{"id":785,"date":"2010-12-21T08:50:09","date_gmt":"2010-12-21T14:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/?p=785"},"modified":"2010-12-21T08:50:10","modified_gmt":"2010-12-21T14:50:10","slug":"youth-formation-that-sticks-teaching-kids-to-think-catholic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/blog\/2010\/12\/21\/youth-formation-that-sticks-teaching-kids-to-think-catholic\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth Formation That Sticks: Teaching Kids to Think Catholic"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Did you learn to think<\/em><\/strong> Catholic growing up? I never did! My family\u00a0was Catholic but they never understood the Church, and consequently neither did I. The ways of the Church were just mysterious and strange so they didn’t influence my life or how I made decisions for my future.<\/p>\n

Is This Story Familiar?<\/h3>\n

The majority of my fellow Gen X Catholics grew up the same way and now they’re passing it on to their children.\u00a0I heard a story recently about a junior high boy who was ridiculed at school, a Catholic school, for saying he wanted to become a priest<\/em>. Obviously that boy’s tormentors were not formed to think Catholic. Religious vocation was not a part of their life-vocabulary. The priesthood, mysterious and strange, was not a serious option to be considered.<\/p>\n

I’m sure you’ve heard stories like this as well.<\/p>\n

The View From Up Here<\/h3>\n

My last post discussed Catholic Imagination<\/a>, or Catholic worldview,\u00a0as an essential tool in the youth ministry toolbox<\/a>. A worldview is an interpretive context or lens that influences how a person views events and situations. It forms their understanding of the world.<\/p>\n

On my first post about the youth ministry toolbox<\/a>, my friend Roy Petitfils commented saying “a truly c\/Catholic imagination” was essential in forming the “container” for the tools.\u00a0He said:<\/p>\n

“I worry that we are not devoting enough energy toward teaching our youth to THINK c\/Catholic. So much catechesis today seems oriented toward amassing a lot of knowledge with little attention given to teaching youth how to think like the men and women who passed on to us that rich deposit of faith….The greatest gift of my \u201cc\/Catholic\u201d education was not the information (which today can be retrieved online) but was learning how approach issues in a disciplined, philosophical and theological manner.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Seeing the World As It Really Is<\/h3>\n

I think we have to be taught how to view the world appropriately<\/em>.\u00a0Because of original sin, reality is kind of fuzzy until we get the corrective lenses that allow us to see rightly. Evangelization happens when a person views things from a different perspective. All of a sudden a new angle opens up to them, one they never considered before. They see the world differently.<\/p>\n

Most of us see the world through the lenses of secular society.\u00a0Wealth, power, fame, sex and all the focus on me. Why? Because it makes more sense to our darkened intellects! It doesn’t make sense to be self-sacrificing, to love your enemies, to give your life for another, to remain celibate your whole life. But from a divine perspective, it makes perfect sense.<\/p>\n

Get this straight, the Church gives us the lenses to see the world as it truly is<\/strong>. To see reality from God’s perspective is to know the truth because he’s the origin. The world is meant to be known through the Revelation of God.<\/p>\n

Our youth need\u00a0formation to see the world as Catholics. This formation must:<\/p>\n