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» In Light of Faith
 
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, Sept. 30, 2007
by Ann Ruggaber
A few years ago, a friend sent me a bookmark that proclaimed, “Don’t ignore me — I hate ignorance!”
This slogan could be a way of thinking about the readings for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Gospel narrative is the tale of the rich man and Lazarus, and in the first reading, Amos (who never sugar-coats his message) declares “Woe to the complacent.”
In both, the rich who live lives of luxury are taken to task for ignoring of the plight of the poor. It is easy to overlook the poor. We have become expert in hiding them away in projects and being so busy about our business the rest of the time that we are oblivious to their existence.
My bookmark slogan could be a paraphrasing of these scriptures: “Thus says the Lord, ‘Do not ignore my children; I hate ignorance!’”
Two ways of responding come to mind. In one large city, the governmental leaders commissioned an artist to paint a mural on the wall of one of the worst high-rise slums in the city. It depicts a nice middle-class building, complete with curtains on the windows and geraniums on the sills. Drivers who sail by on the expressway get the impression that all is well in the city and continue happily on their way.
By contrast, another artist, Gerry Straub, gave up a lucrative career as a Hollywood film maker after being impacted by the message of St. Francis. He founded the San Damiano foundation and now uses his art to travel to the slums, refugee camps, dumps and leper colonies of the world to bring the plight of the poor onto the video screens of those like us who, by comparison, are rich beyond measure. His films tell the story while never compromising the dignity of his subjects, and leave the viewer to decide whether to act or ignore.
The question arises, are we using our talents and resources to make the poor even more invisible, or to focus attention on responding to their plight?
Straub’s is one example of a creative way to address the huge problem of poverty. The fair trade movement is another. Fair trade coffee, chocolate, crafts, and clothing may cost a bit more, but the producer in the Third World country is receiving a fair wage.
Another group discovered that by providing something as simple as mosquito nets treated with insect repellent, they could save many lives in refugee camps.
If everyone did something, the suffering of the poor would be eased immensely. The first step is noticing. The second is acting.
Each of us has talents, gifts, contacts, and interests that could suggest ways for us to respond. Our response may be as simple as changing our buying or consuming or donation patterns, or as radical as Gerry Straub’s. The important thing is that we do something and not figuratively paint a mural to hide the problem.
In the parable of Lazarus, Jesus is reminding us once again of the criterion for entering the Kingdom: how the least among us are treated. To the rich man in the parable for today, and to those on his left in the Last Judgment parable, and to us, the King is saying the same thing: “Don’t ignore me when you see me hungry, or thirsty, or homeless, or ill or in prison. I hate ignorance!”
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Whole family faith formation
by Mary Hood Hart
This is the third year our parish has been offering whole community catechesis. In 2005, we made the transition from the school model of religious education to a model which expects children’s parents and guardians to be the primary educators of their children in the faith.
No longer do we offer religious education classes taught by volunteer catechists. Once a month, we offer intergenerational faith formation, with parents required to stay for an adult session while the children participate in break-out sessions.
During the adult session, parents are provided with catechetical materials and other resources to support them in their responsibilities to pass on the faith.
To say this change was met with complete support from the parents would be less than truthful. Some parents were so disturbed to lose the school model that they left the parish to attend a church offering the traditional “CCD” religious education. Others have embraced this new process and have become enthusiastic participants.
Like many parishes across the country, we have become convinced this model is our most effective alternative for providing our young families with faith formation experiences they can bring home.
Study after study has shown that children whose parents attend Mass, who pray at home, who share their faith in words and deeds, are the most likely to grow up living their faith.
If a child is dropped off at religion class, but rarely attends Mass, and never hears about God at home, an hour of weekly religious instruction will not have any long-term influence on the child’s faith development.
Yet many parents have, over the years, tried to fulfill their duties by dropping off their children for CCD and doing nothing else.
As Father Hector, our parochial vicar, says: “We don’t believe in drive-through religion.”
This year, we are offering a series of family-centered sessions called “Catholicism from Scratch,” designed to offer parents an opportunity to learn or review the basics of the faith.
In order to inform our parishioners about the changes we’ve implemented, we created a document called: “What’s Going on with Faith Formation?” As a parish employee, I wrote the document with the assistance of our two priests. For those of you who may be considering a shift to adult-centered faith formation and away from child-centered school modes I’m reprinting some of the document here.
Why doesn’t St. Brendan have a “CCD Program”?
CCD is an acronym for Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, an association established at Rome in 1562 for the purpose of giving religious instruction. The first CCD establishment in the United States was in New York City in 1901.
Brooklyn, which had the nation’s largest known Catholic population at the time, and an estimated 70,000 Catholic children in public schools, adopted the CCD program in 1921. CCD was established to help the many immigrant families, where illiteracy, a new language to be learned, poverty, proselytizing, and the insecurity of being in a new land led thousands to neglect their faith.
Gradually the acronym was adopted for all parish public school children’s religious education programs based on a classroom model. Over time, that acronym has been replaced with the terms religious education or instruction, catechism class, and, more recently, faith development or faith formation. Only rarely is CCD, now an archaic term, used to describe religious education in parishes across the United States.
Why doesn’t St. Brendan have weekly classroom instruction for parish children?
In 2005, St. Brendan adopted a “whole community” approach to faith formation because the school model for religious education has proven ineffective. Whole community refers to lifelong catechesis for all age groups and situations (with a focus on adult formation.) At St. Brendan, we focus on adult-centered faith formation while offering support and resources to parents who, at their child’s baptism, accepted the responsibility of passing on the faith.
In response to an over-emphasis on children’s formation with a dearth of offerings for adults, the U.S. bishops, as expressed in their documents, “Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us” and “To Teach As Jesus Did”, encourage parishes to adopt lifelong adult-centered faith formation. As a result, many parishes across the country have moved to the whole community model.
How do the children become educated in their faith?
They are taught by parents and grandparents, the ones most influential in their lives and who model their faith in daily living.
In his book “Whole Community Catechesis,” author and religious educator Bill Huebsch addresses the problems with the classroom approach to religious education. He writes: “In the late 1960s, Catholics in America passed through a period of serious disagreement with the Roman authorities of the church over birth control. Families were challenged by the rise of cultural icons like television. They no longer prayed together at home as much. They no longer followed a strict observance of feast days, fasting, and church rules. In fact, they no longer even sat down to supper together as often as they used to — in some cases, they stopped doing so altogether.
During this period, parents started dropping their kids off for CCD class while they went grocery shopping. The expectation slowly arose for many that it was up to the parish to provide faith formation. But we all know the truth. A child comes to a parish religious education program an hour a week… No matter how good the program or textbook may be, if that child returns home to a household where no faith is shared, then there’s very little the catechist can do for that child’s faith. …the households in which our learners live are already the most influential factor in their formation. This is true about their religious beliefs as well as other aspects of life: values, dreams, and lifestyle.”
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Life goes on
by Barbara Hughes
When death takes a loved one, life as we know it changes.
For some, death comes as a surprise. For others, it seems to inch slowly towards them, much like a predator stalking its prey.
Last week my mother-in-law’s body surrendered to death. She was almost 95 years old and we knew her illness was terminal. While her death had been expected, it was nevertheless accompanied by feelings of sadness and a sense of loss.
In my mind I could view her death as a blessing. She had been freed from her spirit’s temporary dwelling, now free to rise with Christ; to live the glory of the Resurrection. It is, after all, life’s ultimate goal and yet, human nature clings to this life, passing though our faith informs us it is.
The physical body is a temporary dwelling, the earth a transitory home, but during the span of a lifetime, it’s all we know. And familiarity offers reassurance.
But when the funeral liturgies are over and the celebration of the lives of those who have gone before us, have ended, life goes on. Though difficult at first, it gradually gets easier.
During the early days, we long for a sense of normalcy, even as we know life will never quite be the same. The physical absence created by the death of a loved one leaves behind a void in our life and a hole in our heart.
The presence of those who precede us in death is missed, especially around holiday dinner tables. Little things trigger memories when we least expect it and some will bring smiles and others bring tears. But it doesn’t end there. The presence of those who live on with the Lord is with us in a way that was not possible before and that brings a level of comfort.
As my daughter and I cleaned the house preparing for friends and family to gather after the Memorial Mass, we noticed that a Shasta daisy in a flower bed by the statue of St. Francis had seemingly sprouted up overnight. It was a plant my mother-in-law had given me a few years ago on Mother’s Day. It typically blooms only in the spring, but there it was blooming as if to remind us that life is unpredictable.
Sitting in our living room where my mother-in-law spent the last weeks of her life, brings a sense of comfort. At times, I can almost feel her arms around me.
There’s no doubt in my mind that she is still with us, albeit in a different way. She is now a member of the Communion of Saints. She has triumphed over death and as such, she is still very much alive, more so than during the years when she was physically present to us.
To be sure, dying is as much a part of life as is the birthing process. And just as no child enters the world without inflicting a degree of pain on its mother, so no one is birthed into eternal life without inflicting pain on those who love them.
Transitions are painful. They serve to remind us that life is cyclical and that pain is part of the journey.
But pain is not without merit. Suffering gives rise to compassion and people are at their best when they become the compassion of Christ or when they unite their suffering to the suffering of Christ crucified.
Words need not be spoken. More often than not, this union of intention takes place in the quiet of hearts unbeknown to those who keep vigil at their bedside. This quiet surrendering of life allows God to guide them through the end stages of this life and gives witness to the presence of God’s grace.
Those who are dying rarely put into words that which they are experiencing. Perhaps it’s because at that moment more than any other time, they understand the importance of listening, listening to the voice of God who is quietly calling them to himself.
Doubts from a former time slip away in the presence of the certitude of eternal life. The empty promises of a world that is passing pales in comparison with the promises of God. For Scripture reminds us, “They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar with eagles’ wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)
It was this understanding that causes St. Paul to cry out, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death where is your victory? O death where is your sting?” (1Cor. 15: 54b)
To say that those who have died are in a better place is not a panacea for the bereaved. It is a reality that we will only fully appreciate when we join those who have gone before us.
And so, let us never forget to pray for them and to them for their love for us is now far purer than it was while they were with us.
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Copyright © 2006 The Catholic Virginian Press. Articles from Catholic News Services, including Fr. Dietzen’s column, may not be reproduced here due to copyright considerations.
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