The
other evening I went to a mandatory parent meeting at my local parish. This meeting was for parents of 10th
graders and as part of their faith formation parents are required to attend a
number of meetings held throughout the school year. I hadn’t been to one yet so I was somewhat
excited to experience it.
My
husband and I joined about 30 other parents, most who had their 10th
graders with them. We did not bring our
daughter only because we were not aware that we were expected to.
There
were two college aged young adults clearly preparing to lead the gathering, one
a male and the other a female. The young
man came into the center of those gathered and began talking about the meaning
of the Triduum. If he introduced
himself, I missed that. It became
evident very quickly that he was giving a lecture on aspects of the
Triduum. This was not a problem for my husband
and myself, that is, until he began to talk about the priesthood, the lives of
a few of the saints, the virgin Mary, etc. and some of what he was stating as
fact was not theologically sound belief within the Catholic Church. My husband looked at me, the theologian, to
see if I was having a problem with this.
I looked at him with surprise that we were encountering a personal
apologetics speech at a gathering such as this.
I looked around the room to see if others were having difficulty with
this meeting and what I saw saddened me.
Some of the parents were on their cell phones, some of the youth were
yawning and rubbing their hands over their heads and faces reminding me of my
overly tired homeless clients of years before.
Some were listening to this young man as he rambled on about what
appeared to be the dogma of the faith and probably taking in as truth his
uneducated presentation. I thought about
interrupting him but I would have had to actually stand up and call out for he
was on a role. He was not interacting
with us gathered nor was he engaging anyone with eye contact. What I realized very quickly was that 1) I
was leaving, 2) I needed to write a letter of protest, and 3) my daughter would
not be attending any of these meetings without us.
When
we got home, my husband and I did sit down and formulate an email to the faith
formation director whom we have not heard from as of yet.
I have
taught theology to a number of young adults.
I try hard to encourage their desire to look more deeply into their
faith. With that I invite them into the
real life experiences and wisdom writings of the Doctors of the Church, the
Fathers of the Church, the Catechism, ongoing Papal documents, and writings of
faithful Christians that have stood the clarifying criticism of time and
review. Many do not want to go down that
educational path. Their opinions are
formed, they have surrounded themselves with others who think in similar ways
to them, and they are very busy with lives filled with informational experiences,
mostly useless as social scientists are currently pointing out. So, I do not relish this young man, who is
clearly giving of his time and energy to the parish, to be embarrassed or feel
put down for his efforts. I do, however,
want him to know that he could benefit from spiritual discernment, where he
could determine whether or not teaching or knowledge is a spiritual gift of
his, and he could take the time to pursue theological education. All of this would invite him into a state of
humility, an opportunity to pursue more theological education, and help him to
grow spiritually to be a more effective evangelizer on behalf of the
faith. Until then, he clearly needs to
back away from opportunities to practice juvenile apologetics before an
unwitting crowd. Now, the responsibility
of the other parents to be “present” and expecting engagement on behalf of
their sons or daughters is a whole other writing which I will come back to
soon.
Wisdom,
Teaching, Prophecy, Administration, Discerning of Spirits, Writing, Knowledge,
etc. are all special graces given by the Holy Spirit to the spirit of an
individual on behalf of the church to be used in the uplifting of the church or
to be used in the world. If we, as
Christians, want to be as informed as we can be and we want to be treated in a
way that affirms our individual and communal dignity, then we need to have an
expectation out of the church that individuals with these graces be sought
out. We know, through Holy Scripture and
through the ongoing Holy Tradition of the Church that individuals continue
today to be called by the Spirit of God to use these graces in an active and
engaging way. It is their responsibility
as daughters and sons of God. It is
their created right to be seen in their individual spiritual entirety. It is the demand of their lives to be
steadfast and to go forth with praise to God for the blessings He has showered
upon them through the distribution of these graces, undeserved, and yet given
as gift of grace to give truthful light, as God’s compassion and mercy, to the
world.
May
the Holy Spirit tug at this young man’s heart to move him into seeking out
those around him who have these special graces so that they may teach him what
it is that he needs to know. Be with him
on this journey. Be curious about one
another’s spirits. Be seekers of how the
Holy Spirit continues to engage the Church and the world. Be the Body of Christ by being willing to
acknowledge the existence of hands and feet and arms and legs and eyes and
ears…With this we will truly go out into the world with truth upon our lips
giving voice to the joy of the Gospel of God impressed upon our hearts. Blessings…
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