The Catechist Life

Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe; to know what he ought to desire; and to know what he ought to do. - St. Thomas Aquinas

Following my friend Nicole's lead, I am writing about my stint as a  CCD (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) catechist. Our Junior High class is a 7th/8th grade combined class post-Confirmation. Our parish is unique in that manner that Confirmation is received at sixth grade. With that intensive learning behind them they are coming to the Junior High class with a lot of knowledge and enthusiasm (thank you, Holy Spirit! or maybe it's just from the donuts before class hahaha).  For a newbie catechist, having done this only for a few years, it can be intimidating.  Fortunately for me my co-catechists are seasoned veterans whose knowledge of Scripture, History, and all things related to Christian education are impeccable and extensive. We rotate teaching every three weeks.  On the Sunday I'm not teaching I'm also taking notes just like the other students. I consider myself an apprentice in this class, learning at the foot of the masters.  I especially love when the friars come to class and add to the discussion. 

Our focus for this age group has an Apologetics bent as this is the time in their life when their Faith is being challenged.  We wanted to give them tools to "spread the Faith and defend the Faith". That has been their motto since sixth grade, it's oft-repeated in Junior High.  This year a key component of our lessons is History.  We started with an intro to the Church Fathers.  It is, by far, my favorite topic to research. I learned so much.  It is no wonder that those who convert to Catholicism usually cite the studies of the Church Fathers as their primary reason.  Paring my notes down to easy chunks was a challenge as there was so much to cover.  But the reality of it all is that we only have an hour and fifteen minutes with these kids every week.  We are really just supplementing what their primary educators are teaching them.  Since the seventh graders will come back the following year, we have a two-year syllabus. We do not use a specific text so it opens up so many possibilities for research. The treasure trove of books, documents, and various other resources is amazing.

I highly suggest volunteering as a CCD teacher.  It has been such a blessing to my life and I'm hoping to my family life as they are truly my first students in the Faith.

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