{"id":2237,"date":"2011-07-07T14:50:59","date_gmt":"2011-07-07T20:50:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/?p=2237"},"modified":"2011-08-22T09:29:58","modified_gmt":"2011-08-22T15:29:58","slug":"the-real-goal-of-effective-catechesis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/07\/the-real-goal-of-effective-catechesis\/","title":{"rendered":"The Real Goal of Effective Catechesis"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[This is a part of the\u00a0Fundamentals of Effective Catechesis<\/a>\u00a0series]<\/p>\n

It’s a simple formula.<\/p>\n

Education is oriented toward action. The goal of learning something is to do something.<\/p>\n

You go to Driver’s Ed to become a driver.<\/p>\n

You go to soccer practice to play in soccer games.<\/p>\n

You go to cooking school to be a chef.<\/p>\n

So, why do you go to religious education classes? Is it merely to learn about<\/strong> the Catholic Faith?\u00a0Effective catechesis is about more than that.
\n<\/p>\n

St. Paul’s catechetical goals<\/h2>\n

It’s pretty obvious when you read St. Paul that mere religious knowledge was not the goal<\/a> of his instruction<\/strong>. Knowledge was meant to be the catalyst for action.<\/p>\n

In Colossians, Paul prays that they have “spiritual wisdom and\u00a0understanding” in order to “lead a life worthy of the\u00a0Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col 9, 10).<\/p>\n

Learning about God\u00a0should move you to live in harmony\u00a0with God and bear fruit for him by your actions. This, in turn, leads you to a greater knowledge of him and his ways.<\/p>\n

Spiritual maturity, the ultimate goal of catechesis<\/h2>\n

What does every parent want for their children? That they mature, grow and become healthy, happy, productive members of society. As a father, I want my children to have the knowledge and skills to do anything they want, to be fulfilled in a life’s work that’s meaningful and exciting.<\/p>\n

St. Paul says he teaches Christ’s wisdom to “present every man mature in Christ” (Col 1:28). Mature can also be translated as perfect.<\/p>\n

Christians are\u00a0children of\u00a0God, but that doesn’t mean\u00a0God wants us to be childish and never grow up.<\/strong> Spiritual maturity is important\u00a0because it’s who we’re meant to be. We’re not meant to stay children physically or emotionally. We’re meant to life-giving lovers in imitation of\u00a0Christ. That won’t happen if you stay spiritually immature.<\/p>\n

Catechists…parents?<\/h2>\n

Paul says the gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists and teachers is “to equip\u00a0the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of\u00a0Christ” in faith and knowledge (Eph 4:11-12).<\/p>\n

This is complete when a person reaches spiritual “mature manhood, to the measure of\u00a0the stature of\u00a0the fulness of\u00a0Christ, so that we may no longer be children” (Eph 4:13-14). I suspect that’s “manhood” in Christ\u00a0and applies to women as well. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

Mature, adult Christians are strong in their faith.<\/strong> They aren’t swayed by trends, fads, false teachings or crafty fakes. They can give of themselves in service and love. They are able to use their spiritual gifts for the benefit of others and\u00a0the Church.<\/p>\n

Real fulfillment and happiness comes from being a fruitful and productive member of God’s faithful. And, that spurs you on to go deeper in knowledge and love of God.<\/p>\n

In a way, catechists are like spiritual parents to their students. They raise them to maturity in\u00a0Christ. St. Paul even refers to himself as a father to his disciples.<\/p>\n

Catechetical takeaway<\/h2>\n

Christ did not come to merely give us religious knowledge. He came so that we could\u00a0have life and “have it abundantly” (John 10:10).\u00a0Christ’s teaching was not ordered toward religious knowledge but religious life–a full, active, mature religious life!<\/p>\n

The real goal of your catechesis is not knowledge. That’s only the means to the end.<\/strong> Religious education is meant to foster religious living and maturity in Christ.<\/p>\n

The real trick is conveying and building that in your students. More on that one to come!<\/p>\n

What do you do to help your students live what they learn?\u00a0<\/strong>The comment box is open!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is part of the\u00a0Fundamentals of Effective Catechesis<\/a>\u00a0series. \u00a0I’m laying out the system of catechesis I learned at Franciscan University of Steubenville.\u00a0If you like this post, check out the other parts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Image: photostock \/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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