{"id":4306,"date":"2013-01-03T01:41:55","date_gmt":"2013-01-03T07:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/?p=4306"},"modified":"2013-05-08T13:36:02","modified_gmt":"2013-05-08T19:36:02","slug":"how-to-teach-what-your-students-need-to-hear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/03\/how-to-teach-what-your-students-need-to-hear\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Teach What Your Students Need to Hear"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"evangelization-listening\"<\/a>Think about how Jesus dealt with people.<\/p>\n

He took the time to listen to them.<\/p>\n

He asked them what they desired<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He spoke to their hearts and changed their lives.<\/p>\n

Evangelization<\/a> depends on you knowing what makes your students tick.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t have the same insight into their lives as God, but you can listen to them.\u00a0When you understand what\u2019s going on inside, you can tailor your catechesis to meet their needs.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a story where listening made all the difference.
\n<\/p>\n

An atheist philosopher and an RCIA director walk into a church\u2026<\/h2>\n

In my RCIA classes, I try to get to know all the candidates before classes begin. Usually I meet with them to talk about their faith life and religious background.<\/p>\n

Once I had a pretty difficult case. We\u2019ll call him Jim.<\/p>\n

Jim\u2019s father was a professor of philosophy at a prestigious state university. His specialty was Nietzsche–you know, the atheist existentialist whose most famous line was \u201cGod is dead.\u201d That Nietzsche.<\/p>\n

And Jim grew up thoroughly formed in this school of thought and adopted it for himself.<\/p>\n

Jim was interested in the Church because his wife and kids were Catholic, and he thought he might share that with them. He wanted to learn and he might want to join, but he said there was no way he\u2019d have faith and believe in God.<\/p>\n

Of course, that wasn\u2019t an option for me. To be baptized, he needed faith<\/a>. The line in the sand was drawn.<\/p>\n

The conversation<\/h2>\n

As we talked, Jim shared his story and his understanding of religion.<\/p>\n

He believed that religion was a social construct. It developed in cultures over time as a way to keep people in line. If they believed in some higher power, they\u2019d be happy and controllable.<\/p>\n

However, as it turned out, the Holy Spirit had already prepped him for conversion<\/a><\/strong>. His wife\u2019s brother was an Army Ranger who had recently done a tour in Afghanistan. When he left, Jim’s wife and her family prayed for the brother\u2019s safe return. Surprisingly, Jim \u00a0joined in.<\/p>\n

Soon, he began to notice something different. When he prayed, he had peace about the situation. It was comforting. As well, it helped his wife\u2019s family deal with everything. They were strong.<\/p>\n

Jim made a deal with God. If his brother-in-law returned home safely, he\u2019d take a look at the Catholic Church. Well, his brother-in-law made it home unscathed. He waited another\u00a0two years, but eventually he came to talk to me.<\/p>\n

The prayer and the inspiration<\/h2>\n

While Jim talked, I prayed. I was daunted!<\/p>\n

How was I going to get through to him? What would I say? I asked the Holy Spirit for help.<\/p>\n

After about 45 minutes, I got an inspiration.\u00a0I took his idea and sort of inverted it.<\/p>\n

I asked Jim to consider if perhaps religion was more than just a construct of society? What if something deep inside us yearns for union with God because that\u2019s how we are made?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I told him about creation, original sin, and the separation from God after the Fall. I explained how the chaos and evil in the world were the effects of this.<\/p>\n

I asked him to consider a different viewpoint. Perhaps religion wasn\u2019t imposed from outside but welled up from within. Perhaps people long for relationship with God because they\u2019re supposed to have it, but don\u2019t. They feel something\u2019s missing, so they search for it.<\/p>\n

I told him Jesus established the Church to help us get that relationship. We don\u2019t work right without it and the world doesn\u2019t work right without it.<\/p>\n

He listened and was intrigued! He joined the RCIA and, of course, I kept hitting the same points many times along the way. But I was only able to do this because I knew what was on his mind.<\/p>\n

After a few months, he wanted to join the Church and surprisingly…he believed! When I asked him what did it, he said, \u201cIt was like that line from the movie Jerry McGuire…you had me at hello.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Catechetical takeaway<\/h2>\n

Taking the time at that initial meeting to listen Jim and understand his point of view helped me to know where he was coming from.\u00a0Then, what I proposed resonated with him and opened him up to consider faith in God.<\/p>\n

The rest of my lessons hit home because I knew him and what he was\u00a0thinking.<\/p>\n

The takeaway? Get to know your students as best you can. Ask them about their ideas and how they see the world. Encourage questions and pay attention to what they say.<\/p>\n

When you understand what makes your students tick, your catechesis can better meet their needs and help them to meet Jesus.<\/p>\n

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

Think about how Jesus dealt with people. He took the time to listen to them. He asked them what they desired. He spoke to their hearts and changed their lives. Evangelization depends on you knowing what makes your students tick. You can\u2019t have the same insight into their lives as God, but you can listen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catechesis","category-evangelization-2","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Teach What Your Students Need to Hear - Marc Cardaronella<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/03\/how-to-teach-what-your-students-need-to-hear\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Teach What Your Students Need to Hear - Marc Cardaronella\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Think about how Jesus dealt with people. 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