From Collette O’Sullivan, Cape Town
I take great umbrage to a number of erroneous statements in John Lee’s letter, “Evangelised catechism needed” (January 25), not least of which being: “We seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel in finding truly committed catechism teachers in our parishes”.
Of course, I cannot speak for the parish that Mr Lee attends, but what a truly ridiculously sweeping statement to make!
What studies has Mr Lee conducted to place him in such a position of authority to allow him to insult all catechists?
I belong to a parish which is blessed with quite a number of catechists, young and old, all of whom are God-loving, committed Christians who have a deep and personal relationship with Jesus and who love sharing this with others.
It shows in their attitudes and in their interaction with others. I see it in their smiles and in their interest in the youth of our parish.
These are men and women, and I am one of them, who have dedicated themselves to sharing our faith and their love of Jesus with others.
They study the word, prepare lessons, ensuring that they get the message across in an interesting, fun and age-appropriate manner.
They don’t do this for recognition and certainly not for money. They do it for love. This is not only true for my parish; I am speaking on behalf of hundreds of catechists.
The next time Mr Lee uses this forum to insult catechists he should ensure that he does not include all parishes, and definitely not mine.
I take my hat off to all the catechists out there who offer up their precious time to teach the catholic faith. You guys are the unsung heroes in the church. However, there have been instances of poor catechetics being taught, which is indicative of so many misinformed catholics leaving the church. If they only knew that the catholic church is the true model of what Jesus intended when he set-up His church 2000 years ago. An unbroken line of succession, starting with Saint Peter to our beloved Papa Benedict. In closing I would like to say, keep up the good work and God bless.
Does the Church in South Africa provide any formal courses to train Catechists? I know that the Catholic Distance University in the US offers a formal online course for this purpose which is excellent.
Good question Mark! I doubt very much that there is anything formal and openly available to all parishes (with regards to training Catechists). Back in the old days from my own experience, I had no formal training and the PP (and religious Sister in another instance) were simply grateful to have someone to take off their hands the most difficult children because of my ‘no nonsense’ approach. Today I deeply regret and ‘shrivel’ at the thought of the children I did more damage to than ever bring to Christ…
At a later stage in my life here in the Durban Archdiocese there was an individual but her name escapes me. (I am sure Msgr Paul Nadal will remember her) I just remember when the ‘fill in’ PP in the early part of this millenium informed us (the PC) that the Catechists were “unsuitable” and I suggested them being trained by this person. Of course, this turned out not to be part of his Agenda… the incident was an early catalyst for me to start opposing the doctrine of ‘Father knows best’ and he subsequently got rid of me pronto…
Thank you, Collette, for this response. I must admit that I was also a bit offended by the broad sweeping statement tarring all catechists with the same brush. As you so rightly point out, our parish is blessed with a good number of catechists, and I can back up your comment that they are all dedicated to serving Christ in the young people that they work with. As I always say to you and the rest of the catechists, you have my fullest support in the difficult ministry that you are engaged in. God bless and keep up the good work!