Feed the Children — Teach RE

I was asked to speak about Religious Education, or Children's Faith Formation, at our parish this morning. Thought I might as well share on the blog too...

I’ll be entering my fourth year teaching (what we call) Level 2 Confirmation this fall and I’d like to share a little about why I do it.

The book of Genesis tells us we are made in the image and likeness of God. We all have a will and an intellect.

• The action of our will is to love.
• The action of our intellect is to know. To know what? To know “Truth”. This where religious education comes in.

You can think of the truths of our faith as a kind of food for the intellect, healthy food, and kids naturally hunger for this food. If we’re hungry enough, for long enough, we’ll eventually eat something; we’ll eventually eat somewhere, but will it be good food or will it be garbage.

Hello...good food here.

In the 25th chapter of the Gospel of Mathew we hear, “For I was hungry and you gave me food”. This is not only about physical food, but also about the spiritual work of mercy to feed the intellect.

Obey your master!

We all like to think of ourselves as independent thinkers (both kids and adults), but everyone sits at the feet of a master. Will it be at the feet of Jesus through His Church or will it be some talk show host, some politician or political party, a famous actor, rock star or rapper, an agnostic or atheistic author or speaker or some random You-Tuber, or will it simply be the always "infallible" majority. Who will the master be?

If we don’t teach our children someone else surly will (like the guy on the left). Will it be good food or will it be garbage. It’s up to us; and this is why I chose to help feed our children. If you feel called to help, see if your parish is looking for more catechists for the upcoming school year.