1,500 attend Catechetical Day

By Ana Rodriguez Soto - The Archdiocese of Miami

SOUTHWEST RANCHES | It was wall-to-wall catechists at Archbishop Edward McCarthy High School as more than 1,500 gathered Nov. 3 for the annual Catechetical Day hosted by the archdiocese Office of Catechesis.

The catechists — nearly all parish volunteers who teach religion to children who attend public and non-parochial schools — sat on gym bleachers and the chapel floor to listen to the keynote speakers. They filled St. Mark Church for the 8 a.m. opening Mass, arriving by busload and carpool from as far south as Homestead and Key West. They stood elbow to elbow browsing through religious articles and religion textbooks in the exhibitors' area.

"Last year we were expecting 500 people and 900 came. That gave me kind of a hint that we needed to make it available to all parishes in a bigger place," said Peter Ductram, archdiocesan director of the Office of Catechesis, explaining why the location for this year's conference was moved from a parish to the high school.

Next year, he said, he might have to find a hotel, despite the fact that McCarthy High generously donated all its facilities — along with staff time and a team of student ambassadors who helped with the set-up and guided the catechists around campus. Unfortunately, high school classrooms were not created to accommodate 100 people at a time.

But the turnout, especially since it included a good number of younger, even teenaged catechists, was very good news, Ductram said. He noted that many parishes brought their entire catechetical staffs, as many as 55 people, to Catechetical Day.

Affordability could have been one reason for the large turnout, as the generosity and in-kind contributions of the exhibitors helped keep the registration cost down to $25, including lunch. But catechists also "want to come because they see the enrichment. It's a renewal — not just spiritual, but the talks that respond to what they are going through in their parish," Ductram said.  "Also, the networking — to have a sense that we are not here alone. We are all dedicated to sharing the faith."

In his homily at the opening Mass of the conference, Archbishop Thomas Wenski called the catechists "agents of the New Evangelization. You introduce people to God."

But he cautioned against teaching about the "popular Jesus," a Jesus who demands nothing, never scolds, accepts anyone and anything, and only affirms. This Jesus is very popular today, especially when contrasted to a Catholic Church that is, in the popular mindset, exactly the opposite: "a scold" who only makes demands and insists on adherence to rules.

"To the extent that we're not coherent in our witness, we can become obstacles to people's faith," the archbishop said. But the "popular mindset" that, according to polls, divorces faith from religion is also incorrect.

"To say that I believe is to place ourselves within a community of believers who also believe," Archbishop Wenski said, quoting the early Church fathers, who reminded people, "You cannot say that God is your father if you do not accept the Church as your mother."

Faith "cannot be private," the archbishop stressed, and neither can each person create his or her own "a la carte" Jesus or "a la carte" creed.

"We are called to transmit the Gospel in new ways, in an adequate way in the new cultural context in which we live," Archbishop Wenski said. "(But) our task is not to change the Gospel but to present the Gospel in such a way that it changes us — and those with whom we share it."

Sue Barroso has been doing that since 1979 at St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish in Key West. She served as director of religious education for 12 years before retiring three years ago, but continues to teach — and help people plan funerals, and train lectors and extraordinary ministers of holy Communion.

"I can't retire from the Church — never," she said.

Barroso was among 60 catechists who received certificates this year acknowledging their status as catechists — people who have taken the number of courses required by the archdiocese to teach religion to others.

"Back then (when she started) we didn't take classes. We didn't have workshops. We just taught," Barroso recalled.

This is sort of a catch-up year, Ductram explained, as he and his assistant reviewed the office's records and realized that many catechists had completed all the courses but never been certified. It was just a matter of putting the paperwork in order, including the observations and evaluations from their directors of religious education.

Three longtime archdiocesan catechists also were honored with a Lifetime Catechetical Achievement award: Claretian Sister Carmen Alvarez of Corpus Christi Parish, who has been a catechist since 1975; Anne Gardner of St. Sebastian Parish in Fort Lauderdale, who worked at St. Clement in Wilton Manors for years before moving to St. Sebastian in 1995; and Patricia Solenski of St. Anthony Parish in Fort Lauderdale, who has served as director of religious education there since 1981.

During the day, which ended after 3 p.m., the catechists chose from among 27 speakers and topics, ranging from the New Evangelization to the teachings of Vatican II, from catechesis and the environment to the law and Christian ethics, from creating lessons from worship songs to reaching out to youths and families.

"I try every year to make it better," said Nora Torra, director of religious education at Sacred Heart Parish in Homestead, who brought half her catechists to Catechetical Day "so they can keep learning and keep teaching."

Her 30 volunteers teach 450 children on Sundays. "My teachers won't teach any other day. They go to Mass. They teach and they love it. Many of the parents do, too," Torra said.

But she acknowledged that being a catechist is a tough job, especially since some parents simply "drop and run," seeing religious education as something to be done for tradition's sake or to keep the grandparents happy. Worse, they only bring their children to class when their age dictates it is time for a sacrament — baptism, Communion or confirmation.

In terms of their knowledge of the faith, "it's like starting from scratch every year," Torra said.