By Ana Rodriguez Soto - The Archdiocese of Miami

ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC Catechists raise their voices in song during the opening prayer of Catechetical Morning '07. Nearly 400 attended the Nov. 7 event hosted by the Office of Religious Education.

MIAMI LAKES � It�s a tough job and it pays nothing. But it is one of the oldest and most fundamental ministries in the Church: handing on the faith to future generations.

For a few hours on a Saturday morning, the focus was on the people who do that job, week after week, year after year, quietly and without fanfare, in Catholic parishes throughout the archdiocese.

Catechetical Morning 2009, sponsored by the archdiocesan Office of Religious Education, brought nearly 400 catechists to Our Lady of the Lakes Parish Nov. 7. These are the volunteers � some still call them CCD teachers � who teach religion to the large numbers of Catholic children who attend public schools.

The catechists were told repeatedly that their work really matters.

�You make the Church of tomorrow. Without you, no Church,� said Sister Carol Cimino, a Sister of St. Joseph of Rochester and consultant for the William H. Sadlier publishing company who gave the keynote address in English.

ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC Sister Carol Cimino, a Sister of St. Joseph of Rochester who serves as a consultant for Sadlier book publishing, speaks to catechists during the opening prayer of the annual Catechetical Morning held Nov. 7 at Our Lady of the Lakes Parish in Miami Lakes.

Her entertaining talk, �I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did,� featured jokes, funny stories and one-liners worthy of The Tonight Show. But her message was serious.

�I want to let these people know that somebody appreciates them, because they labor in secret. They�re willing to do this and they do it for nothing. They do it because Jesus has called them. They need to be honored. They need to be recognized. What they do is extremely difficult,� Sister Cimino told the Florida Catholic after her presentation.

During her talk, she reminded the catechists of what Pope John Paul II said about the younger generations: �They pay attention to witnesses.�

�Are we witnesses? Do we live what we say? Are we real people?� Sister Cimino asked.

Because �kids have built-in BS detectors,� she warned, hastening to clarify that BS stands for baloney sauce. �They can smell a phony a mile away. If we�re phony baloneys, forget about it!�

Archbishop John C. Favalora also touched upon authenticity in his opening remarks. He stressed the importance of catechists and noted that the profession dates back 2,000 years, to Jesus� disciples.

�As a matter of fact, (catechists) existed long before there was a catechism,� the archbishop said, explaining that catechist means �one who instructs orally.�

He said the disciples attracted people to themselves by the way they lived and those people were the ones who asked for instruction in the faith. Today�s catechists need to be just as authentic, Archbishop Favalora said. �We can�t at all tolerate the cultural Catholicism that surrounds us. We must be authentic Christians ourselves if we want others to follow the Lord.�

ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC Catechists check out books and religious articles at the exhibit which accompanied Catechetical Morning '07. Nearly 400 attended the Nov. 7 event hosted by the Office of Religious Education.

The archbishop also echoed the words of Father Roberto Ayala, parochial vicar at St. John Bosco Parish in Miami, who led the opening prayer. Father Ayala alluded to the breakdown in families and said an increasing number of them rely totally on the parish for the faith formation of their children.

�Teaching our children and bringing them up in the Catholic faith happens only at the parish level. What you do is a very important labor,� Father Ayala said.

�Your role in the Church is very old and it�s very important,� Archbishop Favalora agreed. �What you do with young people today may be the only taste of Jesus they have in their lives � the only spiritual food they taste.�

Other speakers at the conference were Rogelio Zelada, associate director of the archdiocesan Office of Lay Ministry and Adult Faith Formation, who gave the keynote talk in Spanish; Sue DeFerrari, director of MorningStar Renewal Center, and George Briz, former director of religious education at St. Michael Parish in Miami, who gave the afternoon talks in English and Spanish respectively.

Mar�a Jos� Mitsoulis, director of the religious education office, said the 400 catechists who attended the conference represent less than half of the 1,000 or more who are serving each week in parishes throughout the archdiocese.

The goal of Catechetical Morning, she said, is �to come together, to know that there are other people like us that are doing the same ministry, to continue learning more and encouraging each other to keep going and to keep teaching the faith.�

To see and purchase pictures of Catechetical Morning 2007, click here.