Parents
as Primary:
The
Catholic Church has always taught that the parents are the primary
educator of their children. After all, they are the image of God for their
children. It is through this image that the child learns about himself, about
the world and about God. Yet, this marital oneness is not the only way the
knowledge of God is transmitted. No. Parents are duty- bound to educate their
children in the faith. In the Declaration
of Christian Education, a document from the Second Vatican
Council, it says, “Since parents have given children their life, they are bound
by the most serious obligation to educate their offspring and therefore must be
recognized as the primary and principal educators. This role in education is so important
that only with difficulty can it be supplied where it is lacking.” (1965).
“Only with difficulty can it be
supplied where it is lacking,” is a prophetic understatement! It just so happen
that in the last forty to fifty years the parent’s role in education has been
lacking and as such, the proper formation of children has not been sufficiently
supplied; this, because the partnership upon which education and formation
rests between parents and the parish has not been honored.
Surrogate
or Partner:
When
parents, as the primary and principal educators, send their children to
Catholic schools full-time or even to a religion class once a week, there is a
very important agreement, sometimes unspoken, that the parish enters into a
partnership with the parents in educating and spiritually forming the child.
Decades ago, the local pastor or the parish formed a partnership with the
parents only on the condition
that the parents were practicing Catholics. If this condition was not met, the
Church refused to process the child through the education system and the
sacramental initiation program.
Today,
however, even when parents are remiss in their religious duties, many parishes
have adopted the policy to go ahead and try to partner-up with them in educating
and spiritually forming the child. But studies have shown that when the parents
do not observe God’s law and hence fail become active followers of Christ
themselves, the child will eventually follow the same path as their parents and
hence fall-away from the faith.
This creates an impossible situation because the Church ends up becoming a surrogate educator instead of a partner with the parents. In too many cases, when the child comes of age and goes away to college, the religious formation that was provided by the Church- while having no support at home -goes to the wayside. Is it not true that the apple rarely falls far from the tree?
This creates an impossible situation because the Church ends up becoming a surrogate educator instead of a partner with the parents. In too many cases, when the child comes of age and goes away to college, the religious formation that was provided by the Church- while having no support at home -goes to the wayside. Is it not true that the apple rarely falls far from the tree?
Missing
in Action:
Christian Smith's book, Young Catholic America: Emerging Adults, In, Out of
and Gone From the Church, confirms
what many parish-leaders in the Diocese of Green Bay have been concerned about
in recent years: the difficulty adults are having in evangelizing
youth and young adults. As one adult faith
formation coordinator said, "About 15 years ago young adults used to drift
away from the Church but then comeback when they had children. Today,
however, they are not coming back."
Smith's research reveals that 62 percent of
Catholic adolescents attend regular services during their Catholic high school
years. But this percentage drops to 22 percent in the emerging adulthood years
(ages18-23). That is to say, the Catholic Church loses a significant
number of young adults in the post-high school years. And the casualties
involve those adolescents who attended Catholic high schools.
In fact, Sherry Weddell, in her book, Forming Intentional Disciples, had this to say: "As the Pew report put
it, Catholics have the biggest 'generation gap' of any religious community in
the United States. Sixty-two percent of Catholics sixty-five and older in 2008
said that they attended Mass every week, while only 34 percent of Millennials
did so." (pg. 44) The question then becomes, what can we do?
Two Indispensable Principles:
In preparing for an adult faith formation
program called, On the Same
Page, I contacted a
number of Catholic apostolates who have enjoyed some success in evangelizing
youth: FOCUS, NET Ministries, Cardinal Newman Society, and Nashville
Dominicans to name a few. I asked them what they believed high rates of
faith retention rested on. The two things they identified. First, a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ needed to be in place if religious education was
to bear any fruit. Second, parental support of that relationship was said to be
of the greatest importance.
As for the first principle, The General Directory for Catechesis reads: "Only by starting with
conversion, and therefore by making allowance for the interior disposition of
'whoever believes' can catechesis, strictly speaking, fulfill its proper task
of education in the faith." (GDC, art. 62) Indeed, the way to the mind is
through the heart. “If the mind alone hears without the heart’s cooperation,
God’s Word does not bring forth all of its fruit.” (Dom Columba Marmion, Christ: The Ideal of the Monk 1926) And
conversion, according to the GDC,
involves "essential moments" when the person experiences the person
of Christ; moments when the heart is touched by grace.
Before religious education or catechesis can
truly be effective, a relationship with Jesus Christ is essential. Only
then will the Mass, the Sacraments and the Church take on greater relevance for
our younger generation of Catholics. As such, an intensification of
evangelization, witness talks, spiritual mentoring, retreats, and pilgrimages
as a precursor and supplement to religious education and faith formation is
worth revisiting.
As stated, the success of parishes and Catholic schools in
evangelizing and educating youth also rests upon the active support of parents.
The faith and religious participation of parents largely determine whether or
not their children as emerging
adults will retain the faith. To be sure, the Church was never
meant to be a surrogate in forming the child; only a partner.
When
I asked Christian Smith what his opinion was about the underlying cause of the decline in
religious participation among Catholic young adults, he said:
“Well, it's really not that complicated. Most
youth, if
they have good relationships with their parents, generally end up looking a lot
like their parents religiously. What is going on with Catholics is that, on
average, Catholic parents are just less committed, invested, and involved in the
Church and their own personal faith and practice. And so that's what the kids
learn and follow when they get older.” (August 7, 2014)
It is only when parents take a leading role in evangelizing
and educating their children can we, who work on behalf of the Church,
hope to raise up a generation of disciples who are on their way.
__________________________
This article is the property of the Department of
New Evangelization/ Diocese of Green Bay
