Keeping the Faith

Using Catholic Schools to Give Students More than the Three R’s

What we will cover:

• What do we know about youngsters?

• What do we know about how they learn?

• What can we teach them?

• How do we do it?

• What else do we need to provide?

What do we know about what they believe?

91% believe bread & wine become Body & Blood of Christ

62% take seriously the pronouncements of the Pope

77% say they can be good Catholics without going to church

56% say that they can be good Catholics without donating time or money to help the poor.

93% believe that Jesus was the Son of God

55% believe that the Catholic Church is the “one true church”

72% believe that you can be a good Catholic & not agree withChurch teaching on birth control, 65% disagree with Church teaching on divorce & remarriage, 53% sayyou can disagree with Church teaching on abortion.

Students Like Dislike

Learning PyramidAverage Retention Rate

Lecture----------------------------5%

Reading--------------------------10%

Audio-visual---------------------20%

Demonstration-------------------30%

Discussion Group------------------50%

Practice by Doing----------------------75%Teach Others/ImmediateUse of Learning------------------------90%

Differentiated Learning: 8 Intelligences

• Linguistic• Logical-Mathematical• Musical• Spacial

• Bodily-Kinesthetic• Intrapersonal• Interpersonal• Natural

“We are waiting for the eternity in us to be made clear.”

Areas of Experience:

• The Word of God• Christian Community• Prayer and Liturgy• Service• Church Teaching• People of God• A sense of the sacred space• Use of the imagination• Challenge of the Faith

The Word of God

• Study of the Bible

• Place of Scripture in our tradition

• Relation of Scripture to life

• WWJD

For Reflection and Discussion:

How will we teach Scripture as the connection between God and God’s people?

How will we make Scripture relevant?

How will we relate Jesus’ life, as related in Scripture,Relevant to students’ lives?

The experience of Christian Community

• “All are welcome”

• “…one mind, one heart…”

• Sense of ministry/mission

• Personal responsibility

• Forgiveness

• Catholic culture

For reflection and discussion:

How will we offer our students personal prayer?

How will we cultivate a sense of “connection”?

How will we engender a belief in the communion of saints?

How will we make our schools truly welcoming?

The Experience of Meaningful Prayer and Liturgy

• Instruction and practice of meditation

• Meaning of Christian living

• Sense of the sacred

• Sacramentality

• Importance of liturgy/communal prayer

For reflection and discussion:

Given the scarcity of clergy, who will continue toprovide meaningful liturgies to our students?

How will we encourage students to appreciate the sacramentality of life?

How will we emphasize the centrality of Eucharist?

How will we encourage students to pray?

The experience of service

• “Faith without good works is dead.”

• Formation for ministry

• Church social teaching

• Global concern

• Sense of responsibility

For reflection and discussion:

How will we teach that “faith without good works is dead”?

How will we provide experiences for students to appreciatethe global concern to which the Church calls us?

How will we teach social justice?

How will we discover where our students will meet Jesus?

The experience of Church teaching

• A sense of justice

• Knowledge of Church teaching

• What it means to be Catholic

• “the whole ball of wax”

For reflection and discussion:

How will we provide orthodox instruction in the teachingsof the Catholic Church?

How will we encourage students to read Church documents?

How will we encourage students to take stands on issues of justice and peace?

How will we help students to tackle difficult issues in the Church?

The experience of people of God

• Mature adults doing ministry

• Example of teachers

• Study of heroes

• What it means to be the “people of God”

For reflection and discussion:

How will we inspire students to be the “new religious”?

How will we train students to be the “leaven in the mass?”

How will we encourage students to follow their vocation?

How will we convince students that “you make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give”?

The Sense of the Sacred

• Sacred spaces

• Ritual

• Sacramentals

• A sense of “awe and amazement”

• Making sense of their stories: e.g. “Unanswered Prayers”

The Sense of the Sacred

• How will we encourage a reaction of “awe and wonder” in a generation jaded by culture?

• How will we teach and practice meaningful ritual with our children?

• How will we provide the opportunity for them to share their stories?

Use of the Imagination

• Use of the “inner media”• Fantasy vs. imagination: “the holiness of

the heart’s affections and the truth of imagination” (J.S. Keats)

• Imaginative theophanies: challenges

The Challenges of our Faith

• The challenge of idealism

• The challenge of quotidian Catholicism

• Inclusion of young people in the sacramental life of the Church

• Counter-culturalism

The Challenges of our Faith

• How will we re-capture young people, especially after they have left us?

• How will we encourage our children to form and act on good conscience?

• How will we encourage them to “do the right thing”?

Finally….Given our own experience, much of what our children learnand experience in Catholic school or parishes will determine their attitudeand practice as adults.

How will we, as a Church, continue to educate and form ourstudents as they mature so that they will be able to “keep theFaith?”

What kinds of experiences can we provide so that, when theytry to explain their years in Catholic school or parish programs, our students willbe forced to say, “You had to be there!”