Fran Lavelle is the Director of Faith Formation for the Diocese of Jackson

KNEADING FAITH
By Fran Lavelle
The first days of September usher in so many good things and I’m not referring to Pumpkin Spice Lattes. College football has returned as a favorite pastime, cooler temperatures are right around the corner, and our young people are back in school. Life takes on a different cadence in the Fall. In the Church, we begin our religious education programs. Every year the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops discerns a theme for the catechetical year. This year the theme is, “Enlisting Witnesses for Jesus Christ.” At first glance, I was a bit put off by the theme as it sounded so jingoistic. However, after some thought I have come to appreciate the wisdom of the sentiment.
A deeper dig led me to come to understand what the bishops were thinking. This year’s catechetical theme is meant to address a growing population of Americans today known as the “nones.” The “nones” have no religious affiliation. Unfortunately, most “nones” once were affiliated with a church. American Evangelical preacher Francis Chan hits the nail on the head. He said, “We need to stop giving people excuses not to believe in God.” And by we, he means all of us. If our faith is to grow and thrive, the church needs all baptized Christians to accompany those who are on the peripheries, all who have been dismissed, all who have been injured in God’s name, and all who have been left without hope. It is a tall order. But, left undone our churches will quickly become historic landmarks of days and faith gone by.
The single best way to ensure the propagation of the faith is to give support to our catechists and formational leaders in our parishes. We have a responsibility to equip our catechists with both the competency and confidence to teach the faith. Catechesis is more than learning; catechesis engages the whole person both intellect and heart. One without the other fails to fully form. The National Directory for Catechesis (NDC) and the General Directory for Catechesis (GDC) identify the tasks of the catechetical ministry:
• To promote the knowledge of the faith.
• To promote a knowledge of the meaning of the Liturgy and Sacraments.
• To promote moral formation in Jesus Christ.
• To promote prayer and how to pray.
• To promote living in community and participating actively in the life and mission of the Church.
• To promote a missionary spirit that leads God’s people to be the living presence of Christ in society.
In 2016, the Diocese updated the Catechist Companion: A Curriculum Guide for Catechesis and Religious Education. GDC, NDC, and other appropriate catechetical materials, the Catechist Companion is divided by grade level. The major themes include: 1) the Trinity; 2) the centrality of Christ in the Church, Sacraments, and prayer life of the Christian; 3) the treatment of the theology of Church; 4) the Sacramental life of Christ; 5) the moral and social teachings of the Church; 6) the Church’s teaching on the dignity of human life and value of a chaste life. Each of these themes should be developed on an age appropriate level with the goal of bringing children into closer relationship with God to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. Every catechist in our religious education programs should be familiar with the guidelines for curriculum for their grade level. The Catechist Companion is available online. To download a copy, visit our website: https://jacksondiocese.org/staff-resources/
A goal of the Department of Faith Formation is to provide a quality certification program to help develop both competency and confidence for our catechists. We knew it had to be flexible and enjoyable. To that end, I am thrilled to announce the availability of the new on-line catechist certification program. The program completed earlier in the spring has been tested by several catechists enrolled in the old on-line program. The new program has several features that I hope make it convenient for catechists to engage in the courses. The best feature is that the courses are free and can be taken at any time. We wanted to give the catechist flexibility in when they begin a course. The classes should take three weeks to complete and we are asking that the catechist take one course at a time. However, it is not problematic if a catechist needs a little extra time to complete a class. The learning management system that we developed creates learning communities. The program is available on-line at: https://jacksondiocese.faith/. I invite priests, LEMs, DREs and CREs to email me at fran.lavelle@jacksondiocese.org and we can set up a time to do a tutorial for your catechists. We are all enlisted to be witness for Jesus Christ. Our witness can accompany, our witness can catechize, our witness can transform. It is time to take up that mantel as competent and confident Catholic witnesses.

(Fran Lavelle is the director of the Department of Faith Formation for the Diocese of Jackson.)