is the student and family Faith Journal , a unique tool for helping young people reflect on their own growth in faith, internalize the content and experiences of the religion class, and explore and practice their faith at home and in the larger world.

Along with utilizing the best teaching methods, we must recognize that children grow in faith best as members of a faith community. This faith community includes their families, their classmates, and the wider parish family. We have come to realize once again, as did the Church in its earliest centuries, that catechesis is the shared faith life of the entire parish community. We cannot expect that a child will grow into a person of mature faith if his or her religious formation is confined to a weekly catechetical session, or even to daily instruction in a Catholic school classroom.

Walking by Faith is a catechetical series whose language, pedagogy, and philosophy is communal rather than individualistic. Every aspect of the series is geared toward developing the community of faith.

In their pastoral letter to religious educators, the Catholic Bishops of New Jersey say that "it is no longer sufficient to catechize for an intellectual assent to beliefs, creeds, and doctrines. While these beliefs are integral to our tradition, we need to extend our understanding of what catechesis means. The goal of catechesis is the conversion of the whole person" (Pastoral Letter to Religious Educators: Statement of the Catholic Bishops of New Jersey, September 1992) .

I believe that Walking by Faith is a series that will more than adequately facilitate that conversion in the lives of our young people today, with results that will carry them into the future.