The Thanksgiving holiday conjures up all kinds of images for students.

Turkey. Family. Pilgrims. Shopping.

But the holiday itself doesn’t really speak much about giving thanks.

I know, there’s the whole pilgrims starving in the winter thing. But that’s almost a myth.

What is it about giving thanks that we should remember it every year in a big way?

And, how can you integrate Thanksgiving into your Catholic classroom?

I’ll give you a hint–giving thanks is actually a very Catholic thing!

St. Ignatius and the importance of giving thanks

If you know anything at all about Ignatian spirituality, you’ve heard about the Examen. It’s a form of prayer developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola.

In the Examen, you review the events of the day in order to understand where God was moving in your life and how you responded to him. It’s not a laundry list of sins, it’s more an exercise in spiritual sensitivity. Figuring out how aware you were of God that day.

The first step in the Examen is gratitude. You begin by reviewing the gifts you’ve received from God that day and giving him thanks for these blessings.

Why start prayer by giving thanks? Shouldn’t you start by asking for what you need?

In The Examen Prayer, Timothy Gallagher suggests this step comes from St. Ignatius’ own experience of God and his conversion.

“From the very start of his turning toward God, Ignatius experiences God as giving: giving immediately, the moment our hearts say ‘yes’ to God’s desire for relationship with us, giving abundantly, endlessly pouring out in gifts a love greater than our hearts can fathom.”

St. Ignatius once said, “We will much sooner tire of receiving his gifts than he of giving them.” For Ignatius, God is the giver of gifts! That’s the God he knew. That’s the only God he knew!

Confident that he is known and loved for who he is, and that God continually pouring out blessings, Ignatius sees a huge part of his spirituality as thanksgiving.

So, what better way to worship God than to recognize and be thankful for these gifts? Gallagher claims it is “the heart itself of the way he understands God and relates to God.”

The God of giving

God is continually pouring out blessing. That’s who God is. That what he does. We are continually swimming in blessing. You are awash in it right now!

All of creation is a result of the blessing and great gift of God’s love.

The inner life of the Blessed Trinity is a continual pouring out of life and love. That exchange of love between the Persons of the Trinity is so great, in fact, that it can’t be contained within themselves. It has to overflow.

The first manifestation of God’s overflowing love is creation. God’s love overflowed and the result was life–the universe and all of us. What are we meant to do with it? Receive it and make a return of it to him.

Recognizing God’s gifts

Do you spend your day recognizing the many gifts and blessings God is pouring out into your life?

I think most of us instead recognize the daily annoyances, burdens, difficulties, and inconveniences. These get our attention more than anything. They usually win out.

You might say, “But it seems like all I get are these bad things! God’s not giving me any blessings.”

Oh, but he is. The question is, are you spending time trying to recognize them.

Why should we be thankful?

I’ve learned a lot about God from being a father.

My youngest son can sometimes ask a lot of me. He gets these projects in his head like making his own stuffed animal out of washcloths. Of course, that involves a lot of sewing on my part (yes, I can sew…a little).

The thing is even though he’s demanding, he’s always grateful. However the project comes out, he’s thankful for it. He’s so happy when it’s done and carries it around everywhere. And, he makes sure I know how appreciative he is for the gift.

I think it’s like that with God. I think he enjoys doing huge things for us when we show him how great appreciation.

When we go out of our way to recognize his blessing in our lives and thank him, we give him worship. I think that leads God to bless us even more.

Spirituality takeaway

Think about it, what can we give God that he really needs. Does our adoration, prayer, love, and good works really add anything to his glory? No, there’s no way they could.

God is continually pouring out love and blessings on us. He’s always taking care of us. He even holds us in existence by his will! What does he want from us?

God wants us to receive all this from him. He wants us to take his gifts–to recognize them, be grateful for them, and to return them. He wants us to receive his love and return it to him. That’s the most we can ever do for him.

Gratitude, thanksgiving…it’s at the heart of Catholic spirituality. It’s at the heart of Catholic life.

Not just once a year–every day. All through the day.

But one day, Thanksgiving Day, is not bad either.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This post originally appeared on Marc’s blog Evangelizing Catechesis.  Visit there for more on Catholic evangelization, catechesis, and spirituality.

Image: David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In my last post, “Why Education in the Faith is Not Enough,” I proposed that the job of the catechist is to facilitate encounters with Christ.

The knowledge we pass on is important but it’s not the goal.

The encounter is the goal.

Fulton Sheen–My Hero!

Well, I ran across a quote from Archbishop Fulton Sheen on Eucharistic adoration that basically says the same thing.

You’ve got to love it when a Saint (or almost Saint) backs you up!

“Neither theological knowledge nor social action alone is enough go keep us in love with Christ unless both are preceded by a personal encounter with him. I have found that it takes some time to catch fire in prayer. This has been one of the advantages of the Holy Hour. Sitting before the Presence is like a body exposing itself to the sun to absorb its rays. In those moments one does not so much pour out written prayers, but listening takes place. The Holy Hour became a teacher for me. Although, before we love anyone we must have knowledge of that person, nevertheless, after we know, it is love that intensifies knowledge.” (Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Treasure in Clay, emphasis added)

This rings so true for me. At first, you make a friend by sharing a common interest or a similar sense of humor. The more you know about them, the more you like them.

But at some point, it reverses. You want to know them better because you like them. Attraction drives gaining knowledge of them.

Catechetical Takeaway

I think it’s the same way with God. In our catechesis, we have to orient the knowledge we impart toward fostering and growing love of God.

Then later, that love will drive them to seek more knowledge of him.

It’s a catechetical feedback loop for lifelong learning and intensifying love.

This is effective catechesis.

 

It was an ordinary day

A chance encounter.

A life changed!

That’s the scenario in the gospel story of the “Woman at the Well” from John 4:5-42. This gospel has profound implications for catechesis and evangelization. Let’s take a look.

What exactly is the business of catechesis?

Most catechists assume catechesis is about education in the Faith. Education is important but it’s not really the goal of catechesis. It’s more like the means to the goal.

John Paul II once wrote that “the definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ” (On Catechesis in Our Time, 5).

Doctrine is God’s revelation of himself to us. Our students must know and understand this. But it can’t end there. We need to make doctrine the starting point for encountering God. This is more like formation than simply education.

If a catechist can arrange a transformative encounter with Christ through their teaching, they’ll keep their students coming back for more. Then the learning will continue long after they leave the class.

I think this is the business of catechesis.

My encounter with Revelation

I experienced something similar to this in my own conversion. I grew up in the Catholic Faith but pretty much rejected it until I was around 30 years old. Through a series of events involving Tokyo, an Australian New Age healer/channeler gone bad and Ricardo Montalban (it’s a very long story), I was awakened to the Catholic Faith.

Soon after, I began studying and fell in love with Church teaching. It was the answer to all my questions about life. The month before this encounter with Revelation, I could not have cared less about anything Catholic. Afterwards, I couldn’t get enough!

It’s a similar experience to story of the Woman at the Well.

He told me everything I ever did

The Woman at the Well is from the wrong side of the tracks, so to speak. Married multiple times and currently shacking up, she’s a recognized sinner. But she’s thirsting!

She dives into theological debate with this Jewish rabbi. She knows the Scriptures and the prophesies. Is she eagerly awaiting the Messiah?

When she’s awakened by this encounter and understands the truth of who Jesus is, she becomes a very effective evangelist. She tells everyone in the village and her testimony is so good, they all go out to see him.

The most interesting part to me is after verse 40. The Samaritans of the village meet Jesus, ask him to stay for two days and believe in him “because of his word.” It continues, “They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world” (Jn 4:42).

Catechetical Takeaway

The villagers first heard about Jesus from the Woman. Her passion and obvious change compelled them to take a look. However, they believed by hearing “his word” not hers.

The point? Jesus does the converting. It’s our job to do the introductions.

The catechist’s job is to facilitate transformative encounters with Christ. This can be done in many ways through our teaching. But we have to understand the teaching is the means and not the end. The end is the encounter.

If you can arrange that, you’ll create a student for life. They’ll hear it for themselves and know that Jesus is indeed the Savior of the world.

 

Why do you need Penance?

Suppose you get angry at your friend, punch him in the face and break your hand.

Then, after you’ve calmed down, you feel awful and give him a sincere apology.

He accepts and you’re friends again.

So, is your hand still broken? Yes! That’s the reason we all need to do penance.

What in the world am I talking about? Temporal punishment! We’ve heard the word but often we don’t know what it’s about.

Two aspects of sin

Temporal punishment is the after effect of sin.

There’s really two aspects to consider with sin:

1. The guilt incurred from offending God. When you confess your sin, the guilt is removed. God forgives you and doesn’t give it a second thought.
2. Temporal punishment, the consequences of sin. Even after you are forgiven and your guilt is removed, there are remnants of that sin left in you.

It’s like the broken hand. Everything is over but the damage remains. The remnants of sin left over in our personalities move us to want to sin more. These are those weaknesses and faults that you can never seem to get rid of.

Think about it, sin is kind of addicting. It’s like eating only one potato chip when the whole bag is in front of you –you can’t do it! Sin is like that. Once you sin, your temperament is inclined to sin more.

Is this really punishment?

Now some might say that doesn’t sound like punishment–that’s the fun part! Exactly right! We tend to think of the punishment as things like getting caught. But in reality, that’s often God’s mercy at work.

What’s the worst thing possible from a divine perspective? Being separated from God. If we persist in sin, we move further and further away from him. If God allows us to enjoy and continue sinning, that’s actually the punishment. Things like a DUI, getting sick or losing a loved one might be the life-altering event that turn a person from sin and toward God.

Here’s where penance comes in

The remnants of sin are like seeds sown in our souls. They incline us to more sin and keep us farther from God. We can’t simply moderate them, they have to be put to death–mortified!

We should practice mortifications to attack our dominant faults, those deeply ingrained habits that keep us confessing the same sins over and over again. Making war on those habits, or vices that lead us to sin and putting them to death lessens their effect on us. It makes it easier to do the good and follow God.

Catechetical Takeaway

This is why you do penance after confession and the Sacrament of Reconciliation is not complete without it.

Your sin is forgiven and the guilt erased, but the temporal punishment, the remnants of the sin, remain. Only you can take care of this by doing penance and fighting those weaknesses and tendencies to sin!

This is where Purgatory comes in as well. If you don’t take care of these remnants in this life, you’ll have to do it in the next–before you get to heaven.

That’s also why Lent is so important. Every year, we set aside a season to do penance, attack our faults and renew our spiritual lives. The purification of Lent then prepares us to fully experience a resurrection with Christ at Easter!

 

The iPad is a complete phenomena.

It came out of nowhere to define a market that previously didn’t exist.

Much of this success can be attributed to a specific design philosophy employed by Apple.

Simple is powerful!

The design philosophy behind the iPad is also one of the secrets to engaging, accessible and useful catechesis.

This philosophy of simple probably flies in the face of your ideas on catechesis. It’s definitely not intuitive but it works. Here’s how!

My parents are using a computer!

Recently I convinced my parents to buy an iPad. For the first time, they are using a computer! Notice I said using. They’ve owned a computer before, but they never used it. It was too complicated and it confused them.

The iPad is simple. With the iPad, Apple stripped computing down to it’s core. It doesn’t do everything. It does the essential things and makes them accessible. Even non-computer savvy people like my parents can use it.

For catechesis to be understandable, accessible and useable, it needs to be simple.

Simple catechesis communicates the core

When I say simple, I’m not talking about shortened or incomplete catechesis. Simple catechesis is not shallow. It still has depth–but on the right things.

Simple catechesis drills down to the core idea. It doesn’t teach everything. It teaches the essential things and makes them accessible. In this way, what you teach will be understood and remembered. It will have impact and power.

You have to figure out the core and build your lesson around it. Your goal? The students walk away with the core idea firmed grasped and remembered. That way, it can be put into action.

What is the core?

The core is the one thing that absolutely needs to get communicated. Not the three things. The ONE thing. If you try to build your lesson around three things, they won’t remember anything.

How do you know what that one thing is? Imagine you prepared your lesson, had everything planned and when you were ready to go into the classroom I stopped you and said, “There’s been a change of plans. You only have five minutes to do your lesson.”

What would you tell your students? What message do you really want them to get? That’s the core!

Catechetical Takeaway

The temptation in catechesis is to teach as much information as the time allows. After all, you only have your students for a short time and there’s so much to learn. You want to give them everything.

However, the reality is, by trying to give them everything you may end up giving them nothing. If you present too many ideas, what’s important gets lost.

To communicate the core, you have to weed out the interesting, but off topic, info and the tangents. They make it difficult to follow the line of the lesson, and they confuse your students.

The hard part is cutting out pieces that really are important but aren’t the most important. You one core message needs to be central.

Stripping down to the essential is difficult and counter-intuitive. However, of you communicate the core, you’ll have a simple message that your students will understand, remember and use! That is powerful!

 

Mortification–the Catholic Lenten treat.

Every year, on Ash Wednesday, Catholics gear up for the annual torture fest…Lent!

What will you give up this year? Chocolate…again? Coffee? Ooh, that’s gonna hurt!

Why do we enter into this pain every year? Do Catholics just love to suffer? Or, is it really true that the Church doesn’t want us to have too much fun? (Hint: that’s not the answer!)

Well, there is an aspect of sorrow and reparation for sin that is expressed in giving up the stuff you enjoy, but there’s more to it than that. There’s a science to spiritual growth and Lenten mortification can serve as a springboard for renewal.

What is mortification anyway?

Mortification is one of those great Catholic words that people “in the know” throw around.

Mortifications are penances that involve some form of self-denial. Fasting is one of the primary forms. In Latin, mortis means death. Mortification “puts to death” sinful tendencies and desires that are sometimes hard to control.

Saying no to destructive desires can be a very good thing.

Matthew Kelly on Lenten fasting

In Rediscovering Catholicism, Matthew Kelly says,

“The Lenten experience is a perfect example of the Church’s intimate understanding of the nature of the human person. The forty days of Lent are an ideal period for renewal. Lent is the perfect span of time to form new life-giving habits and abandon old self-destructive habits. But most of us just give up chocolate and when Easter arrives we are not much further advanced spiritually than we were at the beginning of Lent” (p. 259).

The springboard for spiritual growth

It takes about 30 days to form a habit. So, like Matthew Kelly suggests, why not put the 40 days of Lent to good use?

What is your biggest vice? Figure that out and start doing things to defeat it! Make a concentrated effort during Lent and you can slack off later but it will be easier to continue.

• Get angry easily? Give up arguing back. Stay silent when someone is mean to you (and you thought giving up chocolate was hard?).
• Insanely jealous of that coworker? Go out of your way to congratulate them or wish them well.
• Do you spend too much on stuff you don’t need? Give up shopping for whatever you buy too much of…clothes, shoes, electronic gadgets, etc.
• Never make time to pray? Set up a schedule of daily prayer and make it a priority.
• Have a problem with lust? Fast from looking at beautiful women the wrong way or from viewing porn.

Choose only one. That’s not so hard right? Besides, that’s all you’ll have energy for.

In Catholic spirituality, this is called working against your predominant fault. You have one vice that’s worse than any other. If you work on that one, the others will follow. That’s because good habits are all connected.

Catechetical Takeaway

Self-denial is important in the spiritual life.

Since the Fall, we don’t have complete control over our emotions. Passions like love, anger, hatred and pride can lead us to do stupid things. Our desires for food, sex, wealth and success enslave us. They can become overwhelming and lead to unhealthy attitudes.

Mortifications work to “put to death” these often unruly passions and desires. Once you kill them, you can control them. Control of your actions leads to freedom. So, ironically, mortification brings fullness of life–not death.

 

If you had to name the fundamental theme and unifying principle of all catechesis, what would it be?

What is the one thing you should communicate to your students?

With so many doctrines, it can be hard to name one principle that ties the whole Catholic Faith together.

St. Paul understood this completely and always worked to bring everything back to one thing. In Colossians 1:25-27, he clearly states why he became a minister of the Church. His role was “to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now made manifest to his saints.” What is this mystery? “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Far from just a list of truths, the Catholic Faith is a wonderfully integrated unity with a central idea. The General Directory for Catechesis (GDC) 98 states, “In reality, the fundamental task of catechesis is to present Christ and everything in relation to him. This explicitly promotes the following of Jesus and communion with him; every element of the message tends to this.”

This “Mystery of Christ” is the real heart of our message. As the GDC makes clear, all our teaching must relate to this. But why is “Christ in you” the “hope of glory”? Why is the presence of Christ dwelling in each of us so important?

The goal of all things is to be in union with God. This union was ours at the beginning of creation. When God created Adam and Eve, he breathed his life into their souls. Their principle of union with God was his own supernatural life dwelling within them. We call this sanctifying grace. This is what mankind lost as a result of original sin.

We tend to think of original sin as a “stain,” something on the soul that marks it or dirties it, and because we’re stained, we can’t go to heaven. In reality, original sin is not something added but something not added…something missing. In a newly conceived human person with original sin, God creates a soul without the gift of sanctifying grace, that principle of supernatural union with God.

Sanctifying Grace is like the family fortune that Adam and Eve once possessed but then squandered. Now it’s no longer their inheritance to pass down to their children. Because of their disobedience, we all start off life in spiritual poverty.

We are not naturally born with this gift of grace. Instead, we must be supernaturally reborn through Baptism! In Baptism, we are united with Christ in such a profound way, his life is transmitted to us. Our souls are reconfigured and filled once more with sanctifying grace. In this way, Baptism reverses the effects of original sin.

Through Jesus we become adoptive sons of God and heirs to the spiritual riches of the Kingdom. No longer spiritual paupers, we are members of God’s family and restored to union with him. This union is what grants us the possibility of eternal life. Romans 6:5 says, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his [Baptism], we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” Christ in us is the hope of our eternal glory!

What’s more, Baptism is the gateway for the most intimate union of all. In the Eucharist, we receive Christ’s risen body into our own bodies, and his supernatural life increases in us. Through the Eucharist, we can become more and more united to God, which is the goal of all things.

So, in each of us, Christ is the principle of Christian life. Christ is the center of our Faith. He is the source of our salvation. United with him, we have hope of eternal life. This Mystery of Christ hidden throughout the ages and now manifest through the Church should be the central unifying theme in all catechetical instruction. This is what everything leads toward. This is what everything is about. This ties everything together so we must tie everything to this. In each of us, Christ!

 

What is catechetics and why should you care?

Catechesis is practice of handing on the Faith.

Catechetics is the art and science of handing on the Faith. It is the theory behind the craft of catechesis.

You may think that it’s not important to understand the underlying principles of catechetical theory. All you need to know is what you should do in class on Sunday. But I would ask you to reconsider.

I’ll admit, the idea of learning the “theory” behind anything is not especially appealing. Until, that is, you are really excited about something and want to do it well. Then, understanding the inner workings of that thing become fascinating.

I struggled through physics in college. It seemed dull and boring. However, when I became a Navy pilot, aerodynamics become infinitely fascinating because I was interested in the application. This knowledge helped me push the plane’s performance to the limits.

Car mechanics know everything about how an engine works. Athletes study physiology in order to improve their technique. Theory is only dry when you’re not interested in the application.

A working knowledge of the theory behind the techniques of teaching the Faith can help you grow as a catechist. If you understand why things are done a certain way, then you can apply those principles across different areas and create new and exciting ways of teaching. I think you will find this fascinating.

I have an M.A. in Theology and Christian Ministry with a Specialization in Catechetics from Franciscan University of Steubenville. I grew up Catholic but drifted away in my teens.

After 20 years away from practicing Catholicism, I came back to the Catholic Church with an insatiable desire to learn as much as I could about the Catholic Faith and a desire to help others to understand it’s beauty, depth and richness. So, I went to study at Franciscan University.

My goal from the very beginning of starting at Franciscan was to learn how to convert people to the Catholic Faith.

After a few years of theology classes, I was pretty sure I could do that. So, I volunteered to teach CCD at a local parish.

I quickly found out that a depth of theological knowledge does not necessarily make you a great catechist. In fact, it sometimes hurts you a lot! I realized that I didn’t know what I was doing and needed to find out how.

So, I entered the Catechetics program at Franciscan and met Professor Barbara Morgan. She showed me how to teach in a way that would impact people for conversion. This was what I’d been looking for and I soaked up as much as I could.

Now, I work as the Director of Religious Education at Exaltation of the Holy Cross Church in Champaign, IL. Additionally, I do diocesan level catechist training and present in the Catechist Training Track at Franciscan’s St. John Bosco Catechetical Conference. Most of my hands-on work is with RCIA where I develop curriculums, teach and lead teams in the initiation process.

All this being said, I am always learning and growing myself as a catechist, and I continually seek new ways to effectively catechize for conversion.

In this column, I want to communicate to you “practical catechetics,” a working knowledge of the theory behind teaching the Catholic Faith.

I am an operator, not a scholar. I’m not interested in boring you with academics. I want to give you easily applied theory you can use to push the performance of your catechesis to the limits and better serve the Church for the conversion of souls.

I hope you’ll join me.

 

Have you ever been pushed to the limits of your abilities?

Tested beyond your reserves?

That’s what happened to Jesus in the desert!

The readings on that First Sunday of Lent are always on the temptation of Jesus. In the desert, Jesus confronts Satan after 40 days of fasting. He’s weak, he’s at his limit and he’s tested.

Why do we read this every year before Lent? What’s the Church trying to teach us?

What’s up with the desert?

In the Bible, the desert is a place of testing. Moses and the Israelites were tested there for 40 years. There were pushed to their limits–taken to the edge.

Survival was hard. There was no food or water except what God gave them.

They learned about themselves in the desert–what they were made of. How strong they were. How weak they were…mostly weak!

God needed them to have this knowledge of themselves. They were haughty and self-sufficient. They needed to learn to rely on him. That was the only way they could physically survive in the desert and spiritually survive in relationship with God.

St. Anthony and the demons

In the year 385, St. Anthony went into the desert and did battle with demons. No doubt some of these demons were real. But some were internal.

In the desert, Anthony confronted himself. The demons that tormented him were his own weaknesses and temptations to turn from God. How devoted, how loving, how disciplined was he at his weakest…when he was pushed to the limits.

Anthony needed this testing so he could know his limits. He emerged from the desert full of strength and spiritual wisdom. You need this testing too! You need to know this about yourself.

My Desert Experience

I had my own desert experience in the Navy. In the high desert of California, I went through SERE. That stands for Search Evasion Rescue and Escape. Military pilots and aircrew go through this training. It teaches how to avoid capture after being shot down and how to survive being a prisoner of war.

For days I was in a survival situation with no food or shelter, evading capture. Eventually I was put in the prison camp. This was a total immersion experience. Everything was very real and there was no joking around.

Cold, tired, hungry, mistreated and stuffed in a tiny cell, I was taken to the edge. That’s where you really come to know and understand yourself–at the edge.

There in the desert, I learned learned exactly what I was made of–how brave I was, how well I could handle interrogation, how much I was willing to risk mistreatment to stand up for what was right. Sometimes I did well. Other times, not so well.

Most importantly, I became aware of my strengths and my weaknesses, and with that knowledge, I was much better prepared if the real thing came along.

What the Church teaches us during Lent

During Lent, you enter into the desert with Jesus to be tested. In denying yourself with a Lenten penance, you’re taken a little closer to the edge. You learn about yourself there–what you’re made of.

How strong or weak is your devotion? Are you able to carry out your penance or do you cut corners? Do you avoid temptation or easily give and rationalize your decisions.

Most importantly, what do you learn about yourself?

Catechetical Takeaway

Lent is like the entire Christian life in miniature. To live as a Christian, you’ll have to deny yourself some things. You will be tested! You will confront your weaknesses! How will you handle them?

During Lent, we take up small sacrifices and deny ourselves in little ways  so we can be prepared when the big things come.

To grow in the interior life, you have to be aware of what’s going on inside. You have to learn about and understand yourself. In learning we’re able to grow. You can’t fix what you don’t know is broken.

Don’t think badly about yourself if you fail. You’re human! You’re going to fail! What counts is that you fix it and move on, knowing you’re prepared for bigger trails down the road.