Gifts for the Kingdom

By Cori Fugere Urban

"The faith we teach, that we hand on, is not some individualistic interpretation or secret personal wisdom," Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, Bishop of Harrisburg, told catechists and youth ministers at the annual Gifts for the Kingdom Catechetical Congress Oct. 10 at St. Michael's College in Colchester.

"The faith we teach is the faith preserved in its integrity, guarded and protected, received by the Apostles from Christ Himself and transmitted through the centuries under the action of the Holy Spirit by the apostolic Church," Bishop Rhoades said in his keynote address in the Chapel of St. Michael the Archangel. "It's the faith of Peter and the Apostles kept intact and proclaimed authoritatively by their successors."

Bishop Salvatore R. Matano, Bishop of Burlington, raises the chalice at the altar at the Chapel of St. Michael the Archangel at St. Michael's College in Colchester. Father Dallas St. Peter is on the left, Father Daniel White on the right.

The daylong congress, the theme of which was "Proclaim His Word," also included a youth track. The youth ministry keynote was given by Sean Reynolds, director of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry.

About 160 people attended the event presented by the Diocese of Burlington, Office of Catholic Formation.

It also included an opening Mass and numerous workshops on youth ministry, teaching, living the faith, religious education and pro-life topics.

It was the fourth such conference for Dana DeWitt, a sixth-grade religious education teacher from St. Ambrose Church in Bristol. "I love coming," she said, noting that she gets new ideas and material for her class at the event. "I get inspired. I love being around so many people who are like-minded with the same goal of wanting to teach our children."

In his keynote address, Bishop Rhoades said the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth and guides all to truth. "He's the one who inspires our faith and our catechetical mission. The Holy Spirit is the principal catechist. So it's only when we entrust ourselves to the Holy Spirit that we can be effective."

The president of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference noted that the words of St. John's Gospel;"—"The Word was made flesh";"—is the actual heart of the Christian faith. "The Word has a face. It's a person; it's Christ." The bishop centered his reflections in his keynote on the Word, Jesus Christ.

"Knowledge and study of sacred Scripture is extremely important catechesis," he told his listeners. Jesus "must be at the center of our mission and ministry of catechesis. This is what we call the Christocentric nature of catechesis. Christ must be at the center of all we teach."

He continued, "Catechesis must be focused on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ our savior and the mystery of His incarnation, life, passion, death and resurrection... Because in Him, who is true man and true son of God, is God fully revealed to us and in Him we discover the meaning and the destiny of our lives."

The bishop said Christocentricity means that teachers present with vigor and conviction in all their catechesis that Christ is the center of salvation history. "Christocentricity in catechesis also means that we transmit the teaching of Jesus, the truth that he communicates about God, about man, about happiness, about the moral life, about death, without changing or diluting His teaching, His teaching which comes to us through His body, the Church."

Bishop Rhoades, the chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Task Force on Health Care, said if all catechesis is to be Christocentric it also needs to be Trinitarian. "One of the most important and exciting truths that we are going to communicate to our students is that through Christ we enter into the life and communion and the love of the most holy Trinity."

He continued, "And we teach our children who we are as Catholics, as the Church. As a Catholic community most fundamentally we are a people gathered together in the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These beautiful mysteries we need to communicate to our young people. And when we think about catechesis as essentially Christological and Trinitarian, it naturally follows that it's very ecclesial because if we center our teaching on Christ, it's impossible not to emphasize that He has a bride and the bride is the Church... We cannot teach Christ without teaching about His bride, the Church."

Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, Bishop of Harrisburg, Pa., delivers the keynote address in the Chapel of St. Michael the Archangel at St. Michael’s College in Colchester.

Bishop Rhoades asked if children, young people and adults in catechetical programs and in Catholic schools come to know and believe in God's love for them. Do they encounter the Lord Jesus in a personal and not merely abstract way? Do they come to know Him and to love Him and thus become motivated to follow Him and to live according to His teaching? Do they truly discover Christ not only in their heads but in their hearts? Do they experience Jesus as their friend? If they do, he continued, the moral and ethical dimensions of life in Christ will more naturally follow.

"I encourage you to have a passion for your mission," he told the religious educators and youth ministers, saying this involves their own personal encounter with Christ in their own lives, their own deep, personal love and commitment to the Lord and to His Church. "The Lord Jesus calls you to follow Him as teachers of faith and witnesses to holiness."

He said they must be men and women of prayer because, if they are to foster the formation of the hearts of their students in the love of God, they must be attentive to the formation of their own hearts in the love of God.

A member of the USCCB Subcommittee on the Catechism, Bishop Rhoades said it is important for catechists to cultivate the virtue of humility, help students discover the joy of the Catholic faith and appreciate the awesome gift of the Eucharist. "I believe that stronger eucharistic catechesis in the Church is needed if we are to have a revival of attendance by more of our people at the celebration of Sunday Mass," he said.

"Your ministry is vital to the mission of the Church. It is your love of Christ and your joy in following Him that gives you the zeal and the passion you need to lead others to Christ," he said.

In his homily at the morning Mass, Bishop Salvatore R. Matano, Bishop of Burlington, expressed gratitude and appreciation to those who serve the young people of the Church in the catechetical ministries of the Diocese of Burlington.

Focusing his remarks on Mary's role in the Church, he said the Church places Mary in a place of honor and devotion. "Mary becomes the model of all disciples, for all who would dare to follow Him and to speak His word," he said. Jesus held "Mary as the model of what true discipleship means."

Bishop Matano said each person has been chosen by God and that God has willed each one into life with a purpose and a mission. "Just as Mary's ‘yes' to God's plan allows God to accomplish great things, our ‘yes' to God allows Him to continue His work in us and in the most important of areas, the handing on of the Catholic faith to our children," he said. "As Mary's fiat is a blessing to Mary and others, so our ‘yes' becomes a source of blessing" because, in choosing to serve Jesus, those who hand on the faith, like Mary, have become Christ-bearers to those who are the Church's future.

The bishop prayed that those involved in catechetical ministries would have Mary's virtues of obedience to God's will, strength, and fortitude in service to the Lord and His people. "We pray for gentleness, kindness, empathy and compassion in bringing our children to our Church's treasure, to Jesus."

Bishop Matano admonished his listeners to work to foster regular weekly Mass attendance and reach out to parents who have lapsed in the practice of the faith. "Those who are our brothers and sisters in the family of God who have rejected the invitation of Christ Himself to be nourished by His very body and blood and to hear His word proclaimed should be a cause for grave concern, especially among those who teach our children, for in this rejection we encounter the very rejection of the essence of our Catholic faith."

He emphasized the importance of the Eucharist. "What real hope do we offer without the Eucharist?" he asked. "The strength of our moral and doctrinal teachings is rooted in the holy Eucharist."

In her workshop, "Living Faith in a Secular Culture", Therese Corsones, a parishioner of Christ the King Church in Rutland and director of the Rutland Superior Court, said Catholics have many resources as they try to live their faith—Catechism of the Catholic Church and its compendium notably among them.

Many adults grew up after the Second Vatican Council's reforms and did not receive a strong foundation of education in the Catholic faith, Corsones said, noting she realized that about herself when she once taught a third-grade catechism class.

Dana DeWitt of St. Ambrose Parish in Bristol looks at a book at one of the displays during the annual Gifts for the Kingdom diocesan congress at St. Michael’s College in Colchester.

Thus reading and even movies like The Passion of the Christ are important in helping adults develop their understanding of what it means to be a Catholic, Corsones said, encouraging a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the sacraments.

She said Catholics must practice their faith in their day-to-day lives with family and friends, and should not be afraid to let others know they are Catholic.

Corsones encouraged workshop participants to ask God for help when they need it and to keep trying to live their faith. She said this can be done in myriad ways, like praying the rosary for the intentions of others and engaging in the political process to protect human life.

Dorothy Barewicz, director of the Office of Catholic Formation, said the goal of the congress was to gather catechists and others from the diocese who are interested in learning about their faith to worship and celebrate their faith together.

The event usually includes components related to teaching methodologies, the sacraments and respect life, but others are added in response to what previous participants expressed interest in or that are timely, like the Year of the Priest.  Father Jon-Daniel Schnobrich, director of the Catholic Center at the University of Vermont in Burlington and assistant director of vocations for the diocese, presented a workshop entitled "Celebrating the Year of the Priest."

Susan Giovannangelo, a member of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary/St. Louis Parish in Highgate Center, said she enjoyed the congress. "I had a fantastic urge to get closer to the Lord," she enthused, explaining her reason for attending.